Planet Ark Power presents at the 24th World Energy Congress

Planet Ark Power presents at the 24th World Energy Congress

By Rachel Rayner  September 16th, 2019

The World Energy Congress is the world’s largest and most influential energy event, where change-makers come together to discuss all forms of energy, including Planet Ark Power's technology

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Last week our sister organisation, Planet Ark Power, was invited to showcase their innovations on the global stage at the 24th World Energy Congress (WEC) in Abu Dhabi. The Brisbane-based solar technology and artificial intelligence company presented their award-winning technology at the ‘Innovation Hub’ amongst other visionary start-ups.  
 
The WEC is the world’s largest and most influential energy event, where change-makers come together to examine and discuss all forms of energy, seeking to find the best solution to transition our energy sources from fossil fuels to a range of solar, wind, tide and hydrogen. The aim is to turn our carbon-dependent world into one that slows or even halts the march of climate change.  
 
This sentiment was captured by Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, vice chair of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in summarising his participation in an opening plenary, “this year, we witnessed a number of significant and concerning events for the climate. We have also seen pressure mounting from citizens around the world. We need to move and we are urged to do it quickly.” 
 
The World Energy Council has nominated Planet Ark Power’s technology as the innovation that will speed up renewable energy adoption all over the world. Because of this, Planet Ark Power’s Executive Director, Richard Romanowski, had the honour of participating in the World Energy Leaders’ Summit CEO Roundtable, where energy transition ideas were workshopped in depth. 
 
“The event was a snapshot inside the brains and boardrooms of the global energy leaders,” said Richard, “the entire workshop was about transitioning to clean energy – it was great to hear first-hand about the initiatives, barriers and opportunities of energy transition, such as one example from a shipping company that are building new ships to use both diesel and electric so when batteries are the right price and right density, they can use clean energy. Recharging at ports with solar is seen as a no-brainer solution.” 
 
The theme continued with Planet Ark Power represented during the opening plenary session of day four, Start-up Energy Transition: The Power of the Bold. Richard was one of the four ‘bold entrepreneurs’ who are tackling some of the world’s most pressing energy challenges with new business models, technologies and visions.  
 
The recognition of Planet Ark Power’s global role in decarbonising our energy supplies is incredibly exciting. Adding to this excitement was Richard’s announcement at day one of the Congress, which will help grow the small Brisbane start-up into an integral member of the world energy community, with Planet Ark beside them. 
 
In the opening ceremony of the ‘Innovation Hub Pitch Stage’, Richard officially declared their Series A Investment Offering round open. The announcement was made alongside Dr. Andreas Kuhlmann, CEO German-Energy Agency (dena), a champion of the global energy transition movement, and Angela Wilkinson, incoming Secretary-General of the World Energy Council.  
 
In his speech, Richard said the team at Planet Ark Power were excited to be joining the community of clean energy visionaries. “Six months ago, we were just a small start-up in Brisbane working on solving the challenge of enabling solar on every roof to power our communities,” commented Richard, “we are grateful to the leadership of the World Energy Council and SET (Start-up Energy Transition) initiative for giving us this platform and supporting us as we embark on decarbonising global electricity grids.” 
 
The Series A Investment Offering seeks investors to support an acceleration of participation in global energy markets and significantly decrease the amount of carbon emissions entering our atmosphere every minute.

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By Rachel Rayner

After eight years as a science communicator around the globe, Rachel wanted to concentrate on supporting the environment and discussing energy generation. At Planet Ark she can do both – putting her studies in physics, arts and communication to good use.

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