CES 2019: InnoEnergy, the European driver of the energy transition

InnoEnergy is a European accelerator created out of an initiative by the European Union and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) to accelerate and bring more sustainable energy solutions to market, whether they are for cities, industries of the future or energy networks.

With 232 employees in 6 EU countries and more than 400 international partners, InnoEnergy's network consists of major players in the energy sector: large industrial groups, SMEs, academics, research centers and startups.

What does CES represent for you?

Participating in the CES with ENGIE is important because it shows that our strong partnership is real. That also corresponds exactly our mission to help innovative startups that need support from large companies to make their solutions more reliable and to roll them out commercially.

We want to thank ENGIE for welcoming us into their booth at CES as well as one of the startups of our ecosystem, Atawey, and allowing us to make it clear that we’re doing real things, not just full of good intentions.

What do you hope the CES does for you?

The CES is one of the major innovation showcases. For InnoEnergy, the CES means visibility and outreach. Even if we are principally focused on the European market, the event is a way of understanding what’s happening in North America.

We could definitely go back on our own in the next few years.

Tell me about Atawey, who are going to be there with you at CES.

We are very happy to have them in our ecosystem!

Firstly because they have a solution for mobility, a theme that interests us enormously. At InnoEnergy, we’re focusing on sustainable energy solutions for buildings and infrastructure, as well as mobility solutions.

Atawey is a hydrogen mobility solution, which is an area of growing interest for local authorities and industrial customers. Even if they are still currently limited to the French market, Atawey is commercially mature, and we have big ambitions for the startup.

A point we are particularly proud of: it is a 100% French solution. Being with them at CES is a way to help a very technological startup, based in Chambéry, that values the expertise of various French regions. It offers something really efficient that pleases customers, especially ENGIE Cofely, with whom Atawey is already working on several projects.

What would be a magic encounter for you at CES?

We would like to identify US startups that want to set up in Europe and for whom InnoEnergy could become a bridgehead to the European territory.

In Europe we are excellent with regards to technology and many aspects of innovation but we still have a lot to learn from Americans about going to market. We are aware of our strengths but also the inherent weaknesses of our European business culture and the fact of integrating British and American startups would be beneficial for InnoEnergy.

We can also imagine a number of other nice surprises: that’s the unexpected part inherent to a show like CES!

How do you see renewable energies in 2030?

My vision largely matches that of the ENGIE Group!

I see them first of all as being completely decentralized. Energy decentralization is a major trend, whether with regards to production or consumption with energy that self-generated and consumed, systems for sharing energy and its value. I imagine 2030 as the time when energy will be decentralized on a large scale, obviously using renewable energies.

The second point is the connection between all these solutions in digital systems. Today we have the means to make technological solutions fully effective, monitor, maintain, and get information back to the customer in real time. By 2030, we will certainly have advanced on all these aspects.

Finally, we must not consider 2030 as a goal but as a step towards ever more renewable energy. Research therefore remains fundamental for going even further, for moving on to industrial-scale systems, and never stopping innovating.