10 years R&Ding at EDP
By the age of 10 a child has already learned how to read and write; understood complex mathematical concepts; realized the dynamics of peer relationships and the importance of cooperation; or enhanced their physical abilities such as running and playing sports.
EDP’s R&D Center (aka NEW – Centre for New Energy Technologies) started operations back in 2015 and is celebrating its 10th anniversary. And as a child, we had to learn how to read, write and do calculations (meaning, learning how to write competitive R&D proposals and when awarded, execute projects with excellence), we made friends (with whom we co-developed said proposals and projects) and we got in shape (meaning we learned by doing and we practiced endlessly until we become good at what we do).
As we become an R&D teenager, we look back to the past 10 years and we can’t help feeling happy and proud. NEW emerged to create a fully focused R&D area, leveraging on competitive R&D funding to explore new paths and create possibilities for EDP’s future. Guess we did just that.
We created a team, crafted a culture, (hopefully) inspired talent and achieved some positive results. Not all was great, as we had to withstand some rough winters (some failures in projects or our “annus horribilis” back in 2018 – where we’ve secured very few projects). But overall, we did well! We moved from 1 to 50 researchers, submitted around 350 EU funding proposals, executed more than 70 R&D projects and we’ve “exported” the engineers of the future into EDP’s businesses.
We anticipated technology trends when we went all in into energy storage and flexibility, back in 2015, or when we secured demonstrators on robotics and AI for renewables, back in 2020.
Into adulthood it’s all about accelerating and delivering impact towards leadership in the energy transition. We need to find ways to speed up the deployment of renewables and grids, we need to electrify heat, but we also need to leverage on AI and energy storage to optimize energy management. We must streamline O&M across all our energy assets or build on distributed generation to serve our clients. And we need to do all this at a reasonable cost, ensuring system resilience and minimizing geopolitical impacts – exploring new materials and supply chains be it in renewables, grids or batteries.
With all our partners, businesses and our innovation family at EDP, I’m sure we’ll nail it. And I feel the next 10 years will be even more exciting. Cheers to a bright energy future!
