• The multinational power company's Innovation Plan is focused on five main areas: power generation, mains, customers, liquefied natural gas, and robotics and artificial intelligence.
  • The company has adopted a new innovation model aimed at harnessing all its internal capabilities and attracting opportunities, ideas and talent from the open innovation ecosystem.

GAS NATURAL FENOSA invested a total of 59.2 million euros in innovation during 2016. This investment strengthens the role of innovation as one of the driving forces behind the multinational power company's growth and as a differentiating factor for improving its competitiveness.

The GAS NATURAL FENOSA Innovation Plan, which accompanies the company's Strategic Vision up to 2020, seeks to implement operational improvements and adopt the technologies that add the greatest value to the company's businesses.

The plan is focused on five main areas: power generation, mains, customers, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and robotics and artificial intelligence.

In order to carry out this plan, the company has adopted a new innovation model focused on two areas. The first is centred around the development of in-house technology solutions that can respond to the challenges included in the Strategic Vision. The second focuses on the open innovation ecosystem for finding opportunities, ideas and new talent.

'For GAS NATURAL FENOSA, innovation and technology are key to transforming the way in which we engage in our activity and anticipate customer needs. Our goal is to transform ideas into services that can guarantee efficient, sustainable and safe energy supplies,' said Blanca Losada, Director for Engineering and Technological Innovation.

New products and services

Customers are one of the five main areas on which the Innovation Plan is focused, where the company is developing new value-added products and services. The European GrowSmarter Project, on which GAS NATURAL FENOSA is working alongside the Barcelona City Council and other partners, is a good example of these efforts.

Under GrowSmarter, various technologies are being applied for energy savings, reduced environmental impact and improved quality of life. This pilot scheme, which is being carried out in the Sant Martí district of Barcelona, will be replicated in the future for other districts of other cities. GrowSmarter has a total budget of 32 million euros.

Production of renewable natural gas

Another area of special interest to the company is the development of renewable natural gas. GAS NATURAL FENOSA is working on various national and European projects aimed at obtaining natural gas from renewable resources that, via a variety of processes, can be used in the distribution network at suitable quality levels for application in such sectors as industry, mobility, homes and power generation.

The initiatives related to this technology include the recent creation of a public-private partnership Mixed Unit with the Regional Government of Galicia -the supramunicipal public company Edar Bens that treats the wastewater from A Coruña and other municipalities- and the benchmark technology centre EnergyLab.

This project will enable biomethane to be recovered from the Bens treatment plant, increasing the percentage of energy coming from renewable resources and consequently reducing environmental impact. Natural gas reduces greenhouse gas emissions, emits no particulates and practically eliminates NOand SO emissions.

Barcelona, 29 March 2017.

Gas Natural Sdg SA published this content on 29 March 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 30 March 2017 09:34:15 UTC.

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