New Center for Operational Excellence in Lampa:
- The company’s Center for Operational Excellence is a training center specialized in electric power distribution. Its facilities have been designed for technical training with the goal of continuing to improve work techniques and knowledge to minimize the risk of accidents among employees and contractors, with an ultimate goal of zero accidents.
- The project includes different rooms, labs, and patios distributed over 8,000 square meters, where over 2,000 people have already been trained and 3,800 technical skills evaluations have already been performed.
Santiago, March 14, 2023 - Today, Enel Distribución inaugurated its Center for Operational Excellence in the community of Lampa. The space has been created at a real-life scale and designed to deliver technical skills for electric power distribution service. Its goal is to open up new opportunities for both students looking to join the job market and professionals wanting to update their knowledge, which will ultimately help minimize accidents and optimize service quality standards across all construction, operation, and maintenance activities in the electric distribution grids.
The Center’s inauguration included the Minister of Energy, Diego Pardow; the President of Enel Chile, Herman Chadwick; the director of Enel Grids, Antonio Cammisecra; the CEO of Enel Chile, Fabrizio Barderi; and the CEO of Enel Distribución, Víctor Tavera; as well as local authorities, representatives of the communities benefited by the project, and students who have been educated at this new training center. “Here in the administration of President Gabriel Boric, we are committed to moving towards a green economy. This is not just about generating or distributing cheaper, safer, clean energy to Chilean homes. But it’s also about ensuring that this process goes hand in hand with the creation of qualified local jobs. This Center for Operational Excellence is aligned with that purpose. It is an opportunity to move towards a cleaner energy matrix, but also towards an inclusive development, with better opportunities for students, workers, and their families,” says Minister Diego Pardow.
The project began construction in 2019, followed by the progressive opening of its different facilities, adding on new spaces, equipment, and infrastructure with cutting-edge technology. “Our Center for Operational Excellence is dedicated to training in electric power distribution, with the goal of perfecting and incorporating work techniques under the same conditions as those found in the field, in order to foster the technical excellence and safety of our workers and contractors, and to train better professionals. It is a project that fills us with pride, because it is also focused on Education and available to students finishing up their high school studies and who want to learn a trade in our sector, practicing under the same conditions as those found in the real world”. Explains Víctor Tavera, CEO of Enel Distribución.
“Decentralized renewables and the search for energy independence by citizens are causing a major shift of the role of power distribution grids. Along with the important investments that will be deployed we need to make sure we have human talent with the right skills available to execute those investments and to operate and manage the grids of the future. Enel Grids has different initiatives in place but the center that we inaugurate here today in Chile is another important step in that direction”, commented Antonio Cammisecra, director of Enel Grids.
The center has a surface area of over 8,000 square meters distributed across high-, medium-, and low-voltage sectors, as well as an area with an in-depth look at the services, facilities, and different solutions offered by Enel X, such as solar panel installation, energy efficiency project simulation, and electrical charger setup.
Its main building is equipped with an innovative 3D room with immersion technology that eliminates distractions to acquire information with a high-level of retention. It also has four classrooms, a measurement room, and a room for personal protection equipment, as well as a remote control system room, offering crucial experience for those coordinating the operation of Enel Distribución's electrical system. As a result, over 2,000 people have already received training, and this number continues to grow as new training modules are added.
Student Training
The Center for Operational Excellence has collaboration agreements with higher education institutions and technical schools. These alliances give students the chance to gain inside technical knowledge from the company's specialists within the sphere of electric distribution and leverage the infrastructure offered by Enel Distribución to develop necessary technical competencies, skills, and conducts for working safely in electrical infrastructure, environmental protection, and quality customer service.
The first pilot project with students took place in 2020, and it continues to give high school students specializing in electricity from the Liceo Bicentenario in Lampa the chance to put their technical training experience to practice based on the needs of the electricity market, thanks to a collaboration alliance between Enel Distribución and the REDES project, and driven by the SOFOFA Public Schools Network, where the company contributed space within the Center for Operational Excellence facilities.
Currently, training plans are being implemented for students from Lampa and Recoleta schools, in conjunction with SOFOFA and Fundación DUAL, respectively. Both cases consider collaborative learning opportunities and offer the possibility of doing internships within the company, always in line with technical profile required to address the challenges of the energy industry's transformation and adoption of digital technologies.