Thank You to Colorado's Cleantech Community

As we head further into the holiday season, we want to take this opportunity to say "Thank You!" to all of our members, partners and colleagues for your support throughout 2011. We, the CCIA team of staff and volunteers, greatly appreciate your support throughout the year. Because of your partnership, we've had a very successful year working on your behalf. Following are a few highlights.

Earlier in the year, with intense lobbying from the CCIA, the Colorado General Assembly passed a $20 million funding stream for the clean technology grant program to provide seed stage funding to Colorado cleantech companies and proof of concept funding for university research projects. Governor John Hickenlooper signed the bill at a Colorado Cleantech Research awards event on May 26.

CCIA’s relationship with NREL became more formalized with the opening of the NREL- and State of Colorado-sponsored Colorado Center for Renewable Energy Economic Development (CREED), a multi-tenant facility catalyzing the growth of Colorado’s cleantech industry. CCIA is one of the anchor tenants at the CREED facility and partnered with NREL during 2011 to offer industry programming including an Entrepreneurial Series and Finance Accelerator Series. These series will continue with the strong NREL-CCIA partnership that’s been created.

In early November, CCIA helped launch the national Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) network in Denver, along with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. CCIA is one of the founding chapters of the AEE, an organization dedicated to connecting clean technology companies and clusters around the country, and bringing attention to the energy technology solutions offered by these companies. In addition to the nationally covered launch, CCIA hosted an industry awards gala attended by 500 of the who’s who in Colorado’s cleantech community that was keynoted by Kevin Skillern, head of GE Energy’s Venture Capital unit.

It’s through your support of the CCIA that we have been able to accomplish all that we have this past year. CCIA is industry-led and industry-focused and we look forward to the continued growth of Colorado's cleantech cluster in 2012. We have an incredibly busy schedule ahead - classes, sector events, the annual dinner, the research awards - not to mention a busy legislative session and the addition of the AEE programs. Please keep an eye on our calendar of events - trust us, it will be a busy year! If you would like to get involved with the CCIA, please email us.

GGP Energy Builds Successful Commercial Energy Efficiency Technologies

When words like scrappy come up in a conversation, the last thing that may come to mind is the cleantech industry. However, it’s an ideal word to describe Scott Charter, the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of GGP Energy.

To call Charter a self-made man would not only be putting it mildly, but it’d be a bit of an affront. Charter is much more than that term can hope to encompass. He landed in Denver to attend DU law school with little more than sheer drive and a van he resided out of in Denver’s Washington Park.

His background in IT led him to data centers where his keen observations kicked off his cleantech career. “We knew we were spending a lot of money at our commercial data centers,” said Charter of his company’s energy consumption. “We saw that clean tech was a wide-open frontier that we had some experience in because of our data center experience.”

Charter and his business partner, Michael Hollander, struck out to change the way commercial buildings use energy. They found a way to introduce to companies “unique technology to lower energy costs in a commercial building,” says Charter of GGP’s basic mission.

For one, Charter and Hollander have brought the H2OFlow technology to market. This remarkable technology eliminates the need for maintenance chemicals to be used in commercial cooling towers. Not only does the technology make for environmentally friendly water use, but it also significantly reduces the cost of operating and maintaining the cooling tower.

Ultimately, it’s been beneficial that Charter is a scrappy guy. When it comes to making it in the cleantech industry he offers the following advice: “Make sure you’ve got the stomach for it. And I mean that. It’s not always an easy path to ho. We went from a company that was very east to start up because we sold a commodity. Our new company [GGP] we now trying to educate people saying hey, consider doing something differently than you’ve done it since 1920.”

Convincing commercial building owners to open themselves up to the new technology has its challenges. “Its easy to follow the pack. A crowd mentality—you’ll never get fired for buying from a major company. Getting people to change from what they’re used to is difficult,” said Charter.

However Charter and Hollander have come up with creative approaches to entice new customers to try the H2Oflow system. “Installation is for free, we’ll remove it for free. We have to earn their business every month. We’re so confident that our engineer will bring a coffee cup and drink out of the cooling tower,” says Charter of their commitment to the technology.

Modernizing Mechanical Equipment: Sturman Industries

For the last 21 years, Carol Sturman and her husband Eddie, have been revolutionizing the mechanical world. At it’s most simple, their company, Sturman Industries, has been fostering the change from analog to digital processes in all things mechanical.

For years mechanical equipment has fallen behind in efficiency. “We modernize mechanical equipment to make it more efficient— we bring it in to the digital age, said Sturman about her company’s mission.

Sturman’s career path poised her to be a force in the cleantech industry. As a schoolteacher she learned the importance of motivation, her time in real estate taught her precise and effective marketing and as a consultant she found a passion for helping companies save energy and in turn, money.

Her talent to motivate has been instrumental in getting large companies to look at cleantech as a viable and logical solution based in economic preservation. Incidentally, it’s also been her biggest uphill battle. “It’s very hard; it’s not hard to come up with good solutions, but it’s hard to get major companies in these areas to embrace new ideas. It takes a lot of money and a lot of time to get ideas to market,” Sturman said of cleantech startups.

The lure of cleantech was obvious for her. “When you look at benefits from analog to digital you see how it’s transformed our word – we’re bringing that same transformation to mechanical things,” said Sturman of the exciting work Sturman Industries does. “Much of our focus is around energy and engines, we now have a combustion system that can accommodate any liquid or gasous fuel and use it in an efficient way. Small, cheaper, better!”

For Sturman being part of CCIA has been beneficial. “It s always good. I have a funny saying you can have the what you know, but you need to have the who you know. Networking and visibility are so important. You never know where the breakthroughs are going to be in your business. For us, getting to know the right people is very important,” said Sturman.

Just like the Sturman Industries’ website says, they make products that make sense. “It’s time for mechanical systems to be modern and made in a platform that can be used for generations that is safe, clean and renewable,” said Sturman. Furthering that the need is for “good answers, more support and more people demanding better answers.”

For more information on Sturman Industries please visit their website at http://www.sturmanindustries.com/

Who is Your Favorite Colorado Cleantech Leader?

Nominations for the Colorado Cleantech Awards are due tomorrow.

The awards will be presented during the Colorado Cleantech Industry Awards Celebration dinner on Nov. 7 at the Grand Hyatt Denver. This is the main event this year where Colorado's cleantech community come together to honor the creativity and innovation of Colorado's clean technology leaders.

Finalists and winners will be selected by the CCIA Awards Committee to receive recognition in the following categories:

• High Impact Cleantech Company of the Year
• Breakout Cleantech Company of the Year
• Emerging Cleantech Company of the Year
• Colorado Cleantech Entrepreneur of the Year
• National Cleantech Leader

If you know a company or an entrepreneur that you feel is leading the way for Colorado's cleantech industry, we encourage you to nominate them today. See you at the dinner!

Upcoming Event: Hot Topics in Cleantech Patents and Licensing

Hot Topics in Cleantech Patents and Licensing

When: Sept. 29, 7:30 - 9:30 a.m.

Where: Holland and Hart, 555 17^th Street, Suite 3200, Denver, CO 80202

There is no cost to attend, but space is limited

This Thursday, Holland and Hart and CCIA will be presenting Hot Topics in Cleantech Patents and Licensing, a special event on how small cleantech businesses can protect their intellectual property portfolios with patents and licenses. An often-overlooked area, several problems can surface when companies fail to protect their brands, R & D strategies, patents and even licensing agreements. Some of the consequences can include:

1. Loss of competitive strategy in the market
2. Infringements
3. An intangible true-market value when an opportunity to sell presents

Other topics will include: an overview of new cleantech patent initiatives, accelerating the patent process and benefits in the U.S. and internationally and the practical application of critical licensing fundamentals for your business.

Event presenters will include two partners at Holland and Hart, Tracy Gray, who specialized in a full spectrum of intellectual property and privacy matters, and Greg Osterloth, the firm’s patents practice chair. The expertise of Gray and Osterloth will be invaluable for any cleantech industry business owner as the two provide insight from their experiences.

You can register here for the event. Remember, space is limited so register today.

Cleantech Open Regional Semi-Finalists to Compete for Shot at Nationals Tuesday

Every year some of the most promising clean technology start-up companies compete in Cleantech Open. Cleantech Open 2011 is a business competition is designed to take ambitious start-ups to a level where they can pitch venture capitalists and get their business funded and functioning. The competition began in California in 2006 and expanded to the Colorado and Rocky Mountain region two years ago.

Tuesday, the semi-finalists from the Rocky Mountain Region will compete in a regional mock judging so they can develop a 10-minute pitch geared at venture capitalists. The Rocky Mountain Region Awards Ceremony will be in Denver on Oct. 6. Three regional winners for each category and one sustainability winner will be selected to advance to the National Cleantech Open in San Jose, Calif. in November.

The Colorado Cleantech Industry Association support and sponsors the Cleantech Open because of its track record of helping bring cleantech companies to market faster. CCIA and the CTO share the same vision of fostering education and business connectivity to all the necessary stakeholders throughout the region, expanding Colorado as a cleantech industry hub.

A rich blend of mentoring, business-class training, meetings with industry experts and a strong emphasis on building a successful business model make the competition unique. For participants, the opportunity to gain access to these resources can make all the difference in their business journey.

Knowing how multi-faceted the program is, it’s hard to pin down only one thing that competitors get from it. Richard Franklin, the director for the Rocky Mountain Region, knows how well developed the program is. “I don’t know that you could isolate one single piece. If I had to sum it up, it would be education, and business connectivity to all the necessary stakeholders,” says Franklin of the program’s greatest asset.

Often in any industry where economic success is critical, good ideas can’t make it off the ground. Sometimes it can be a lack of funding, a poor business model or even misguided management practices that prevent a company from evolving. A central goal for Cleantech Open is to foster growth from a dynamic cleantech idea to a successful, functioning business. “All of it together translates to a comprehensive process of education and business modeling that mitigates risks and hopefully accelerates their speed to market,” said Franklin.

Winners can receive prizes valued anywhere from $10,000 to $250,000 in funding and in-kind awards. However, the true prize for Cleantech Open participants is the experience itself. No monetary award can compare to the invaluable mentoring, development and evolution a young company gets from participating.

Looking to Export Colorado Cleantech Products? Check Out CO-EXist

If you're looking to export Colorado cleantech products to Mexico or China, and you haven't heard about CO-EXist, you're missing out on a great program! The Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade (OEDIT) administers the "CO-EXist” program. CO-EXist stands for the Colorado Export of Innovative and Sustainable Technologies and has been in place since January of 2010 and will run through December of 2013. The purpose of CO-EXist is to promote Colorado’s cleantech products and services into the Chinese and Mexican markets and facilitate an increase in export sales.

There are a number of components to this program including:

• bringing in buyer’s delegations from China and Mexico to introduce them to Colorado providers of goods and services that they are looking to purchase;
• participating in key industry trade shows in both countries and taking a Colorado delegation with us to display their technologies and have one-on-one meetings;
• a technical assistance fund which helps offset legal fees, contract or technical types of translations, and country specific labeling/packaging/shipping requirements among others, and;
• a Client Development Program which enables qualified Colorado cleantech companies to meet face-to-face with potential Mexican or Chinese buyers.

So what has CO-EXist accomplished to date? "So far, Colorado has hosted 3 foreign buyer delegations and introduced them to more than 40 Colorado cleantech manufacturers and service providers. Companies from across the state have participated with us at the 2010 Green Expo in Mexico City and at the 2011 CIEPEC trade show in Beijing, China. Attending companies have generated at least 3 significant sales and we look forward to many more," noted Stephanie Garnica, Director, Trade & Investment for the Americas at OEDIT. "In addition, the CO-EXist program has provided funding to a number of qualified Colorado cleantech companies through the Client Development Program and Technical Assistance Fund."

The CO-EXist program is funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce and is a unique way to boost exports and promote Colorado as a cleantech leader to the key markets of China and Mexico. "We look forward to working with more Colorado cleantech companies and enabling them to sell into these exciting and opportunity-rich countries!" said Garnica.

Intrigued? Click CO-EXist Program Overview for more information.

Developing Renewable Energy Careers

A Nobel Laureate and the Academic Director at the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado will lead a four-day intensive certification program in renewable energy in Denver.

CCIA is pleased to support the University of Colorado’s RETool Program for Developing Business and Careers in the New Energy Economy.

Now in its third year, RETool moves to Denver offering a Professional Executive Certificate Program offered by CU-Boulder’s Deming Center for Entrepreneurship. Aimed at examining renewable energy technologies and policies, and identifying opportunities, the program offers incomparable industry insight.

World-class instructors including Paul Komor, the Educational Director of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute at CU-Boulder (RASEI), and Steve Lawrence, the Academic Director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at CU-Boulder and a Fellow with RASEI, have been tapped to lead instruction.

Both instructors have extensive backgrounds in the renewable energy economy. Komor notably received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and is author of the book Renewable Energy Policy (2004).

Lawrence’s research and instruction has included work on renewable energy commercialization, the financial and environmental impacts of smart grids, and hedging strategies for energy intensive businesses.

RETool is open to anyone. “What we're doing is appropriate for any level of business - whether you're planning to start a business, have a business, or are just looking for a better understanding of renewables,” Lawrence explained.

Over the four months, participants will gain a better understanding of the changes and developments in the renewable energy industry enabling them to address the following:

• How are costs and pricing for renewable energy technologies changing?
• Which renewable energy technologies have the greatest short-and long-term promise?
• How do federal and state policies affect the growth of different technologies?
• What are the key challenges of the growth and success of renewable energy and how can they be overcome?
• How can I identify business, commercial and job opportunities with renewable energy?

Focusing on topical issues, the program provides a solid knowledge base for participants. “At the end of it, businesses walk away with a broad understanding of critical issues related to renewable energy focused on electric generation, smart grid, transportation, and energy efficiency,” Lawrence said.

Previously, the program has only been offered in Boulder, but locations in the Downtown Denver and Denver Tech Center can potentially yield greater networking opportunities for participants.

It is important to note that RETool doesn’t include any business planning or entrepreneurship training. However, CREED and CCIA already have programs that focus on entrepreneurship and business development, so RETool nicely complements those programs.

RETool participants can take all four of the courses or elect to attend single classes that focus on topics most relevant or desirable to their goals.

Event Details

Locations & Dates

Friday, September 9: Renewable Electric Power

Hilton Garden Inn Denver Tech Center

7675 East Union Ave.

Denver, CO 80237

Friday, October 7: Understanding Smart Grids

Deloitte Services LP

555 17th Street, Suite 3600

Denver, CO 80202

Friday, November 4: Renewable Transportation Energy

Hilton Garden Inn Denver Tech Center

7675 East Union Ave.

Denver, CO 80237

Friday, December 2: The Promise of Energy Efficiency

Deloitte Services LP

555 17th Street, Suite 3600

Denver, CO 80202

Price: Registration for the full program $1,800. Individual courses $500 each. Enter code CCIA at checkout to receive a 15% discount.

For more information on RETool or to register, please contact Jessica Baumgarten at jessica.baumgarten@colorado.edu or call 303-735-0541.

Reducing Battery Costs for Fleet Vehicles

Each month, we like to interview CCIA members to talk about what innovative technologies they are developing, how their business is progressing and what they get out of being a member of Colorado Cleantech Industry Association.

Here we met with John Bryan, Chief Technology Officer for Fleet Energy Company.

What do you do?

Fleet Energy Company (FEC) is virtual power plant aggregator and project developer for electrification of medium and heavy duty fleet vehicles to be used in grid support of renewables integration and grid security. FEC is a spin off from Burt Fleet Services - a $2.4 Billion commercial fleet sales company.

We work in transportation-energy storage to convert everything from school buses to commercial delivery vehicles from diesel-fueled engines to plug-in electric motors. We make it affordable for businesses through leasing and then contracting the buses’ big power batteries to utilities and others that need a place to store power.

How long have you been in business?

Burt Automotive Network has been in business since 1939, but seeing enormous potential in the fleet services division, made the decision last year to focus on their commercial fleet division and sell off most of it’s car dealerships.

How did you get into the cleantech business?

I have worked in the energy industry since 2007. I was previously Xcel Energy’s Utility Innovations’ Program Manager responsible for their Vehicle-to-Grid Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (V2G PHEV) project. Also at Xcel, I was a subject matter expert for their $100M SmartGridCity™, and Program Manager for the utility’s 1 MW/7.2 MWh Wind to Battery Energy Storage project.

Previously, I worked as a manufacturing quality engineer from the automotive manufacturing industry and worked for a Tier 1 supplier to Ford, GM, Toyota, and others. So I have experience in both the automotive and energy services industries, so it was a natural fit for me to help launch Fleet Energy Company.

What's the biggest thing you've learned so far from the startup process?

I’m really a jack of all trades. Managing everything from sales and marketing to business operations has been challenging but fun. I’ve gotten a lot of advice from CREED and CCIA about how to refine the way I talk about my business and through the CleanLaunch Technology Incubator program, I get advice on other parts of my business that I’m not as experienced in. It’s nice to be so close to that expertise.

Has it been helpful to be a member of CCIA? How so?

The collaboration between CREED and Colorado Cleantech Industry Association has been enormously helpful to grow my business. I have a great group of business advisors both from NREL and the local community who are always available to me. As part of the CleanLaunch, I can tap the expertise and technologies coming out of NREL.

Finally, where are you going next with your business?

We are focused on growing our fleet partnership division with smart grid companies and other utility-scale companies that can provide our commercial customers with access to the grid. We have a lot of interest from the commercial fleet market because we offer clean-energy vehicle at a fraction of the cost of what they would pay if they bought the vehicle outright. We see the market potential for this business model to be in the billions of dollars and we haven’t seen a lot of competition out there.

Northern Colorado Job Growth

Recently, Executive Director Chris Shapard sat down with the Fort Collins Coloradoan to talk about Northern Colorado's booming cleantech industry.

The article points out that Northern Colorado's cleantech jobs are growing faster than the state and national average, according to a new report from the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings Institution.

"Northern Colorado is ahead of the game because of a collective mindset and everyone working toward the same objective," Shapard told the Coloradoan. You can read the full text of the article here: http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011107200320

We're excited to see Northern Colorado get the recognition they deserve. With the support of Colorado State University, local businesses are pulling together to make clean energy jobs a reality.

Colorado Continues to Rank as Cleantech Leader

Two recent publications ranked Colorado in the top of cleantech business development as the state’s economy continues to gain momentum.

Cleantech is a growing part of Colorado’s state economy and has created more than 5,000 jobs since 2007. The cleantech industries in Colorado grew at more than twice the annualized rate than the Colorado economy as a whole between 1999 and 2009. The Colorado Cleantech Industry Association continues to work at growing cleantech industries in Colorado to create new jobs.

Forbes Magazine

This week Forbes magazine named two Colorado cities in the top 10 for The Best Places For Business, with Fort Collins in fourth place and Denver taking ninth place. The CCIA has been hard at work, fostering economic growth, especially for cleantech companies, and it is great to see this hard work is paying off.

Clean energy was one of the major industries the Forbes list highlighted for Fort Collins. The strong presence of Colorado State University is seen as aiding in these industries success by providing resources and research facilities.

Although clean energy was not a major industry for Denver, because of Denver’s central location, the energy industry is seen as another stable of Denver’s economy. Denver is seen as a natural distribution hub to the west, making it a great place set up shop.

Brooking Institute

A new report in Brookings Institute, Sizing the Clean Economy, named Colorado as fifteenth overall as a “green” job leader. The report also took into consideration organic farming and other non-technical related fields to assess the rankings. Oil and gas extraction was also considered in the report.

Once cleantech and education were only taken into consideration, Colorado cam out in sixth place, behind Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas and California. Obviously, educational opportunities weighed heavily on the results.

Denver’s largest segment of clean jobs existed in conservation, with 6,999 jobs in 2010. Cleantech companies are not only providing jobs for the economy but offer better pay than the standard U.S. wage.

We are proud to continue our work with our key partners the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the University of Colorado-Boulder, Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Governor’s Energy Office and all of you in order to continue our efforts to promote economic growth with cleantech industries.

Thanks to our friends at Posit Partners for the following "5 in 5" interview with CCIA's Executive Director, Chris Shapard.

We find it fascinating to learn why people do what they do and think what they think. This month, Christine Shapard, Founding Executive Director of the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA), shares her insights with us.

Why do you do what you do? I totally believe in the potential of Colorado’s clean technology companies to be an economic development driver for the state of Colorado. Colorado’s numerous assets have aligned to grow the cleantech sectors in a big way, and the CCIA is helping to coordinate the ecosystem so that everyone is working toward the same end game.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job? Helping cleantech entrepreneurs get what they need to be successful. Whether it’s introductions to strategic partners, connections to experienced talent, securing state funding or just making sure our elected officials understand the importance of the industry to Colorado, I get energy (no pun intended) from their passion.

In your experience, what’s the one thing that most often gets in the way of great marketing? For the trade association world, the variety of audiences you must connect with.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career? Be nice because politics makes for strange bedfellows.

If you could wave your marketing wand and make any product or service in the world a smashing overnight success, what would it be? My husband’s homeowner’s concierge service that he’s getting off the ground this fall.

Former Colorado Governor to Speak to CCIA Members Tomorrow

Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter will be the featured speaker tomorrow as part of the Colorado Center for Renewable Energy Economic Development (CREED) Pitch Practice Program. Ritter will provide an update on his new role as the Director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University.

He spoke to The Denver Post recently gave a preview of what he’s been up to since creating the center just four months ago. Backed by private funds, the center is aimed at national energy policy and economic initiatives related to clean technologies.

Specifically, he outlined goals for:

• Creating federal legislation for establishing clean energy policies
• Drawing clean-energy and efficiency businesses to Colorado
• Creating a Colorado-based venture capital firm to advance clean energy research

You can read the full text of today’s article here: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_18350232

To hear more about Ritter’s plan for creating a nationwide “new energy economy,” be sure to attend the CREED/CCIA meeting tomorrow. Today is the last day to register.

Research Rockstars

Last week, we gathered in Denver to celebrate cleantech's research rock stars in Colorado. What does it mean to be a cleantech research rock star and why should Colorado care?

Chris Shapard, our executive director, wrote about this in the latest issue of ColoradoBiz Magazine.

"Our research rockstars are instrumental in creating jobs in Colorado."

Read more...

India is Ripe for Clean Energy Growth

Photo: Matt Futch, Utilities Program Manager with the Governor’s Energy Office, discusses smart grid applications across the state with a panel of energy officials from Colorado and India.

On May 16, Colorado Cleantech Industry Association co-hosted an Indian delegation visiting Colorado to gather ideas and share their vision for the energy investment opportunities in India.

With a population of 1.2 billion and a growing middle class, the energy demands in India are skyrocketing. India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most populous nation by 2030. Unlike much of the energy development going on in China, India is looking to private sector engagement for development in order to meet their growing energy demands.

And their energy demands are fierce. While we talk about utility-grade demand in megawatt hours, they talk about their demand in quadrillion BTUs, or QUADs. India is expected to add 40-80 QUADs of energy in the next 20 years. To put it in laymen’s terms, the energy in 1 QUAD is contained in 8 billion gallons of gasoline, or a year’s supply of gas for 10 million automobiles. India’s energy supply is expected to increase 105 percent just in the next five years.

“We have 400 million households without access to any electricity,” said Shaski Shekhar, Joint Secretary in the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. “That is the biggest challenge. This means that off-grid applications of renewable energy are key. A number of studies have proven that renewable energy can take care of this demand in a more affordable and sustainable matter. Technology and its continuous operation are the keys.”

Opportunities for Clean Energy Technology Development from Colorado

One of the key components of India’s plan for energy development includes the development of smart grid software and hardware for India’s population centers.

“There’s still a lot of room for innovative ideas,” said Tom Binet, director of trade and investment, Asia-Pacific, Office of Economic Development and International Trade with the State of Colorado. “Colorado companies have a great deal more experience in smart grid than any other place in the world and we can offer lessons learned.”

What do you see as the marketplace for Colorado companies to develop new renewable and smart grid technologies?