SGIN Canada brings Canadian Delegation to Enlit Europe
We’re back from Enlit Europe in Frankfurt! We were so excited to finally attend Enlit Europe after a 2-year COVID hiatus. This was our second time attending Enlit and this year we brought our largest delegation to date. Many of our SGIN members joined our delegation including Saint John Energy, University of New Brunswick, Viable Solutions Ltd., Siemens along with Université of Moncton, All Rock Consulting, Mysa Smart Thermostats, Opportunities New Brunswick, Innovation PEI, and Nu:Ionic Technologies. We had an impressive mixture of returning and new delegates join us this year. Accompanying the SGIN delegation were advising consultants, Tony Aggarwal and Martyn Staveley from Kinetic Cubed (UK based), to lead the B2B program at Enlit Europe. It was a pleasure to have them back.
This year, our energy mission included two unique site visits in Belgium and Germany, an evening networking reception with Belgium stakeholders, and two busy days attending Enlit Europe. SGIN’s focus during this mission was centered on supporting our delegates business interests as well as developing international relationships and expanding our member network. SGIN also focused on learning opportunities for technology and knowledge-based firms and organizations centered on smarter and more efficient energy transmission, storage, and usage. SGIN is actively working to make Atlantic Canada a stronger player in those elements of the future energy supply chain, and this mission was a valuable learning opportunity for this.
Day 1: Day trip to Wunsiedel, Germany to visit Siemens Site Visit
The day before the opening of the Enlit Europe exhibition, SGIN organized a day trip to Wunsiedel, Germany to visit Siemens independent energy system based exclusively on renewables. The day consisted of visiting their “House of the future of energy” where we learned about their current work presented by Andreas Schmuderer, Head of Department at Siemens. The presentation was followed by a tour of their Energy Park and the wood pellet production site. The biomass power plant generates electricity from waste wood and the waste heat is used to produce wood pellets. The wood pellets are ENplus-certified and made from wood grown in their regional forests. They meet the highest standards and have become a popular source of energy beyond the city limits.
Along our three-hour train ride to Wunsiedel, you could see that there is no shortage of solar farms in the Germany. Despite being among the countries with the least sunshine hours, Germany is one of the largest solar power producers in the world, and home to over 1.86 million energy generating solar PV sites in 2020 (source).
Day 2 & 3: Enlit Europe Conference & Exhibition!
On November 29th & 30th we attended Enlit Europe where our delegates took in Summit sessions and walked the exhibition floor to explore & engage with some of the most innovative companies in Europe. SGIN’s Consultant, Tony Aggarwal, pre-arranged B2B meetings for our delegates to meet the following companies/pavilions at Enlit:
- Basque Energy Cluster,
- InnovationQuarter, CyberGrid GmbH & Co KG,
- French Pavilion (Enedis, Think Smartgrids, ENERGY POOL)
- AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH,
- Schneider Electric pavilion,
- Plexigrid,
- Spanish Pavilion (Smilics)
- Belgian Pavilion,
- German Pavilion,
- And many others.
We learned about the unique challenges and opportunities in Europe, research, emerging technology, and innovation around the energy transition. It was clear that our energy challenges can be resolved only through unity and collaboration, along with political support and cooperation.
Vadym Utkin from Dtek, the largest private investor in the energy industry in Ukraine, opened the keynote session with a powerful introduction. Utkin spoke on the current situation in the energy market of Ukraine and emphasized the importance of Ukraine receiving technical assistance for the restoration of the energy infrastructure. “Last week’s attacks on Ukrainian grid infrastructure by Russia – causing widespread blackout in parts of the country – are a message to Europe”. He encouraged everyone willing to help Ukraine and join efforts in securing the energy industry to visit their pavilion. Read more here.
Day 4 – Evening reception in Genk with local stakeholders
On Thursday Dec.1st, our delegation travelled to Genk, Belgium, to host an evening reception with 12 local energy leaders and to visit EnergyVille the following day. The reception brought together our Canadian delegation and invited guests from Turbulent Hydro, EXTRAQT, Eocycle, ThermoVault, 247.energy, Flexcity, EnergyVille, Cleantech Flanders. Our guests from Belgium pitched their companies to our Canadian delegates, followed by an evening of exchanging ideas and opportunities in Canada & Belgium.
Thank you for joining us! Gerrit Jan Schaeffer, Sebastian Baes, Jasper Verreydt, Maria Elvira Zeman, Nathalie Belmans, Charlotte Struye
Day 5 – Site visit to EnergyVille
We ended our energy mission by visiting EnergyVille in Genk, Belgium on Friday, Dec. 2nd. EnergyVille is a collaboration between the Belgian research partners KU Leuven, VITO, imec and UHasselt for research into sustainable energy and intelligent energy systems. EnergyVille is located at Thor Park , which is a business, technology, and science park where research institutions, start-ups and growth companies, global players in the energy sector, the manufacturing industry, and Smart City applications come together.
EnergyVille gathers research, development, training and innovative industrial activities under one name and is in close collaboration with local, regional and international partners. It was truly inspirational to tour their centre and learn about their research and firsthand. We look forward to continuing our relationship with EnergyVille and exploring how we might replicate their success in Canada.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could establish an EnergyVille in Canada?!
SGIN has big plans to prepare for the next Enlit Europe event that will take place in Paris in November of 2023! Our top priority is to serve the needs of our members, communities, industry and the clean energy ecosystem. There is still a long way to go, but we believe in the power of collaboration in fostering Canada’s transition to reaching net zero.
A big thank you to Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, part of the Federal Government of Canada for supporting this mission.
What’s next?
We have partnered with Econext to lead an Atlantic Canadian Delegation to All-Energy 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland on May 10th – 11th 2023. Similar to Enlit Europe, SGIN and Econext will organize valuable site visit and networking opportunities in conjunction with the All-Energy event. Why should your company attend All-Energy with SGIN & Econext?
- Meet key commercial entities, industry players, potential buyers, investors and/or partners in Europe.
- Find partner and business opportunities with the delegates from across Canada.
- Compare your product/service with international competitors.
- Develop a first-hand understanding of the opportunities and challenges of doing business in foreign markets.
- Gain insights and market intelligence.
- Increase visibility of your product or service.
- Meet key regulatory bodies.
- Participate in SGIN & Econext networking event.
- It is an excellent event for members looking to get involved in implementation projects.
- Participate in pre-organized business to business meetings
- Participate in a site visit organized by SGIN & Econext.
We look forward to another successful mission and encourage you to consider joining our delegation.
How can I engage and get connected to SGIN members and opportunities?
Become a member to stay up to date, participate in our upcoming trade missions similar to Enlit Europe, and join our many initiatives as they form and launch in the coming year.