Open Innovation Call: Exploring power peak shaving as enabler for resilient neighbourhoods
In The News
17 Oct 2019
For decades the focus in energy system transformation has been on lowering the demand for energy and increasing the energy efficiency performance. While this is extremely important, the latest years lack of power capacity in the Malmö region in Sweden has been an eye-opener for the importance of also actively looking into solutions that can shave peak electricity demands.
In cities or neighbourhoods with inflexible or insufficient power grid and lack of enough locally produced energy sources, power peaks can have unwanted effects for people living and companies operating there. The aim of this call is therefore to identify various ways to shave power peaks at a local city district level.
Background
Challenges of energy efficiency and power peaks is an exceptionally live issue. It has been examined over the years in different context and there are several solutions that can improve the overall running of a well-functioning grid, but some of these solutions involve huge investments in new infrastructure and grid design within the given area to secure a stable energy supply.
To be able to have sustainable growth in Malmö and the surrounding regions, it is of high importance that new city districts are planned to meet challenges of today and tomorrow. The following players have joined to support this open innovation call:
- Smart Cities Accelerator (SCA) is a project-based collaboration in the Øresund Region involving cities, universities and the private sector. The project facilitates, creates and accelerates sustainable solutions for future cities and societies with a focus on energy optimization and the shift towards renewable energy sources. Smart Cities Accelerator run between 2016 and 2020 with funding from its partners and Interreg Øresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak.
- City of Malmö is a municipality in Scania, the southernmost Swedish province. Malmö is a natural hub for people and cultures from worldwide; the city’s inhabitants come from around 170 countries and speak some 150 different languages. The City of Malmö is one of the largest employers in Skåne and its staff work every day to shape Malmö’s present and future.
- E.ON is a private energy company operating in several European countries. The Swedish headquarter is in Malmö, where E.ON is both the distribution grid operator as well as a provider of a wide range of energy solutions.
Format of the call
The competition is an Open Innovation Process open for everyone who wants to share their ideas on how to meet the challenge of power peaks in future resilient neighbourhoods in accordance with the conditions of this call.
All relevant ideas will be taken into consideration. There are no requirements as to how far the idea/proposal/product has been developed, i.e. also ideas taking some areas of the general challenges into consideration are welcome, as the call is looking for multiple ways to deal with the overall aim mentioned in the call text. Therefore, as part of the competition, the idea could be matured towards the finals and beyond.
The finalists will have the opportunity to present their idea at an Open Innovation Day held in Malmö, Sweden, on 5 December 2019. At this Open Innovation Day an expert jury will guide and assist the finalist for a final co-creation of the ideas and choose a winner for the Open Innovation Call.
All proposals submitted are judged in accordance with the judging criteria found on the call website and up to five (5) proposals are selected for a final pitch event on the Open Innovation Day. The process timeline is the following:
| Release of call |
9 October 2019 |
| Webinar |
29 October 2019 |
| Deadline for submissions |
18 November 2019, 12:00 noon CET |
| Presentation of finalists |
25 November 2019 |
| Open Innovation Day |
5 December 2019 |
The process and timeline including the competition manual, submission form and registration to the webinar is described in full detail on the Open Call website.
What’s in it for the winning proposal?
The winner of this competition will be offered a prize that is closely connected to E.ON Agile. The Agile project started off in Germany 2013 as an accelerator for start-ups. The Agile accelerator now takes the next step into being Agile Growth, where programs and pilot tests are tailored specifically for each business. Focus for E.ON now is on finding collaborations, either as an investor, as a client or a partner.
The prize will be customized to fit the winning idea; the state of the invention, the fit to E.ON’s interest and business, the fit to City of Malmö’s ambitions, and the winners point of interest.
Open Innovation Call Partners
