InnoEnergy, Europe’s sustainable energy innovation engine supported by the EIT, has signed a letter of agreement with the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions (World Alliance), to enhance the impact and increase the synergies of clean, smart and energy efficient technologies.
The signing took place during the opening day of InnoEnergy’s annual innovation event, The Business Booster (TBB), and marks the beginning of a formal cooperation between the two organisations. They will collaborate on a range of regional and international initiatives, including joint industry events and mutual promotion within the parties’ respective networks, which include business start-ups, investors and industry experts.
Dr Bertrand Piccard, Initiator Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation (the sole backer behind the World Alliance), commented: “By bringing together the main actors involved in the fields of clean technologies and sustainability, our goal is to fast-track the implementation of solutions that are profitable to protect the environment. InnoEnergy has a rich network of partners and innovative technologies across Europe’s clean energy ecosystem, which we believe can add significant value to our efforts – and vice versa. This is a truly exciting collaboration that has the potential to accelerate our progress.”
Diego Pavia, CEO of InnoEnergy, added: “InnoEnergy and the World Alliance share a common goal to reduce our environmental impact through innovation. When it comes to turning an idea into a commercial reality there are many moving parts, but by harnessing the combined power of our connections, this collaboration presents a truly win-win situation.
“The backdrop of this signing is particularly apt. With more than 160 clean-tech start-ups, innovations, investors and large energy industry players present, we are already creating the conditions for genuine change.”
Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission, in charge of the Energy Union, gave an inspirational keynote presentation at TBB before being welcomed as a VIP guest to the signing where he said: “The European Union and the European Commission are very happy to support this, because I believe that what we need for the future is: public support, new legislative framework – which we are putting in place for the accelerators – innovation and new solutions. I am absolutely convinced that the powerful alliance, which was created today, will help us to achieve just that.”
InnoEnergy is the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe supported by the EIT. It supports and invests in innovation at every stage of the journey – from classroom to end-customer. With a network of partners, it builds connections across Europe, bringing together inventors and industry, graduates and employers, researchers and entrepreneurs, businesses and markets.
It works in three essential areas of the innovation mix:
- Education to help create an informed and ambitious workforce that understands the demands of sustainability and the needs of industry.
- Innovation Projects to bring together ideas, inventors and industry to create commercially attractive technologies that deliver real results to customers.
- Business Creation Services to support entrepreneurs and start-ups who are expanding Europe’s energy ecosystem with their innovative offerings.
Bringing these disciplines together maximizes the impact of each, accelerates the development of market-ready solutions, and creates a fertile environment in which the innovative results of its work can be driven more strongly and rapidly to market.
The World Alliance for Efficient Solutions was created at the initiative of the Solar Impulse Foundation following the success of the first solar aeroplane flight around the globe to federate the main actors of the field of sustainability and clean technologies and promote profitable solutions to protect the environment. It benefits from the media, political and institutional relations developed over the course of the Solar Impulse project.
An association registered under Swiss law and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, the World Alliance is a non-profit entity and offers services to its members free of charge. To guaranty its independence, all members are required to sign and follow the principles and values laid out in its Charter and accept to be held accountable to its standards.
Image: Courtesy of InnoEnergy
