There are some athletes that see records as the goal of a lifetime, and others that consider them a stepping stone to prepare to conquer the next record. The first are remembered as stars for a season, the second as champions that make history. In the great global race toward renewables, each year is marked by huge achievements and those on the winners’ podium must choose whether they’ll be stars for the season or champions. In 2017, Enel Green Power set a new record for installed capacity in a year, reaching 2602 MW. “An important achievement that means two things: on one hand, it’s 30% more than the 2018 MW built in 2016, on the other it’s the number to beat in 2018” explained Umberto Magrini, head of Engineering and Construction for Enel Green Power. A Team of Champions Every single KW of the 2,602 MW added in 2017 is the product of teamwork that saw EGP teams engaged in a worksite of global dimensions, including the United States, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Panama and South Africa. The 2017 results are the product of the teamwork of Engineering and Construction, but not only that. The new installed capacity carries the names of all the people that make up the EGP world: a global renewables team accustomed to working together to reach the final result for each project, overcoming all the difficulties that arise in the construction phase. "2017’s 2.6 GW are new additional capacity 100% in production. We also managed a peak of projects at the same time for 10 GW: another important record." Umberto Magrini, Head of Engineering and Construction for Enel Green Power The Digital Revolution 2017 was also the launch year for the E&C (R)evolution project, with which Engineering and Construction started to design a road map of innovations to be introduced throughout the value chain of its activities to increase competitiveness. "E&C (R)evolution is a project of driven digitisation, in Engineering and worksite management. It’s a project of robotics and automation, to support teams in the field by reducing installation times and increasing safety and quality." Umberto Magrini 2018 will also be a year for the implementation of experiments made during 2017, especially regarding civil works, cable laying and digital solutions for plant design and worksite management. Sustainability 4.0 Since innovation and sustainability go hand in hand and feed each other, last year’s 2.6 GW are also a litmus test of EGP’s ability to build sustainable plants from the ground up. 2017 also saw the formation of the Sustainable Worksite model, which uses solutions to limit environmental impact starting in the construction phase and mitigate the effects of our actions. This mitigation begins with the planning phase, while the management of impacts is part of the construction phase, during which a series of precautions are put in place, ranging from the reduction of operational vehicle use to efficient energy consumption at the worksite. "The E&C (R)evolution project will help greatly to increase our sustainability in the construction phase, combining innovation and renewable technologies in new ways." Umberto Magrini One of the experiments tested successfully in 2017 was an innovative system for waste water treatment, with nanotechnologies powered by a 4-kW mini wind system integrated with a 2-kV storage system. In addition to making water use more efficient, the system has allowed us to reduce CO2 emissions. At the Cerro Pabellón geothermal plant, in the Atacama Desert in Chile, we’ve implemented a system that integrates photovoltaic generation with a hybrid storage system, based on lithium ion batteries and hydrogen storage, to power the plant’s base camp with clean energy 24/7.
