$US200 million smart grid investment up for grabs

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 14 July 2010 17:37

IT Industry - Development

GE, in conjunction with a group of venture capital funds, has pledged to invest $US200 million in the best ideas to accelerate the development of a smart electricity grid.

Although GE's "ecomagination Challenge" originates in the US, it is open to innovators around the world and local GE officials say "there is a huge opportunity for Australian innovators to claim a share of the investment fund."

Steve Sargent, CEO, GE Australia and New Zealand said "Australia is in a strong position to become a world leader in sustainable practices. We have recently seen great advances in energy innovation, particularly in smart grid technology, funded by local venture capitalists, energy companies and government grants."

"This challenge is about collaboration and harnessing the promise of fledgling ideas and businesses to transform our energy future. There is a real possibility that an Australian innovation could win this challenge and we encourage plenty of strong entries from this country," Sargent explained.

The challenge for entrants is to come up with the best ideas to build a next-generation power grid.

"The need for cleaner energy and better efficiency has never been more apparent. The ideas and technology exist now to make this transformation, we just need to develop them and put them to use," said GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt.

"GE has invested broadly and deeply to deploy innovative solutions on a massive scale, but we can't do it alone," he explained. "With this challenge we are inviting others to work with our partners and us to accelerate progress in creating a cleaner, more efficient and economically viable grid.  We want to jump-start new ideas and deploy them on a scale that will modernise the electrical grid around the world." 

CONTINUED