Innovative approach to technology transfer
in the renewable energy sector
Brussels, 27 June 2006 – A dozen promising research
results in the field of renewable energy have been selected
for support in commercialisation by a new initiative to promote
technology transfer. This initiative is the first of its kind
to adopt an EU-wide and sectorial approach to technological
innovation based on public research results.
Europe suffers from an innovation gap that separates it from
its global competitors. While the European research base is
solid and produces excellent scientific output, the rather low
levels of exploitation of these research findings hamper the
innovation performance of many industry sectors. Especially
publicly funded projects tend to fail to commercialise their
results.
Looking at the strong growth of the European renewable energy
industry, which increased its annual turnover tenfold from 1.5
bn EUR to 15 bn EUR between 1990 and 2004, one cannot deny that
innovation is happening successfully on a broad scale: The renewable
energy sector is mostly made up of technology-focused small
and medium-sized companies most of which were inexistent 20
years ago. Yet, there is still room for improvement as commercialisation
needs to follow the rapid speed of scientific developments.
Initiated by the European group of renewable energy research
centres EUREC Agency, the Commission-funded project “Promotion
of renewable energy technology transfer” (ProRETT) is
applying a new methodology for quicker and broader exploitation
of scientific research results in the fields of renewable energy
and energy efficiency in the form of licensing or spin-off creation.
ProRETT offers transfer services to teams that wish to commercialise
new technology applications, materials or processes elaborated
in publicly funded research projects. The team behind this project
unites all the stakeholders and skills required for a successful
technology transfer: Researchers, technology transfer professionals,
finance and industry.
In a first selection round, 27 research results were proposed
for further support coming from a broad range of renewable energy
technologies and supporting tools. 12 proposals were selected
for potential commercialisation. They will now receive individual
coaching for market and risk analysis, business plan and model
development and brokerage to interested investors. Entrepreneurial
training for the teams aiming at spin-off creation is also part
of the package.
"Most research centres already have technology transfer
offices. What ProRETT can provide in addition is the European
dimension which many transfer agents lack, as well as a complete
range of services that cannot be offered by all individual transfer
centres. Moreover, the ProRETT team has a very successful track
record of licensing and spin-off creation", says EUREC
Agency’s Secretary General Katharina Krell. ProRETT’s
particularity lies in its sector specific approach: all project
partners are specialising in the clean energy sector, even the
venture capital fund.
To be eligible for support with commercialisation, three conditions
must be met: the research must have benefited from public funding
for its development, the proposal must be related to the fields
of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and the commercialisation
must happen in Europe. The consortium still accepts proposals
until November 2006, interested actors are advised to get in
touch with ProRETT-coordinator EUREC Agency.
If successful, ProRETT could serve as model for technology transfer
from public research to the market in form of spin-off creation
or licensing. A public event is planned for late 2007 to discuss
the strategy and policy implications of the project findings.
Project Partners
Research
- European Renewable Energy Centres Agency E.E.I.G. (EUREC
Agency) – Belgium
Technology transfer professionals
- Asesoria Industrial Zabala SA (ZABALA) – Spain
- i.con. innovation GmbH (ICON)-Germany
- Technofi SA (TECHNOFI)-France
- Mermaid Ventures /InvestorNet – Gate2Growth initiative
(MERMAID) - Denmark
Innovation finance / private investors
- Axiom Venture Capital (AXIOM) - Germany
- CAPITALIA bank - Italy
Industry
- European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) - Belgium
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