Collaboration between the energy industry and startups is a must. Indeed, climate policy and energy transition require innovative projects.
This is the main conclusion of the Energy Innovation Day “In search of heat, less is more”. The event took place on 4 April at the Kamienica Theatre in Warsaw on the initiative of the Energy Club and the Startup Hub Poland Foundation.
The conference attracted representatives from start-ups, VC funds, energy companies, as well as people from the academia and the media. Guests included representatives from ENEA Innowacje, KGHM Polska Miedź, Tauron, PGNiG Ventures and PGNiG Termika, ORLEN Ventures, PKO TFI as well as the Polish Development Fund, BGK, the National Centre for Research and Development, Atende, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy and the National Patent Office.
The Energy Innovation Day was not only an opportunity to meet face-to-face and discuss possible collaborations. There was also a discussion about the barriers and expectations of both sides, i.e. those who have innovative projects for the energy sector and the institutions and companies that are capable of financing them.
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Focus on the customer
As part of the workshops for start-ups taking place during the conference, their representatives learned:
- how to successfully obtain funding for the upcoming stages of project development;
- how to implement them in a corporation;
- how to find out about the energy industry’s expectations related to innovation.
Industry representatives unanimously asserted that the Polish energy sector is looking for modern solutions. They are primarily intended to improve customer service, improve the efficiency and utilisation rate of the grid and enable energy storage. At the same time, companies in the sector are counting on domestic start-ups. These, in turn, expecting financial support, should offer projects that can be commercialised.
The development of renewables and the growing number of prosumers make innovations that improve the customer service process particularly important. It is the customer in the energy industry that is now most important. The philosophy of customer orientation and market approach has changed.
Innovation to build security
Over the last 10 years the entire energy sector has undergone major changes. This is related to the implementation of climate policy, leading to phasing out of fossil fuels and necessitating innovations to stabilize the electricity system.
Energy security cannot be built on sources that are unstable and uncontrollable due to the weather. This is why every energy storage project is so important to us.
In addition to energy storage, Enea also wants to invest in the development of smart grids, i.e. smart metering systems. Both solutions are important in the context of building energy security in a system dominated by renewables.
Enea Innowacje offers a two-tiered cooperation to startups. The first level is a typical accelerator, i.e. verification of projects and assessing their costs, followed by funding after the decision to cooperate. More advanced startups are offered the second form of cooperation, i.e. Venture Capital. It involves seeking funding opportunities in partnership with other funds.
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New technologies – an opportunity for decarbonisation
KGHM Polska Miedź is also exploring the possibility to cooperate with startups. The copper giant is implementing its energy transition strategy. At the same time, it is also a producer of minerals specifically required for the transition on a global scale. Innovative solutions are therefore sought in both areas.
According to Mr Radosław Żydok, Director of the Transformation Projects Department of KGHM Polska Miedź, Poland’s energy transition comes at a high cost. However, the ‘momentum of climate policy’ cannot be stopped.
For KGHM, the transition is a great opportunity. Not only copper, but also our other metals will be needed. They are used in PV and wind turbines, as well as electric vehicles. This business will grow. Therefore, innovation towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and generating our own energy from renewables are important.
KGHM is one of the largest offtakers of electricity in the country. It consumes about 3 TWh per year – about as much as a large city. Hence, innovative solutions that offer savings opportunities are particularly important for the company. To secure its future, KGHM has a decarbonisation plan. The company wants to implement technologies that will mature and can be deployed on a large scale in the years to come.
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Innovation in energy management
Tauron’s Vice-President, Patryk Demski, pointed to the commitment of companies in the sector to help their customers/offtakers with the energy transition.
We have energy-intensive customers and those living in old blocks of flats. For the latter, we particularly need modern solutions. And the more renewables are connected, the less controllable the networks are. We are therefore interested in projects that enable energy management.
According to Tauron’s vice-president, sometimes in meetings with start-ups the impression is created that they only treat cooperation as an interim stage in order to be able to develop the project and then sell it profitably abroad.
New technologies – an opportunity for decarbonisation
The Energy Innovation Day conference provided an opportunity to showcase selected innovative solutions for the industry. Eight start-ups selected from dozens of entries for the first edition of the Energy Innovation Day presented their projects.
- Innovative solutions included ideas such as:
a battery using nuclear energy, - an IT tool to identify the carbon footprint of small and medium-sized entities,
- a solar thermal collector,
- a CFC-free cooling unit,
- a photocatalytic hydrogen generator,
- a thermoelectrolyser to produce hydrogen using waste heat.
Winner of the first Energy Innovation Day
The winner of the first Energy Innovation Day was mPower Green Tech. It was awarded a cheque for PLN 20,000 for a mobile device for processing biomass and waste to produce green electricity, heat and green hydrogen. The SynGen reactor converts all tars and organic pollutants (i.e. essential organic compounds, carcinogens, aromatics, etc.) into pure synthesis gas, regardless of the level of contamination.
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