Budding Clean Energy Technologies Get Test-Bed

The Austin Technology Incubator’s Clean Energy Incubator and Austin Energy have agreed to create the first test-bed environment in the United States for alternative energy companies to prepare their technologies for commercialization.

The partnership will allow clean technology companies to accelerate their path to market through early product validation with a leading utility. The test-bed partnership, supported unanimously by the Austin City Council, will allow Clean Energy Incubator member companies to plug into different parts of Austin Energy’s grid to prove their technologies.

“A major slowdown in getting clean energy companies to market is early utility validation,” says Joel Serface, director of Clean Energy Incubator. “Through our test-bed partnership, Austin Energy will give critical feedback and credibility to startups who prove themselves in Austin Energy’s environment.”

For the past three years, Austin Energy has been ranked as the No. 1 green energy program in the country by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, generating more revenue than its closest competing utilities in Portland, Ore. and Los Angeles. Its Green Choice program has sold more than 334 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy last year.

A report by SustainLane, a green media company, released last week named Austin the No. 1 U.S. city in incubating and clustering clean technology companies. The report ranked 50 cities and credits Austin with creating a robust test facility that is an innovative and economic step forward for the clean energy market.

The Clean Energy Incubator is extending an invitation to companies to come to Austin and participate in this unique partnership. By applying to participate in the Austin Clean Energy Venture Summit, start-up companies will have the opportunity to present to the Clean Energy Incubator, Austin Energy, leading international venture capitalists and energy companies. Several of the companies selected to participate in the conference will be extended invitations to take part in the test-bed partnership.

The Clean Energy Venture Summit, held on May 14-16, will highlight many of the potential technologies that will help create “The Utility of the Future,” including green building, energy efficiency, grid-connected vehicle technologies and smart-grid applications.

To participate in this conference, please go to http://www.cleanenergyventuresummit.com.

The Clean Energy Incubator has been a leader in building clean-tech companies since its inception in 2001 when it was formed as a program of the Austin Technology Incubator, a division of The University of Texas at Austin, the IC2 Institute, and inspired by the National Renewable Energy Lab. The incubator oversees seven portfolio companies in the clean-tech market and is supported by the Texas State Energy Conservation Office and Austin Energy. [sorry this link is no longer available]