Enel Green Power is embarking on a new mission that revolves around the phrase “Enabling Progress with Sustainable Energy.” It goes beyond the concept of renewable energy to include all the sources that enable sustainable development toward the Net Zero target, while considering every stakeholder and embracing the idea of a just transition.
Enabling progress signifies improving the quality of people’s lives. By developing renewable energy sources and – progressively – phasing out thermal generation, Enel Green Power & Thermal Generation is helping to lower the cost of energy and, therefore, enabling electrification.
Electrification is one of the most effective tools that we have, as a society, to combat climate change and allow ourselves to grow in a sustainable way. If we want to reach the climate target of avoiding a rise in temperatures above 1.5°C (as originally set out in the Paris Agreement of 2015 and confirmed in the five subsequent Conferences of the Parties, or COP meetings), we need to electrify end-consumption as much as possible, while carrying out the widespread deployment of decarbonized energy production.
We are aiming to triple our renewable capacity to about 154 GW by 2030, adding around 100 GW of additional capacity with respect to the 2021 level. At the end of the decade, around 80% of our generation will be covered by renewables and more than 85% will be emission-free. We are also planning to exit coal generation by 2027, gas by 2040 and we are investing in storage and green hydrogen technologies.
To help us in this mission, we have created a “Compass” to steer us towards our goals. The Compass is founded on Enel’s four values: Trust, Responsibility, Innovation and Proactivity, and is composed of 4 Mindsets and 12 Behaviors. The original, distinctive way in which we adopt these behaviors is what we have defined as our “soul.” This is because these behaviors are the result of a series of interviews that we conducted with more than 400 employees at EGP&TGx who were asked to describe the sort of company that they would like to work for. This “soul” is also what links these behaviors to our mission and leads us on the path to achieving it.
A common baseline
Our people are the heart and brain of our company, and our success depends on their actions. That is also why we have developed our Compass: to clearly define our common behavioral baseline, promoting kind and distributed leadership, cultivating a fair and inclusive environment, where everybody enjoys themselves and takes ownership.
The first of the four mindsets of the Compass, connected to the value of Trust, is “Win Together.” This involves the behavior of sharing your thoughts to foster an open startup mentality and transform good ideas into great ones through collaboration. It also relates to creating bonds of trust, to make people feel appreciated and build strong and resilient teams. Furthermore, this is about being passionate, which leads to results and motivates everyone.
The second mindset, which is linked to the value of Responsibility, is “Empower and Take Ownership.” This refers to being committed, showing willingness to propose and be part of solutions and to take the initiative. It is about leading through kind leaders to drive strategy and boost results with distributed leadership. And caring and growing means identifying talent, enabling people to contribute and decentralizing decision-making wisely.
The third mindset is related to the value of Innovation and is “Go Beyond.” This begins with being bold, through setting high goals and beginning new ventures. It also consists of being persistent and resilient, working hard until you achieve your aims, and transforming failures into learning opportunities. Additionally, being curious, humble, and innovative involves being willing to learn new things and discover the strengths of clients and colleagues.
Finally, the fourth mindset, which is linked to the value of Proactivity, is “Keep it Simple, Smart, and Fast.” This entails focusing on the essential in order to accelerate and seize opportunities. It is related to communicating to engage, in order to foster transparency and trust and to avoid misunderstandings. Lastly, being prepared and flexible means being able to respond promptly to sudden changes.
The Compass is a tool for all of us, but every colleague will have their own way of using it. They will each refer to some behaviors more than others, while taking inspiration from the same principles. This is an important point, because it helps us to adapt in the best way, and creatively, to different circumstances.
Our new direction
As part of our new mission, we are adopting the circular economy approach along our entire value chain, from the management of plants to interactions with clients and suppliers. A good example is our Futur-e project, which is repurposing decommissioned power plants to generate development opportunities for local economies.
We are increasingly looking at ways to create value for a broad range of stakeholders, from shareholders to the communities and environments around our sites. We are working on new metrics and measurement concepts to represent the creation of value and the quality of relationships with the various stakeholders in an increasingly complete and transparent way.
Furthermore, we are a company that leads the world in a just energy transition that does not cause inequality – a transition based on listening, openness and creativity that frees up talents and passions.
Our “Open Innovability®” model is helping us in this direction, with our international network of innovation hubs working alongside startups across the globe to identify the best ideas for the future of the energy sector.
Meanwhile, I am proud to say that our 3SUN Gigafactory in Catania is now a reality and is one of the largest and most advanced factories in Europe for the production of photovoltaic cells and modules. It is expected to reshore the photovoltaic industry in Italy and across the continent, ensuring its positioning on a strategic supply chain for the energy transition and supporting energy independence.
We have major challenges ahead of us, on our journey to 2030. The Compass has been created to help us advance in our work, achieve greater success and meet our various goals. As I said, the way we implement the Compass in the different situations we face in our daily lives is our soul: it will propel us toward our mission of enabling progress with sustainable energy.