Spain-based energy group Iberdrola held its second annual Perseo Innovation awards on 30 November, awarding prizes to three Spanish companies which have excelled in research that will solve future problems in the energy industry.
Iberdrola invests capital in innovative renewable energy projects each year through the Perseo initiative, which has an annual budget of €6m($8m). Iberdrola is also examining the prospect of investing up to €4m in each of the Perseo award winners.
The Wattio Group, which develops a technology platform for automated services at home and work focused on energy saving, came first in the new energy efficiency products category. Online energy consumption tracker Servitel was the runner up.
Ingelia, the company behind the world’s first continuously operating industrial plant converting biomass using heat and pressure, won in the innovative biomass technologies category.
The companies follow last year’s winners, both of which focus on energy storage: Bright Energy Storage Technologies, developer of a low-cost underwater energy storage system using compressed air; and Westec Environmental Solutions, which develops gas/liquid absorption technology for carbon capture, and natural gas processing and purification.