EM - December 2013/January 2014 - (Page 12)

12 INNOVATION December 2013/January 2014 * www.esb.ie/em Innovation Ireland Civil, Building and Environmental Conference hosted by ESB International Forum event Right: The Civil, Building and Environmental Conference 2013 was highly successful and ESB International would like to extend thanks to all staff involved in the organisation of the event. EXCELLENCE IN CIVIL engineering is critical to the success of ESB's investment strategy and ESB International held a conference to focus on how the Civil Engineering group can meet the company's growth plans and targets. Over 100 staff and clients attended the event, which proved to be both informative and stimulating as various presentations, panel discussions and workshops were held throughout the day. Key areas of discussion were on the project lifecycle risk management and a review of the services provided to demonstrate ESB International's value offering. Presentations from staff included the following: * Concept * Planning and Permitting * Design * Sustainable Design * Construction * Operations and Maintenance * Innovative ways of working * Servicing the international markets John McSweeney, Head of Innovation, speaking at the event. 8 The Innovation Ireland Forum, hosted by Silicon Republic and co-sponsored by ESB, took place on Friday October 11th. Four engaging workshops took place throughout the afternoon ranging from building information modelling, wind energy and surveys, de-risking through survey and enabling works as well as ocean energy and marine interconnectors. A highlight of the conference was an exhibition of posters and a number of videos from recent projects, which generated lively discussion between the delegates during the breaks. The event was highly successful and ESB International would like to extend thanks to all staff involved in the organisation of the event. The event took place on Thursday, November 7th at the Knightsbrook Hotel in Trim. Eoin O Brien, Engineering Manager Civil, Building & Environmental, ESB International addressing the audience. Leading US smart grid investor shares insights with ESB 8 Smart grid has been one of the cleantech industry's biggest buzzwords for a number of years, with many US companies at the leading edge. The ESB Novusmodus technology committee was recently briefed on emerging trends from the US market by one of the sector's leading investors. A RECENT REPORT by market analysts Navigant Research estimated that the US smart grid market was worth $33bn in 2012. While much of this spend is attributable to the nationwide rollout of advanced metering infrastructure, a number of utilities are beginning to embrace smart technologies as a competitive tool and means of enhancing profitability. Lee Burrows of Vantage Point Venture Partners - a Tier 1 US cleantech investor - was in Dublin in September to discuss developments in the US market with the ESB Novusmodus technology committee. Vantage Point have invested in a number of companies in the sector including: * Alert Me, a UK company that provides energy and home monitoring hardware and services - best-known for their partnership with British Gas/Centrica THE FORUM BROUGHT together leaders from government, academia, engineering, technology and investment to discuss the innovations that are required to deliver sustainable solutions for the economic challenges of the 21st century. John McSweeney, Head of Innovation, was one of the panellists speaking at the event highlighting that innovation is a key feature of the energy market and that emerging technologies are set to revolutionise the lives of consumers and businesses. His quote that "Energy is the new technology" excited the tech-savvy audience so much so it was a highly talked about topic on Twitter that day. The Forum addressed how Ireland can become an international test bed for the innovation economy and looked at how we can exploit our credentials as a world-leading location for technology and software companies which is underpinned by a vibrant research and development ecosystem. Other significant points made on the day included: * Bror Salmelin from the EU Commission said that research suggests that one tech job equals 4.3 jobs in the wider economy. * Minister Richard Bruton TD, said: "Entrepreneurship is the major ingredient in successful innovation." * Ireland is now a 'two-hour country' meaning that all major hubs are accessible in this time which aids business, entrepreneurship and innovation. * US foreign direct investment in Ireland now stands at $181 billion which is more than the combined FDI in Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa. * Ireland is a great place for innovators - let's all work together to make it even better. n To watch the videos from the event visit www.siliconrepublic.com/iif. ESB's Deputy Chief Executive speaks at IVCA Annual Dinner * Innovari, a demand response company targeting I&C customers and utilities in the US and southern Asia * Tendril Networks provides the platform for utilities to implement demand response for domestic customers and small businesses * Trilliant provide the communications platform to enable real-time flow of information to and from customers * Next Step Living, a US company that partners with utilities to drive deeper insights into their customer base in order to achieve sales of energy efficiency products and services. n Lee's key messages were * Unless utilities react to the challenges of smart grid technologies they face the loss of revenue and an erosion of their profits * Utilities in the US that fully leveraged smart grid technologies were able to lower their customer churn rate, increase sales of services and efficiency products and reduce capital and cost to serve * Customers are sometimes suspicious of utilities' intentions in respect of smart grid so the utilities should recognise and engage with customers on a phased basis ESB Novusmodus owns a 5% stake in the Vantage Point's Cleantech II fund. Pictured (l-r) are: Mark Horgan, Chairman IVCA; Ann Markey, partner Greencoat Capital (on secondment from ESB); John Teeling, guest speaker; and Brid Horan, Deputy Chief Executive, ESB. THE ANNUAL DINNER of the Irish Venture Capital Association is the premier social event for the venture capital industry in Ireland. With an attendance of over 350 annually, all of the key players in the sector are represented - including funds, advisers, investee companies and associated government and other bodies. This year's event was sponsored again by Greencoat Capital, the adviser to ESB's cleantech fund, ESB Novusmodus. ESB's Deputy Chief Executive, Brid Horan, introduced the guest speaker for the evening - Dr John Teeling. John is best known as the founder of Cooley Distillers but has been a serial entrepreneur in oil and mineral exploration for many years. Brid talked about "inevitability of change" and the need for businesses to be innovative in order to be successful, particularly in an uncertain environment. She spoke about ESB's history of innovation and mentioned its current innovative activities including ecars, smart grid, as well as ESB Novusmodus. She highlighted that ESB Novusmodus "not only supports start-up companies working in the sector, it also provides ESB with a unique insight into new and emerging technologies that could be components of our future energy landscape". n http://www.esb.ie/em http://www.siliconrepublic.com/iif

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of EM - December 2013/January 2014

EM - December 2013/January 2014
Contents
News
Innovation
Generation & Wholesale Markets
BSC & Electric Ireland
ESB Networks Ltd
Health & Habitat

EM - December 2013/January 2014