The inspiring view of the river Tagus, located alongside Cais Rocha Conde D'Óbidos, will serve as the driver of the creativity and innovation set to burst into action at UP - Upcoming Energies, Galp´s new innovation factory, as of this week. In a conversation on energy and user-centered innovation, Cristina Fonseca, an angel investor, and Richard Lagrand, the manager of the UP team, provide a more detailed explanation of what kinds of projects will emerge from the creative environment of LACS.
The primary purpose of this project will be to reinforce Galp's commitment to global innovation, with a particular focus on the business community involved in the development of clean-tech solutions. The company regards this area as a priority, and has established a total investment target for renewable energies and new businesses of between 10% to 15% of 1.2 billion euros per annum. The innovation factory is also part of Galp´s recently defined strategy, which foresees that 40% of long-term investment will be related to energy transition.
Jorge Fernandes, Director of Innovation at Galp, is in charge of the new area at LACS, and Richard Lagrand, hitherto director of the Startupbootcamp in Barcelona, was chosen to lead the team due to his experience in the areas of eCommerce and startups. The new director of UP began his career in the field of telecommunications and, before arriving at Galp, ran the Startupbootcamp IoT [Internet of Things] and Datatech programme, a startup acceleration initiative. “We intend to view the industry in a new light and to develop technologies geared to greater efficiency and sustainability”, underlines the director of UP Energies. Discovery, incubation and acceleration will be the innovation model used in this project, “with a view to meeting the needs of both people and companies”, he adds.
In addition to the resident team, Richard Lagrand will coordinate participants in the summer internship programme, developed jointly with the Catholic Lisbon School of Business and Economics and Fabstart, which will aim to conduct market research and tests on various aspects related to how people use energy on a daily basis. The results will serve as the foundations for seeking out additional opportunities for Galp to exploit and excel.
COOPERATION, CO-CREATION AND EMBRACING THE ECOSYSTEM
In line with the spirit of incubation, UP Energies will strive to promote synergies, co-creation and cooperation for the development, launch and marketing phase of projects geared to speeding up energy transition and consistent with the pillars on which Galp´s strategy is based: digital transformation, future mobility and the circular economy. In parallel, the innovation factory will evaluate startups and execute pilot projects with users to identify potential opportunities that can benefit their customers and Galp itself. Nevertheless, declares Richard Lagrand, “we need to be fully focused on what we want to do at all times so as not to disperse energy”.
Among the examples of what is already being worked on by the UP Energies team are projects in areas as diverse as credit rating and cutting-edge technologies that help optimise the performance and efficiency of large-scale solar energy farms, featuring energy storage, coatings, cleaning robots and bifacial panels. Ultimately, points out the director of UP, “technology can help us prepare for the next virus”. After all, he says, “the ability of the human race to adapt is amazing and that´s the most important ingredient in innovation”.
