European Utility Week 2019

On the week of November 11th, the Smart Grid Innovation Network (SGIN) proudly hosted a Canadian Trade Mission to Europe alongside approximately 30 Canadian companies (see the list below), with David Beauvais, Innovation Officer of SGIN as lead organizer along with ACOA and ONB counterparts.

The purpose of the Mission was to exchange ideas and opportunities to find new potential partners in the Smart Grid and Energy Storage sectors that can work together to solve real-life issues in the transitioning clean electricity space. The week started with Remembrance Day ceremonies which in the UK are held on Sunday before November 11th, and as you can imagine the atmosphere for this ceremony was truly impactful. On Monday the team made our way to Canada House in Trafalgar Square, the heart of London, where we were hosted by the Canadian Trade Commissioner to the UK Megan Wood and her staff. We met approximately 30 local companies, utilities, and organizations who are interested in inter-country business exchange. The day included keynote presentations and a panel discussion with leaders in the electricity sector included and ended with some business-to-business exchanges with like-minded companies who recognize the opportunities to collaborate across our borders.

From London, we traveled by train to Paris where the group worked the Canadian Pavilion at the impressive European Utility Week conference. This conference had 18,000 registered attendees and a fleet of vendor presenters plus country Pavilions including France, UK, Denmark, Belgium, France, Canada, and the US to name a few. The keynote presenter theme was the energy sector’s responsibility as relates to climate realities, and a challenge to the audience was “Are we doing enough?”.

 

After three days at European Utility Week, we traveled by train to Zurich, Switzerland where we were hosted by the Canadian Ambassador to Switzerland, Susan Bincoletto, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology for a keynote, a panel discussion, and business-to-business exchanges. There were approximately 30 companies from Switzerland who attended the event, to meet with the Canadian delegation and by all accounts, the exchange was very fruitful. It was an honour to take part in Trade Mission with such a group of skilled delegates from Canada who are of like mind in the energy transition vision for Canada. Below is a list of those who attended from Canada. A special thank you to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agenda (ACOA), Opportunities New Brunswick (ONB), and Global Affairs Canada for supporting such important collaboration events.

Best regards

Greg Robart

CEO – Smart Grid Innovation Network