​​Neoenergia´s CEO Mario Ruiz-Tagle stressed during his participation at the National Meeting of Electricity Sector Agents that energy distribution companies will expand their service offerings and customer relationships in the face of the technological transformation of the sector, whose vectors are digitization, decentralization and decarbonization - pillars of the ongoing energy transition.

According to the executive, the distributors have business opportunities with the integration of new generation technologies, the dissemination of electric vehicles, energy storage, consumption management, which will involve greater customer interaction through platforms and digital channels. Ruiz-Tagle says companies like Neoenergia, one of the country's leading companies serving more than 34 million people through its four distributors (Celpe, Coelba, Elektro and Cosern), play a major role in developing smart cities, since its grids may offer other digital services.

“Companies need to absorb and internalize technology changes, such as investments in grid digitization and decentralized energy flows, using big data to turn data into knowledge and create value, " said Mario at the industry CEOs forum during the National Meeting of Electrical Sector Agents (Enase).​

For Neoenergia's CEO, digitization and other investments in distribution grids “are the backbone of this change, and infrastructure must be prepared to absorb these innovations," important instruments in modernizing the electricity sector - the theme of Enase this year. “In order to have a digital world, we need universal electric energy. That is the basis. We need a robust grid, with the incentives for adequate return on investments. "

However, the executive points out that “the regulatory framework has to consider these new uses in order to generate an innovation-friendly business environment with stable rules, avoiding cost distortion and ensuring remuneration for network use.

INNOVATION AND INVESTMENTS

Neoenergia has invested increasingly in innovation to absorb technological changes and benefit its consumers, through initiatives such as the modernization of customer relationships, the expansion of smart grids, the use of sensors and Application of Big Data technology for the fight against losses, intelligent consumptio​n meters, energy storage projects and micro-networks for isolated systems and mobility (chargers for electric vehicles).

As examples, Neoenergia maintains a "living laboratory" on the island of Fernando de Noronha of new technologies focused on sustainability, with two solar plants, smart grids and energy storage system, among others. Already in Bahia, the company invested in the development of a truck with robotic arm of remote drive for tree pruning – which can affect the distribution network.

In the first half of this year, Neoenergia invested, in all, R $2.2 billion reais, mainly expanding its networks, a value that also includes the initiatives of P & D, Digitization and modernization of networks, among others.