EDP, a company that operates across the electricity supply chain, is working with Accenture, the global business management and IT consultants, to create the Smart Energy Lab. The initiative, which will be based in the city of Recife, will focus on developing new solutions and technologies for the utilities sector. Market testing will take place in parallel at Accenture’s São Paulo head office.
On a visit to the Digital Port in Recife, representatives from both companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding sitting out the terms and conditions and the scope of the partnership.
The initiative will bring together employees from Accenture and EDP in order to create innovative technologies for distributed solar generation, energy management solutions, electrical mobility, financial solutions and energy storage. The Smart Energy Lab’s first project is to develop a distributed solar generation solution based on blockchain technology, which will be offered to EDP customers.
“EDP’s goal is to lead Brazil’s energy transition. By partnering with Accenture, we will be able to accelerate development of solutions that will drive industry transformation”, said Miguel Setas, EDP’s CEO in Brazil.
Smart Energy Lab solutions could become products for EDP Smart customers. EDP Smart is an EDP group brand that manages the company’s entire portfolio of energy services for business and residential customers in the Free-Market Sales, Retail Sales, Energy Efficiency, Solar Energy, Electrical Mobility and End Consumer Service areas.
“Partnering with Accenture, which has skills that complement our own, will help us add value as we develop new products and services for EDP Smart customers”, said Carlos Andrade, EDP’s Vice President of Strategy and Business Development in Brazil.
“Consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of using clean energy efficiently and we have enormous potential to develop innovative technologies able to meet this demand”, said Adriano Giudice, executive manager of the Utilities sector at Accenture Latin America. “As a global company, Accenture will be spearheading this process alongside EDP to build a truly disruptive industry-wide strategy”, added Giudice.
