Rome, April 13th 2010 - Enel is once again the star of Milan design week with the "Smart Grid Gallery. After the "Diamante- Energia senza fine" project by architect Michele De Lucchi in 2009, smart grids - one of the most innovative projects in the energy sector form the inspiration for a work by Jaime Hayon, who seeks to make a technology as complex as that of smart grids more human and understandable for Interni Think Tank.
The event set up by Interni magazine in partnership with Enel at the FuoriSalone 2010 - will be held from today to April 25th, in the courtyards of the University of Milan.
Images of the Smart Grid Gallery and of Interni Think Tank will be projected during the interior design fair onto a screen placed on Enels "Green Wall", the vertical garden located on Corso di Porta Ticinese, a symbol of the Company's commitment to renewable energy.
The Green Wall is an innovative urban requalification project: 400 trees are "fed" solely by the sun through photovoltaic panels that have generated more than 1,750 kWh of electricity since 2008.
The Interni Think Tank is an event that seeks to highlight the need for renewing and changing values in the new millennium with the help of international designers through experimental artworks.
Through this, Enel intends to show its technological commitment to building the power grid of the future, turning it, with the help of Jaime Hayon, into a work of contemporary art on energy.
The traditional view of the power grid is being replaced by something new, not just one of power lines, switches and transformers, but of electronics, computers and communications, too.
With the growth of distributed power generation from renewables, even in homes there is a greater need for grids that can draw energy generated from water, the sun, wind and geothermal sources and that can communicate with "prosumers", i.e. producer/consumers.
In the not-too-distant future smart grids will make it possible for everyone to interact and exchange energy, increasing efficiency and fostering the spread of renewable energy, just like the Internet has done for information.
By implementing innovative projects like remote metering, which forms the backbone for the development of smart grids, Enel has achieved internationally recognized technological leadership based on the installation of more than 32 million electronic meters in customers homes and businesses in Italy, a unique feature.
But Enel has not stopped there. As coordinator of European research, development and demonstration projects for smart grids, Enel is further strengthening its leadership in this area to ensure that the nations power system, customers and electric companies derive the maximum benefits.
Enel and innovation
Enel is an international group operating in 23 countries with a growing commitment to technological innovation for supporting the environment. A third of its installed capacity at its plants is fuelled by water, solar, wind and geothermal sources. Enel Research offers innovative projects promoting the widespread use of renewables and their economic competitiveness: from electric mobility to public lighting, from smart grids to industrial systems for achieving ever more efficient and environmentally-friendly power plants.