“I was a manager in my previous company, but accepted to start at Enel as a supervisor, because I could see the opportunity to grow within the Group and to gain more knowledge and training, especially in the innovation sector.”
Currently, every day Luís Cláudio covers 60km by car, a commute that lasts a little over one hour, between his home in the Ceará capital and the township of Caucaia, headquarters of Enel Geração Fortaleza (EGF), where he leads a 20-strong team in the operations department.
Since last year, when he took part in a training course offered by the company to become an Innovation Mentor, Luís Cláudio has been overcoming every obstacle and difficulty in the day to day to encourage his team and always innovate!
“People in the Northeast hold education in high regard. The workforce in Ceará has positively surprised me. My team is very well trained and extremely inventive. As we are far from large cities, we end up searching for creative solutions, always with an eye on our day-to-day life. Sometimes a homemade suggestion can be developed to patent level. We never discard ideas here.”
EGF has one of the most modern technologies in thermal generation in the country, producing electricity in a combined cycle of gas and vapour. Even so, in 2016, first year of Gxcellence – a global challenge in Enel’s Thermal Generation sector – no Brazilian project was awarded. The following year, with lessons learnt and Luis Cláudio’s motivation, EGF entered 18 projects (12 from the operations department alone) and the ‘Valve Signalling’ initiative won the international award in the Safety category.
“This project was born of a normal observation of my routine. In EGF’s operation, there are around 3,000 valves, all very much alike. Before, they had no seal, no signalling to demonstrate if they were open or closed, which could cause operational accidents, fluid leaks as well as waste of resources. This award was very emotional to me. I visited the Vatican, the Colosseum, an experience I would not have had the opportunity to go through if it weren’t for Enel’s Innovation. It was unforgettable.”
What Luis Cláudio couldn’t imagine is that 2018 would start in an even better way. In February, during the Thermal Generation Cascade event in Rome, Luís received the greatest recognition of his career. Enel Geração Fortaleza was considered the Best Combined Cycle Plant (CCGT-O&G) of 2017 and he received the award from Enrico Viale, Enel Global Thermal Generation Manager.
“It was a dream come true! On my first year as an Innovation Mentor I got to travel to Italy and receive an award on top of it! I am very grateful to the company for providing me with so much happiness.”
Last month, the EGF team travelled again. This team to the US. Three operations department employees took part in a training course at Enel’s Innovation Hub in San Francisco.
“I hope all my colleagues return to Ceará even more motivated and that they help me to encourage new professionals to take part in the Group’s Innovation projects.”
Luís’ and the whole Enel Geração Fortaleza team’s desire to innovate, as well as being 100% aligned with the Group’s directives, has helped to establish new milestones in Enel’s Innovation trajectory in Brazil. A rare story of reverse migration, which so far has only brought recognition and happiness to all in the company!
