EGP

Wind energy, solar thermodynamic, hydroelectric: Enel Green Power integrates renewable resources in contexts that are urban or man-made, producing a reduced visual and environmental impact.

Innovation is an essential factor for a company’s successful performance: this is why EGP, which in 2012 established an area and a team specifically devoted to innovation, targets research and development of cutting-edge techniques, and is actively engaged in studying next-generation technologies and methods.

Its innovation is expressed, for instance, by integrating and employing renewable resources in urban or man-made contexts, thanks to small equipment with low visual and environmental impact. In fact, in this field EGP displays a remarkable technological know-how when managing distributed generation systems.

For example, as regards small wind systems, in 2012 it began activities aimed at experimentally putting into service “Libellula”, the double-blade turbine that was designed by the architect Renzo Piano. A technique that ensures a reduced visual and environmental impact, which can harness even the slightest winds, blowing at 2 metres per second.

As for the solar source, at its laboratories in Catania, Enel competed the experimental characterisation of a cutting-edge solar thermodynamic plant, which uses solar radiation to produce both electricity (with a small Stirling “free piston”engine) and heat to warm up water for sanitary uses. The plant has a precision solar “tracker” and can activate its own security system in case of bad weather.

Moreover, EGP plays a central role in the field of small hydro, a technology that can produce electricity by means of small-scale plants that ensure a reduced environmental and landscape impact. These facilities, which require lower investments and reduced operational and maintenance costs, contribute significantly to meet energy needs. They can also be managed by small communities and be combined with other uses of water as a resource, as part of a balanced system.