While Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) accumulates huge debts and never-ending arguments are taking pace concerning the Leviathan natural gas reservoir, the local energy market is also managing to generate positive headlines. 13 Israeli energy startups recently took part in a conference organized by global company Schneider Electric, and displayed their wares to senior figures in international companies.
Participants in the event included French power companies EDF and GDF, the Orange global cellular company, French venture capital fund Aster Capital, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Renault Innovation Silicon Valley, and others. "Time after time, we discover that Israel is fertile ground for innovative, lively, and ground-breaking companies, and this is also true in the field of energy management," said Schneider Electric Israel CEO Philippe Brami.
Schneider Electric International innovation manager Steve Elbaz, who also manages Aster Capital, its venture capital fund, said, "We initiated the event because of the enormous potential that the two companies, Schneider Electric and Aster Capital, have found in Israeli startups. We can already tell you that some of the investors are considering potential cooperative efforts with some of the startups."
The following are five of the energy startups with exhibits at the conference:
Enstorage: Electricity storage technology
The company has developed technology that makes it possible to store electricity produced from renewable resources. Nowadays, everyone wants renewable energy, but if there is no wind or sun, it cannot be relied on, so the Israeli company has developed a system enabling electricity producers, power stations, operators, and renewable energy producers to store energy from 150 kilowatts up to a capacity of many megawatts for six hours or more. The system is projected to reach the market in 2016.
Emefcy: Sewage treatment
The system developed by the company facilitates treatment of sewage using a biochemical process that also generates electricity. Factories currently invest a great deal of energy and money on sewage purification, but a plant that installs the new technology can kill two birds with one stone by treating sewage and creating clean energy for itself. The surplus electricity can be sold to the nationwide electrical grid.
PowerTags: Technology that knows where you are
The company has developed a system that enables a mobile device to know where it is even in a closed place. The technology enables a building to "know" where people are at any time, and to operate accordingly, for example by automatically turning on the light or the air-conditioner in a room only when people are there, thereby saving precious energy.
ThetaRay: Tripping up burglars
The company provides solutions for protection of critical infrastructure against cyber attacks and operating failures. The system enables the consumer to locate the most difficult security failures by combing data from a broad range of sources in the enterprise. For example, warnings can be issued of irregular events that very probably indicate break-in attempts at an enterprise, data leaks, and performance of irregular actions.
Silentium: An end to noise
The technology developed by the company attempts to put an end to noise problems by generating an "anti-noise" signal that eliminates the troublesome noise in the surroundings. The technology is called the "quiet bubble," because it allows the creation of a "bubble" of quiet around the user, regardless of the source of the noise and the work environment. The system can be put into a headrest in a car or an airplane seat, or used as a separate system that absorbs the noise and "shoots off" noise eliminating sound waves.
The author was a guest of Schneider Electric at the conference
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 29, 2015
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