NECEC Announces 2021 Green Tie Gala Awardees
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
BOSTON - Displaying the rapid growth of the cleantech industry, NECEC (Northeast Clean Energy Council and NECEC Institute) tonight announced the winners of the 2021 Green Tie Gala Awards in the categories of Startup Supporter of the Year, Emerging Company Year and Partnership of the Year. All of the winners and nominees represent initiatives and business plans that in the fairly recent past were germinal ideas and now are emerging as real technology solutions to our climate crisis.
“The need for clean economy solutions is driving significant changes in the clean energy industry,” said NECEC President Peter Rothstein. “We are proud to honor winners in three categories tonight at the forefront of this transformation. Congratulations to the winners for their contributions of innovative business partner models, leading technologies, and deployment of clean energy in our region.”
2021 Green Tie Gala Award Winners
2021 Start-up Supporters of the Year Winners: Suzanne Oakley, New England CFO Strategies and FORGE
Suzanne has worked with dozens of climatech startups over the past 10 years. In her role as part-time CFO, Suzanne laid the initial groundwork for a strong financial foundation for these companies to grow beyond angel funding. She utilizes her financial operations and business modeling expertise with start-ups, both formally and informally, to help them evolve their business models, raise capital, and navigate their cash needs as they build their businesses.
Suzanne Oakley, owner of New England CFO Strategies stated, “Thank you NECEC for recognizing my part-time CFO work with climate-focused startups. I am incredibly fortunate to have collaborated with so many talented and dedicated entrepreneurs over the past several years to get their startups on a solid financial footing. I look forward to continuing to support the entrepreneurs in our ecosystem who are paving the way for a sustainable and renewable future.”
FORGE is a nonprofit on a mission to help startups navigate the journey from physical prototype through to commercial scale and impact. With a focus on preparing startups to manufacture and connecting them to the local supply chain, FORGE addresses crucial gaps and accelerates the path to market by making right-fit introductions to supply chain expertise, combined with the support needed to ensure readiness for the connections to be productive. NECEC President Peter Rothstein stated, “Congratulations to Laura Teicher, Executive Director of Forge, and to the entire Forge team.”
2021 Emerging Company of the Year Winner: LineVision
In just a few years, LineVision has grown from a small founding team with a unique
technology to a 50-person company with the new standard for transmission line monitoring in the U.S. and internationally. Their technology can unlock upwards of 40% additional capacity on our aged and congested power lines – helping utilities adapt to a modern grid powered by sources of renewable power generation. They can also help prevent wildfires caused by transmission line failures, and help utilities better understand the long-term health of transmission lines.
Hudson Gilmer, CEO and Co-founder of LineVision stated, “We’re honored to be recognized by the Northeast Clean Energy Council for our role in supporting the transition to a clean energy future. Our success to date is due in large part to the support from NECEC and the broader cleantech community of the northeast. We are dedicated to continuing to help unlock capacity, alongside our customers, and secure the future of the grid.”
2021 Partnership of the Year Winners: PowerOptions and Solect Energy; and RWE Renewables and Diamond Offshore Wind
PowerOptions and Solect Energy for a partnership that has helped nonprofits and public entities capture renewable energy to power their facilities, and energy storage for load management solutions. The teams at PowerOptions and Solect have worked to help nonprofits and public entities capture renewable energy to power their facilities, and energy storage for load management solutions. Through its Solar PPA and Energy Storage agreements, Solect has completed over 100 projects, creating over $50MM in savings to local communities, state agencies, and NGO’s. These savings are recirculated back to support the missions of these vital community serving organizations.
RWE Renewables and Diamond Offshore Wind - for their joint venture to develop, construct, and operate a demonstration project using the University of Maine’s patented floating offshore wind technology. RWE Renewables, the second-largest company in offshore wind globally, and Diamond Offshore Wind, a subsidiary of the Mitsubishi Corporation, formed a 50/50 joint venture to develop, construct, and operate a demonstration project using the University of Maine’s patented floating offshore wind technology. Together, RWE and Diamond seek to demonstrate the innovative design of the floating technology design with a full-size offshore wind turbine, work with local contractors and manufacturers to generate local economic benefits, and create and keep Maine jobs in Maine.
“RWE Renewables is honored to receive NECEC’s ‘Partnership of the Year’ award as a collaborative effort of our New England Aqua Ventus project alongside Diamond Offshore Wind,” said Sam Eaton, RWE Senior Vice President, Offshore Development Americas. “I’d like to thank Governor Mills and her team from the State of Maine, as well as our partners at the University of Maine, for joining us in our efforts to bring this project to fruition. The RWE-Diamond partnership is at the forefront of advancing floating offshore technology in the Gulf of Maine which we see as critical for not only meeting the U.S. Government and the state’s offshore wind ambitions but also for meeting the World’s climate change imperative.”
Part One of NECEC’s two-part 13th Annual Green Tie Gala was held virtually on Hopin with hundreds of business leaders and stakeholders in the clean energy industry, including company CEOs, government officials, service providers, academics, venture investment firms, labor and large commercial end-users, and area utilities.
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