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Innovative Battery Technology Developer CuRen Wins Fortum Spark Innovation Challenge 2024
21 November 2024 at 12:30 EET
The Fortum Spark Innovation Challenge 2024 has concluded with an exciting announcement. The challenge featured many groundbreaking ideas to advance the electrification and decarbonisation of industries and support flexible energy systems. After a thorough evaluation, the judges selected the winner who stood out with an approach demonstrating a great fit with the evaluation criteria. The winner was chosen at Fortum's side event at Slush 2024, where five teams pitched their ideas to a panel of judges.
Accelerating Energy Transition with Copper-Based Batteries
The Fortum Spark Innovation Challenge 2024 winner is CuRen, a startup that develops cost-effective copper flow batteries for long-duration energy storage.
CuRen impressed the judges with a technology that addresses the limitations of existing battery systems through innovations in sustainable, scalable manufacturing, modular power and capacity designs, high cycling life, and lower lifetime storage costs. Through these batteries, CuRen aims to help utility and industrial-scale energy companies manage the overproduction and intermittency of wind and solar energy, thereby accelerating the adoption of renewables and driving the decarbonisation of the energy market.
Jury Praises CuRen's Innovative Approach
The jury, comprising industry experts, praised CuRen for their approach to developing a unique and competitive battery solution. “CuRen stood out due to their solution's feasibility, high credibility, and large commercial potential. Their technology not only addresses a significant problem but also enables the growth of renewable energy. The strong, credible team and the good fit with Fortum further solidified our decision”, said Kristina Hoff Wanderås, Director of Internal Venturing at Fortum and one of the jury members.
Path to Implementation and Growth
Winning the Fortum Spark Innovation Challenge comes with a prize of €50,000 and six months of development support from Fortum to further develop and implement the solution.
CuRen plans to use the prize to develop the solution further through coaching and exposure to the energy industry. “We see Fortum as a trusted partner to support CuRen to achieve the next step in accelerating the energy transition by bringing copper-based battery technology to the market,” said Paul Wong, the Commercial Lead of CuRen.
Looking Ahead
Fortum remains committed to fostering innovation and developing solutions in collaboration with customers and partners. Whether through platforms like Fortum Spark or other initiatives, the goal is to create a world where people, businesses, and nature thrive together.
Congratulations to CuRen; we look forward to the collaboration ahead.