Italian energy giant Enel Group (BIT: ENEL) is opening an Israel innovation center and is looking to invest in Israeli technology. Europe's largest energy provider with 61 million customers will choose 20 Israeli startups each year and offer them support and financing. Enel is following in the footsteps of German energy giant RWE, which opened a similar innovation center last year.
Israeli startups will be selected by an advisory council composed of senior Enel executives who will assess each startup's strategic suitability according to the Group's needs and the startup's business potential. The chosen startups will enjoy major resources including workspace, laboratories, options to conduct pilots in one of Enel's markets, access to sales channels, and a program mentored by a senior person such as those at the SOSA and Junction accelerators with which the Italian energy company is launching its innovation center.
At today's opening ceremony at SOSA in Tel Aviv, Enel Group CEO Francesco Starace said, "We are in a thrilling time for the energy industry and this is a wonderful opportunity for a company like ours, which has positioned technological innovation as one of the pillars of our business. The innovation center being opened today in Tel Aviv is an important piece of this puzzle."
He added, "Israel is one of the most innovative countries in the world and each year hundreds of thrilling startups grow in it. I am sure that our presence in Israel will result in speeding up innovation in the energy industry.
New ways to convey energy
among other things, Enil is looking for new ways to convey energy and to manage it. The energy management sector is gaining more and more traction in the world in ordr to save energy and money for example through smart grid and smart home systems. These technologies allow control of the electricity network for household products so that a smart electricity network will know when to operate the washing machine, at night when tariffs are lower. The system can also know what items are in the refrigerator and how much electricity is required, thus saving electricity and costs.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 11, 2016
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2016