Award Winner to be Announced November 17 at the CleanTech Alliance Fourth Annual Meeting
CleanTech Alliance, the nation’s largest state-level clean technology industry association, named Avista Utilities, Cleantech Open and Washington State University as finalists for the 2015 CleanTech Achievement Award. Sponsored by Perkins Coie, the CleanTech Achievement Award winner will be announced November 17 at the CleanTech Alliance Fourth Annual Meeting.
“Washington State has a strong cleantech industry that is making a global impact in clean energy and sustainability,” said J. Thomas Ranken, President and CEO of the CleanTech Alliance. “The CleanTech Achievement Award recognizes that impact by honoring a business or organization that is making significant contributions locally, nationally and globally. The high caliber of the more than 60 applications received is a testament to the cleantech innovation happening in our state.”
The three CleanTech Achievement Award finalists include:
Avista Utilities
Avista Utilities worked with a consortium of partners to deploy the largest vanadium flow redox energy storage system in North America. The project is now generating results, which are being developed into use cases that can be leveraged to replicate Avista’s energy storage deployment at utilities around the globe. Project partners include the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, UniEnergy Technologies, Washington State University and the Washington State Department of Commerce. Funding for the project was made possible by the Clean Energy Fund.
“Avista is making energy storage integration possible within a utility power system by determining actual operating characteristics, economic value, operational value and reliability metrics,” said Curt Kirkeby, Technology Strategist for Avista Utilities. “The impact could eliminate the need for new transmission lines, defer new generation capital improvements and improve our state’s renewable energy resources.”
Cleantech Open
Now in its 10th year, the Cleantech Open is the oldest and largest cleantech startup accelerator program in the U.S., supporting some 150 early-stage startups every year. The Cleantech Open is a nonprofit, volunteer-based and mission-driven organization that works to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with ideas to solve the world’s greatest environmental and energy challenges. Since its inception in 2005, the Cleantech Open has helped more than 1,000 cleantech startups connect to the people and resources they need to accelerate their businesses. The results speak for themselves: over 70 percent of Cleantech Open companies are still in operation; and, Cleantech Open graduates have raised on average $2 million in funding, with more than $1 billion in combined funding to date.
“The mission of the Cleantech Open is to find, fund and foster the most promising cleantech startups. The Pacific Northwest region delivers on that mission with notable alumni that include Helion Energy, Ag Energy Solutions and APANA,” said Richard Franklin, Chairman of the Cleantech Open Board of Directors. “The Cleantech Open continues to grow in the region with 12 Pacific Northwest startups graduating in 2015. We expect tremendous impact from these companies and all of our alumni.”
Washington State University
For more than 65 years, Washington State University has served as an anchor in the region’s cleantech economy. Washington’s only land-grant university boasts 16 research centers and labs leading in aviation biofuels, smart grid, advanced composite and bio-based materials, anaerobic digestion, air and water quality, sustainability building design and organic and precision agriculture. This diverse portfolio has earned Washington State University recognition as a national top-10 cleantech university.
“In the past five years, Washington State University has impacted Washington State’s cleantech economy with 186 sponsored research awards, 107 invention disclosures, 198 patents filed and nine patents awarded, 55 licensing agreements and seven startup company spinoffs,” said Dr. Ralph Cavalieri, Associate Vice President for Alternative Energy at Washington State University. “Washington State University has been and will continue to be the cornerstone of cleantech research and education for generations to come.”
CleanTech Alliance received more than 60 applications for the 2015 CleanTech Achievement Award. An independent panel of judges screened each application to select the three finalists. Each finalist will be spotlighted at the CleanTech Alliance Fourth Annual Meeting on November 17 where the winner will be announced.
The CleanTech Alliance Fourth Annual Meeting is the state’s largest gathering of cleantech industry leaders, featuring more than 300 business executives, investors and policymakers along with multiple international delegations. New this year, the Fourth Annual Meeting will be presented in partnership with the Green Technologies Suppliers Meetings – a series of business-to-business matchmaking meetings designed to spur international partnerships and sales. The CleanTech Alliance Fourth Annual Meeting is sponsored by Boeing Company, Perkins Coie, Wells Fargo Insurance Services and PRR. The event will be held at the Washington State Convention Center.
About the CleanTech Alliance
CleanTech Alliance Washington is the largest state cleantech trade association in the nation, representing more than 330 businesses and organizations. Founded in 2007 by business leaders, the Alliance facilitates the generation and growth of cleantech companies, jobs, products and services to advance the state’s position as a leader in cleantech. The Alliance offers a range of business services and benefits uniquely designed to help businesses gain visibility, access services at a lower cost and benefit from public policy advocacy. Learn more at www.CleanTechAlliance.org.
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Media Contact:
Gabe Boeckman
CleanTech Alliance
gabe@www.cleantechalliance.org
206-389-7271