EDP, through its innovation area, along with six other companies in the energy (utilities) sector, has already selected the startups that will participate in the Free Electrons' bootcamp phase, the global open innovation programme that connects the most promising startups in the world with leading companies in the sector to provide innovative solutions and co-create the future of energy.

As the bootcamp's host, taking place in Madrid, Spain, between 27th and 30th of May, EDP actively collaborated in choosing 29 startups from 15 nationalities. The selected companies operate in six key energy transition sectors and work towards EDP's strategic areas of innovation, including decarbonisation, distributed energy resources, energy storage and flexibility, green hydrogen, networks and renewable energy sources.

During the event, startups will be able to present their solutions outlining potential pilot projects with participating companies, such as EDP. Several activities will be carried out, towards this during the bootcamp's three days. These include sessions where utilities present their challenges and the startups pitch their solutions, followed by individual business development meetings, inspirational moments, and panels where opportunities in the electricity sector are discussed, with an emphasis on the potential for technological disruption.

"As host for this important phase of Free Electrons, EDP has the opportunity, once again, to promote and collaborate with startups on projects directly aligned with the group's commitments, which include leading the energy transition and creating value for the entire sector's ecosystem", states Tomás Moreno, director of EDP's Innovation Ecosystem. "EDP maintains its objective of investing in projects that are aligned with strategic goals and of being all green by 2030, and net zero by 2040", he adds.

To select the best startups, utilities initially go through a scouting process, which consists of identifying, evaluating and selecting startups according to the challenges and needs of the companies that make up Free Electrons. Afterwards, the online pitch stages and virtual meetings were held until reaching the list of those selected. In this edition, the programme received more than one thousand applications, of which 29 were chosen for the bootcamp phase. Of these, only 15 will move on to the next two final stages, which will take place in July, in Montreal (Canada), and in October, in Hamburg (Germany).

Free Electrons, has been taking place since 2017, with the aim of finding and developing projects with the most promising startups in the energy sector globally. To learn more about Free Electrons, click here. To check out the startups selected for the 2024 programme, click here.