Registrations for the Free Electrons World Acceleration Programme have now closed, with 451 applications from all over the world. Applications were received from a total of 51 countries. 143 applications came from the USA, followed by Ireland with 30, Australia with 27 and Brazil with 24. Sixteen of the start-ups currently being evaluated are from Portugal.

The 12 start-ups selected to participate in the three acceleration modules, lasting one week and focused on innovation for utilities, will be announced in early April.  The three modules will be delivered in San Francisco/Silicon Valley, Lisbon/Dublin and Singapore.

The winning start-up will receive a cash prize of 50,000 euros.

In January, EDP joined seven other utilities from countries such as Australia, Singapore, Germany, USA and UAE to establish the consortium to launch the world start-ups acceleration programme. Free Electrons seeks to recruit start-ups connected with energy to drive the next generation of ideas in clean energy, energy efficiency, electric mobility, digital technology and customer services on-demand.

The Free Electrons programme was started by eight international utilities: AusNet Services, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), ESB (Electricity Supply Board), EDP (Energias de Portugal), innogy, Origin Energy, Singapore Power (SP) and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), with the support of two accelerator partners, New Energy Nexus and swissnex San Francisco.

An advantageous approach for both parties

The utilities and accelerators supporting the Free Electrons programme have taken on a commitment to a future in which energy is smart, clean and affordable to all. The Free Electrons programme was developed for start-ups linked to energy with the aim of further enhancing their products and services, with the potential to test and develop them in a global portfolio of around 73 million customers. Industry leaders provide knowledge, resources and access to their customer portfolios in exchange for investment and partnership opportunities.

The Free Electrons programme partners are leaders in the transition to clean energy, covering more than 40 countries, representing more than $148 billion in combined sales and access to more than 73 million end customers worldwide.

Since 2007, EDP, through EDP Inovação, has been supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in the energy industry, particularly through EDP Ventures (corporate venture capital fund), EDP Starter (business incubation programme) and the development of a range of pilot and technology demonstration projects. Free Electrons is now taking EDP's innovation activities to the major worldwide innovation hubs.