Endesa, a leading company in the Spanish electricity sector, has announced that it is creating its first laboratory that focuses on blockchain technology with the aim of obtaining new applications and user cases specific to the energy industry and which can be applied to the Spanish market.

“Endesa's objective with this platform is to learn; make controlled mistakes, check to see what implications there may be; and understand the rules in a decentralised world where there is still a long way to go”, Endesa said.

The announcement was made alongside the launch of a new challenge focusing on blockchain technology for the electricity industry. The company will be accepting applications from 01 November 2016 to 31 January 2017, through Endesa Energy Challenges, the company's new collaborative platform that seeks, together with entrepreneurs, new energy efficient products and services.

The company will shortlist the projects based on their potential value for Endesa because they define new products or services in the short- and medium-term and because they bring long-term emerging technologies of interest forward. All of them will be based on the use of blockchain, the press release said.

Endesa will select the final projects between 1 February and 31 March and start working together with the candidates, who will start developing their proposals using Endesa's support. Ad-hoc collaboration agreements are expected to be arranged to develop each one.

On 1 April, the selected projects are expected to be announced and, from then on, the company will work together with the winners.

Endesa provides services to more than 11 million customers and that directly employs more than 10,000 people.