Faster and Simpler Undergrounding of Overhead Power Lines

Challenge

Enel Grids is seeking innovative solutions to enhance the installation of underground cables for Medium and Low Voltage lines, in order to reduce the effort and/or time required for the entire installation process. The aim of the Challenge is to optimize, simplify, and speed up the cable installation process. Participants can do so either by improving the current process or by proposing a new one.

The successful participant will have the potential opportunity to test their solution on site in Sao Paulo (Brazil), while other testing sites in Italy or Spain can be evaluated, in agreement with the applicant. Participants are therefore encouraged to consider, in their application, the urban viability of the proposed solution.

Currently, when using the trenching system, it takes 20 days to lay 1 km of medium-voltage cable. In the same context, when using the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) process, it takes 6-10 days to lay 1 km of cable. The complexity of the process is outlined above in the Current Scenario.

Enel will evaluate solutions on the basis of their ability to achieve the following objectives: 

• A faster step-by-step underground cable installation process – less than 20 days for laying 1 km for trenching, or less than 10 days for laying 1 km with HDD.
• Simpler steps compared to the current underground cable installation process.

These improvements can be achieved by reducing the impact of the activities required for each step during the whole installation process:

1. Trenching
2. Laying the protective plastic duct 
3. Covering the plastic duct
4. Closing the trench

For example: trenching is usually a construction method that involves digging a narrow trench in the ground for the installation, maintenance, or inspection of cables. It is important to consider that the cable reels used by Enel are 300 metres in length, so it would be necessary to dig for a distance of at least 300 metres between the junction boxes or transformer vaults.

The Solution:

In this Challenge, participants are invited to submit innovative solutions that either improve the current process used by Enel or propose a new process altogether. In their applications participants must show the effectiveness either of the improvement of Enel’s current process or of the new proposal. Participants must show and prove that the solution can operate and be effective in at least one of the following three use cases (a higher score will be given to solutions that can be applied in more than one use case):

1. 500 m – 1 km cable
2. 1 km – 3 km cable
3. 3 km – 5 km cable

Considering that your solution should work across one or more of these use cases, it should not be limited to specific contexts such as the presence of other underground infrastructure and interference with vehicular traffic:

Urban (higher priority and a higher score in the evaluation):

• Underground Infrastructure: High presence
• Traffic: High

Suburban:

• Underground Infrastructure: Moderate presence (e.g., utilities for residential areas, some fiber optic lines)
• Traffic: Moderate (commuter traffic, local road networks)

Rural:

• Underground Infrastructure: Low presence (primarily essential utilities, limited high-speed grids)
• Traffic: Low (mostly local and agricultural vehicles)

Participants should also consider that the context’s ground and soil can vary. Below are some typical types of ground and soil in areas like Sao Paulo, Brazil (the list is not exhaustive):

• Urban ground: heterogeneous materials, debris.
• Cohesive ground or soil (Acrisols, some Latosols/Cambisols)
• Non-cohesive ground or soil (some Cambisols)
• Hardened layers (some Latosols)
• Rocky ground or soil (Litholic neosols, outcrops)

The solution MUST have:

In general, the solution needs to satisfy the following must-have requirements:

• An automatic or semi-automatic tool for cable installation activities.
• It must result in the least possible impact due to excavation and installation activities.
• It must result in less social disruption to an area - in terms of time taken up by the work and the amount of noise it causes.
• Installation time - less than 20 days per km if trenching, or less than 10 days when using HDD (Horizontal Directional Drilling).
• An innovative technology development phase with a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of > 6.
• Avoid interference with other cables and existing wiring, telecommunications, water, sewage, etc.
• Compliant with national regulations.

Your solution can also satisfy these nice-to-have requirements:

• Enel has an existing process for mapping underground utilities before carrying out work but, if you are proposing a new tool, having the functionality for alerting, pre-identification, and mapping of underground utilities would be of interest to Enel Grids.
• A process or improvement that increases the ease or simplicity of maintenance of the cable, once it has been installed.
• Trenchless technologies would be of interest, considering that this is a distribution grid with many supply points along the route.

Deliverables

Proposals must be submitted to the openinnovability.com platform in a single stage, and must include the following information in English:

1. Solution name/title and overview

2. Detailed description of the solution, including:

• Solution characteristics.
• Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the proposed solutions.
• Geographical area of application and reason why.
• Examples of technology application and reference sector, if any.
• Advantages and weaknesses of the proposed solution compared to the current way of working.
• Constraints or technological gaps regarding the adoption of the solution.
• Description of the most suitable use cases according to the performance and characteristics of the proposed solution. If your solution can work within multiple environments, ground and soil types and cable lengths, please detail each separately.

3. Data, case studies, patents and journal references or any additional material that supports the proposed solution.

4. A detailed and clear estimate for the final price of the solution, indicating the estimated cost reduction you can achieve with your solution compared to commercially available devices (single phase).

The proposals for this Challenge will be assessed by Enel Grids on the basis of the criteria below:

• Compliance with the Challenge’s request and the quality of the solution, including must-haves and nice-to-haves, as specified on the Open Innovability® Challenge page;
• Viability of solution implementation during trial period within an urban environment located specifically in Sao Paulo – (Brazil). We can evaluate alternative testing scenarios in Italy or Spain.
• Degree of innovation;
• Solutions that are not generally known or easily accessible to experts in the sector;
• Technical and normative compliance;
• Replicability in different contests and countries (applicability in Brazil will entail a higher score in the evaluation)
• Economic and realization feasibility.

The presence of an office or headquarters in Brazil will be a favorable factor in our evaluation.

Workshop

SAVE THE DATE! Join us for a workshop dedicated to this challenge! A technical deep dive for more detailed and specific questions will be held on June 10 2025 click HERE to download workshop calendar.

You will have the chance to hear from the Challenge Owner about the challenge details and to ask questions directly to the Enel Grids team: don’t miss this opportunity to perfect your proposal and meet the solution requirements.

What Happens Next?

After the Challenge deadline, the Challenge Owner will complete the review process and decide with regards to the Winning Solution(s). All participants that submit a proposal will be notified about the status of their submissions, but no detailed evaluation of individual submissions will be provided.

The Challenge Owner will evaluate the proposal considering the characteristics required for the solution, focusing on the following criteria:

• Compliance with the Challenge’s request and the quality of the solution, including must-haves and nice-to-haves, as specified on the Open Innovability® Challenge page;
• Viability of solution implementation during trial period within an urban environment located specifically in Sao Paulo – (Brazil). We can evaluate alternative testing scenarios in Italy or Spain.
• Degree of innovation;
• Solutions that are not generally known or easily accessible to experts in the sector;
• Technical and normative compliance;
• Replicability in different contests and countries (applicability in Brazil will entail a higher score in the evaluation)
• Economic and realization feasibility.

If the reward includes the opportunity to collaborate with Enel, once one or more suitable solutions have been identified, Enel will reserve the right to start a collaboration, by way of example, for all or part of the following activities:

• Test execution;
• Supply of prototypes (if the solution includes equipment);
• Installation and site tests;
• Follow-up and monitoring of the proposed idea’s behavior.

At the end of the assessment, you will receive feedback.

If your proposal is successful, an Enel contact person will get in touch with you in order to discuss the next steps.

The final reward for this Challenge is contingent upon satisfactory completion of the pre-awarding process, including acceptance of the Challenge Regulations.

The pre-awarding process includes obtaining some documents from the participants such as signed copies of the Counterparty Analysis Questionnaire (CAQ) and Challenge Regulations.