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Eesti Energia announces the first Enefit Idea Hub – The Pitch, an international contest to gather fresh ideas from academia, start-ups and own employees. Ideas are sought in two areas: smart client services and smart grid. The prize pool for the contest is 30,000 euros.

“The customers’ expectations towards energy companies are changing. Customers are increasingly interested in managing their own energy consumption and generating energy themselves. This is no distant change. It is happening in our back yard right now. Our customers’ preferences and inquiries indicate a rising level of expectations. Therefore, the idea contest seeks to map the future of partnerships and find new ideas to facilitate smarter and more efficient energy use by customers,” said Eesti Energia CEO Hando Sutter .

“We believe that Estonia is a perfect country for such idea contests in the energy sector. We have been among energy industry pioneers in terms of comprehensive smart meter coverage. Estonians are eager to try out and adopt various e-solutions, and a central repository accessible to all on equal conditions allows 100% transparency on electricity generation and consumption,” he added.

Among others, the contest seeks ideas on best storage solutions for solar and nuclear power. The world is increasingly headed towards energy from renewables, but best solutions for weather-independent energy production are still to be found. Another unsolved issue relates to transforming the ever more popular electric vehicles into mobile storage devices to deliver power to off-grid locations.

The Enefit Idea Hub contest is open for universities and start-ups from Estonia as well as Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – all the markets where Eesti Energia currently operates. The contest will be promoted through uniEesti Energia will hold inspiration days in Tallinn and Helsinki to introduce the contest’s goals and better communicate the challenges of the energy sector. At the Tallinn event, guest speakers are internationally renowned new tech advocate Minter Dial and co-founder of Estonian start-up Veriff Kaarel Kotkas and in Helsinki, Wolt founder Elias Aalto and Varjo founder Niko Eiden . Both inspiration days also feature Eesti Energia executives who will speak about the future of the energy sector and describe the challenges to be addressed by the idea contest.

The deadline for submitting ideas is 18 November 2018.

Eesti Energia has implemented numerous cooperation projects with universities. For example, a joint project is currently underway with TalTech to research re-use opportunities for limestone, a by-product of oil shale mining. The Estonian University of Life Sciences has helped investigate possibilities for using shale ash in agriculture. Other challenges have been tackled with private partners – a notable example is the Enefit280 liquid fuel production technology, developed jointly with the international company Outotec.

Further information on the contest:

Inspiration Days:Tallinn, 31 October , 17:00-19:00 at Gustav Adolf’s Grammar School, Kotzebue building (Vana-Kalamaja 9)Helsinki, 8 November , 16:15-19:00 at Aalto University

In Tallinn: 30 November, semi-finals and pitching of TOP 30 ideas13 December, the finals финал

More information on the contest: [ideahub.enefit.com](http://ideahub.enefit.com/index%5Feng.html).

Monika Viidul Communications ManagerTel: +372 5212602