Projects ranging from the use of artificial intelligence to the monitoring of electricity consumption, reducing costs and controlling greenhouse gas emissions, to a platform for helping women overcome the impacts of the pandemic, ENGIE, the largest energy company in the private sector in Brazil, operating in generation, trading and transmission of electric energy, gas infrastructure and energy solutions, during ENGIE Brasil Innovation Day on June 17, presented four innovative ideas receiving investments from the Company.

Two initiatives involving startups and two inhouse projects were presented at the event – part of the global festival of innovation put on by the company. With a live transmission through the ENGIE Brasil channel on Youtube, the meeting was patronized by managers, specialists as well as representatives of startups and had the participation of economist, Ricardo Amorim.

ENGIE invests approximately R$ 20 million annually in R&D projects and innovation. All the initiatives adopt a model based on sustainable growth in order to meet the major challenges of the energy transition to a low carbon economy. The Company has assumed a commitment for reducing carbon emissions from its activities to zero by 2045. “Brazil continues as one of the ENGIE’s principal stakeholders worldwide and for this reason it will have to make a significant contribution to achieving this goal. Innovation plays a critical part in this transition”, explained Gil Maranhão, Chief Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at ENGIE.

Among initiatives contemplated is the Predictive Maintenance Platform for Air Conditioning Systems from Minerva Control – which by means of digital replica, analyzes the performance of apparatus, identifying possible problems which generate additional expenditure on energy. “The result is more efficient maintenance with fewer faults and lower costs”, explains CEO Rodrigo Juliani.

Deep Ambiente presented the Virtual Desaggregator, a system which monitors energy consumption and helps to achieve energy bill savings up to 40%. The company’s CEO, Marlon Teixeira describes the solution as one that uses artificial intelligence to identify which item of equipment is expending more energy than it should, thus contributing to a reduction of consumption.
A further two inhouse innovation projects were also showcased. One of them, the Biodiversity Matrix, is to digitize a series of data collected on the Brazilian flora and fauna. The aim is to build up a biodiversity conservation program in the area encompassing ENGIE’s generator complex.

The Women of Our Neighborhood platform has helped finance 28 businesses in 14 states of Brazil run by women who had suffered the financial impacts as a result of the pandemic.

“ENGIE is proud of the partnerships with which it has been associated over its 25 years in Brazil together with a series of research institutions and other public and private organizations with a focus on innovative projects. The results which have been achieved contributed not only to the Company finding solutions to its operational, environmental and socio-economic challenges but also to the scientific and technological progress of the country”, declares Gil Maranhão Neto.

The seventh edition of ENGIE Brasil Innovation Day also enjoyed the participation of economist Ricardo Amorim. Selected by Forbes Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the country, Amorim spoke at the conclusion of the event about how the pandemic had accelerated the digital transformation in the world and the importance to technology in decarbonization. “We were already witnessing major transformations but the pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation. What we are seeing is a brutal process of accelerated digitization. In addition, I believe that technology and innovation will play a critical role in relation to climate and decarbonization issues”, he said.

ENGIE Brasil Innovation Day 2021 had the support of COPPE UFRJ, Associação Nacional de Entidades Promotoras de Empreendimentos Inovadores (Anprotec), Associação Catarinense de Tecnologia (Acate), Firjan, Associação Brasileira da Infraestrutura e Indústrias de Base (Abdib), Instituto Acende Brasil, Fundação Certi and France-Brazil Chamber of Commerce.