Industrial Heat Challenge

Iberdrola is no stranger to collaborating with startups. The group actively seeks to generate mutually beneficial partnerships and to facilitate the implementation of the best ideas.

Iberdrola group was 20 years ahead of the current energy transition and has now got an unprecedented 75-billion-euro investment plan up until 2025 to maintain its position at the forefront of the energy revolution the world's leading economies are facing, consolidating its business model based on more renewable energies, more grids, more storage and more smart solutions for customers.

The solution selected in this Challenge will be developed in collaboration with the technical specialists from the Iberdrola Industrial Heating and Cooling area.

The prize will consist on signing a collaboration agreement for the development of a proof-of-concept (PoC) with Perseo - International Startup Programme and/or with any other relevant Iberdrola group company, who will assume the costs and provide the winner with the necessary technical support, giving access to infrastructures and real data to test the solution.

If the proof-of-concept is satisfactory, Iberdrola may offer the winner the opportunity to scale up the solution by means of commercial agreements. In addition, Perseo may consider investing in the participant.

Iberdrola is looking to help industries with their energy transition, searching for ad-hoc solutions for factories to improve the efficiency of the energy used while reducing CO2 emissions in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.

To join this Challenge, your solution must all in one or more of the following focus areas:

1) Automation project design for decarbonization of industrial processes using software tools
2) Hybridization of clean technologies, for example:
• Heat pumps
• Electric furnaces
• Energy efficiency measures
• Green hydrogen
• Self-consumption by distributed renewable energy
3) Energy consumption & savings simulations
4) Project finance calculations based on project CAPEX and OPEX inputs:
• Investment Rate of Return (IRR)
• Net Present Value (NPV)
• Payback Periods (PB)

When you win the Challenge, the main prize will consist of you signing a collaboration and proof of concept agreement with Iberdrola/Perseo.

For the collaboration of the pilot project, Iberdrola will:
• assume the costs of the collaboration and the proof of concept
• provide you with the necessary technical support to test the solution proposed
• give you access to equipment, appliances, infrastructure, high technology sites and joint work areas
• provide you with a real environment and real data to test your solution

Additional benefits include:
• scaling your solution by means of commercial agreements directly or indirectly through another Iberdrola group company
• a possibility for investment in your company through PERSEO
• adding your solution to Iberdrola's service territory if the PoC succeeds

The winner of the challenge will sign a partnership contract with Iberdrola and be able to test their solution in a real environment.

For the collaboration of the pilot project, Iberdrola will:
• assume the costs of the collaboration and the proof of concept
• provide the necessary technical support to test the solution proposed
• give access to equipment, appliances, infrastructure, high technology sites and joint work areas
• provide a real environment and real data to test the solution

The pilot project will be developed in collaboration with the technical specialists from the Iberdrola Industrial Heating and Cooling area.

You are welcome to submit more than one proposal, just make sure to submit a separate application form for each.

The application period for this challenge ends on 7 March 2021.

The proposals will be analyzed based on criteria of:
• Scalability
• Replicability
• Ease of implementation
• Integration of ad-hoc decarbonization solutions for industrial plants

The analysis of the offers will be carried out by experts in the network business of Iberdrola's group.

The major energy transition challenges of the Green Deal and the associated ambitious goals will need close collaboration across value chains. It will also require concrete pilots with the best startups, knowledgable corporates and technology institutes that the European ecosystem has to offer. On that account, the European Innovation Council (EIC) is opening applications for the Energy4Planet, a brand new initiative, part of the EIC Corporate Program, that builds upon the success of last year's EIC Planet.tech.

With the Energy4Planet initiative, the EIC Business Acceleration Services once again offers the opportunity to enhance the cooperation with large corporates and to co-create innovative solutions to a number of challenges in the field of energy transition.