Fly-over No More! ENGIE’s Global Leadership Team Gets Download on Midwest Innovation
Last week, we welcomed ENGIE CEO Isabelle Kocher and her global executive leadership team to Chicago for a morning of discussions surrounding the Midwest’s thriving innovation ecosystem. We covered a wide range of energy and innovation topics tied to the energy transition, many of which focused on the themes of decarbonization, digitalization, and decentralization integral to ENGIE’s global business strategy.
ENGIE, one of the world’s largest energy companies and the only company with a female CEO on CAC-40, isn’t a stranger to Midwest, as they acquired Chicago-based SoCore Energy in April of 2018 to create ENGIE Distributed Solar (EDS). EDS serves as ENGIE North America’s distributed solar platform. While EDS works across the country, they have made a particularly strong impact in driving clean energy policy in Illinois. Additionally, ENGIE actively partners with clean energy businesses and the advocacy community on legislation that promotes the local solar market and job creation.
Event moderator Kevin Phelan and Clean Energy Trust CEO Erik Birkerts kicked the day off by highlighting the attributes that make the Midwest a world-class energy innovation hub: world-class universities, national laboratories, a density of Fortune 500 corporations, and a strong STEM-educated workforce. Following introductions, Erik welcomed Energize Ventures Managing Director Amy Francetic, 75F Founder and CEO Deepinder Singh, and Uptake Energy Solutions Lead Sonny Garg to the stage for a discussion on the state of cleantech investment and opportunity in the United States and the Midwest.
The conversation focused around how corporations can best engage with startups to decarbonize. While decentralization is happening everywhere, and in every industry, the energy industry layers decarbonization on top of it. Decarbonization is a complex problem that requires we work efficiently, and fast. Sonny shared that established energy companies interested in engaging with young companies to solve decarbonization need to first spend time defining their strategy, then getting executive buy-in. Amy explained that digitization, such as cybersecurity and AI, can’t be seen as the solution — it is simply an ingredient. Deepinder recommended energy companies use startups as their extended R&D team for additional exploration and innovation opportunities. As companies increasingly price climate change into their businesses, partnerships between new and nimble and established and sage companies will need to continue to increase and develop as we work together to solve our complex problems.
ENGIE and Microsoft capitalized on the gathering to announce their long-term solar and wind energy power purchase agreement (PPA) in the U.S. and implementation of Darwin, an energy software developed by ENGIE using Microsoft Azure’s intelligent cloud services. The innovative volume firming agreement (VMA) signed under the PPA allows Microsoft to buy “firm” power from ENGIE’s Texas-based wind and solar projects, decreasing the risk associated with purchases of renewable power. ENGIE and Microsoft’s innovative partnership aims to optimize the performance of ENGIE’s wind, solar, and hybrid renewable assets worldwide.
The event concluded when Chicago’s Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar, a former CET portfolio company founder and CEO, discussed the city’s ambitious sustainability and environmental goals. Before adjourning, Betsy Ziegler, the CEO of 1871, shared a few comments and statistics on the strength and diversity of Chicago’s startup scene, including the fact that 30% of startup founders are female in the City and that Chicago was recognized with the highest investor returns nationally for the 3rd year in a row. Is this a coincidence? Probably deserves a closer look!
