Innovating geothermal: Sara Montomoli elected Vice President of the European Platform ETIP-DG

Open Innovation, diversity and inclusion. The appointment of Sara Montomoli as Vice President of the ETIP-DG (the European Technology & Innovation Platform on Deep Geothermal) not only confirms her professional expertise but also the growing female leadership at Enel, a factor that is increasingly important for the Group’s innovation. The European platform for deep geothermal The European Platform for Technology and Innovation in deep geothermal was created in 2016 as an open group for stakeholders from the sector and is recognized by the European Commission as part of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (Set-Plan). It consists of representatives from industry, universities, research centers, associations and consumers that operate in the geothermal sector, from the exploration phase to production and use of energy that comes from beneath the ground. The main goal is to reduce the overall costs (including social, environmental and technological) of deep geothermal, while simultaneously expanding the development of this energy source in Europe. The technologies for extracting geothermal energy now mean that, in addition to use for heating and hot water purposes, it can also generate electricity. The first woman to guide innovation in geothermal Montomoli already has a long and impressive CV. She was born in Volterra and joined Enel Green Power in 2008. She initially worked at the Larderello plants, then, from 2010 to the end of 2011, as Head of operations for the Geothermal Area in Larderello and, from 2012 to 2018, as Head of the Geothermal Area in Lake Boracifero in the Pisa, Grosseto and Siena areas. She was the first woman in the history of geothermal to serve as Head of geothermal areas and to guide innovation in geothermal, and she has excelled for her knowledge of the subject and the geothermal zones. This is in addition to her managerial skills with which she ran the Lake Boracifero area in Monterotondo Marittimo, near Grosseto, for more than six years. The area has 14 geothermal power plants including Cornia 2, the world’s first plant to integrate geothermal and biomass. In 2019 she joined the international board of EGEC (the European Geothermal Energy Commission) and the board of ETIP-DG. This organization recently appointed her Vice President together with a further three experts: Adele Manzella (senior researcher at CNR [National Research Council] in Pisa and president of UGI (Unione Geotermica Italiana), David Bruhn (TU Delft / GFZ Potsdam, professor of geothermal engineering) and Jan-Diederik Van Wees (TNO and University of Utrecht, Principal Scientist). “I am delighted with this outcome and for the faith shown in me. It is a source of pride to be able to represent a company like Enel in such an important international context and to be able to make my own contribution to the development of geothermal. I would like to seize this opportunity to remember our dear colleague Ruggero Bertani, who before me pursued this activity with great passion. I accept his legacy enthusiastically and hope to do it justice". Sara Montomoli, Head of Geothermal Innovation at Enel Green Power The central role of innovation at Enel Our Group has always been committed to nurturing female leadership. In the Innovation area many women serve in important roles, both managerial and operational, contributing in a significant way to sustainable development and promoting a society that is increasingly inclusive. This is also through the collaboration with local startups. In fact, we have been selected as the winners of the Corporate Startup Procurement Award 2020 for our excellent relations with the most innovative startups. We have also been nominated as one of the most active companies in the field of Open Innovation in the Corporate Startup Stars Awards 2020, the prestigious annual ranking compiled as part of the European Commission’s Startup Europe Partnership (SEP). In order to find examples of innovation in the ecosystems where it is conceived and grows, Enel has created a global network of 10 innovation Hubs, from the United States to Israel, where we interact with and scout startups with significant potential in terms of technologies and business models. Since 2015, when we launched our “Open Innovation” approach, thereby opening ourselves up to the outside world, we have received more than 9000 proposals from startups and have implemented around 320 of these. Our Group offers startups the chance to work at our Innovation Hubs and Labs together with our experts and technicians, creating the right conditions in which to develop solutions. The main areas of work with startups include, among others, energy storage, Big Data, predictive maintenance, Artificial Intelligence and robotics.

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Innovating geothermal: Sara Montomoli elected Vice President of the European Platform ETIP-DG