Watts Up? Call for projects & energy network challenges

For SMEs in French-speaking Switzerland active in the energy, smart grids, cleantech or digital solutions sectors, Watts Up? represents a great opportunity for visibility and experimentation in the field. By proposing a solution to one of the 8 challenges, an SME can access direct funding of CHF 10,000, strategic support from EnovArk worth CHF 10,000, and finally test its solution in real-life conditions, thanks in particular to the program's partners.

The 8 challenges concern: 

• monitoring of electrical conduits: rapid detection of faults or anomalies on underground or overhead electrical conduits.
• Proactive communication in the event of an outage: provide automatic, clear information to customers in the event of a network failure or interruption.
• Reducing energy losses: identifying and testing innovative ways of reducing technical losses throughout the distribution network.
• Optimizing decentralized storage: intelligently integrating energy storage solutions (batteries, electric vehicles, etc.) to improve grid stability.
• Detection of non-compliant installations: identify unauthorized connections or undeclared equipment on the network.
• Dynamic electricity pricing: implement a flexible pricing model based on peak consumption and renewable generation.
• Customer consumption flexibility: encourage and control real-time adjustment of user consumption according to the state of the network.
• Reducing the carbon footprint of facilities: proposing concrete solutions to reduce CO₂ emissions linked to network operation and maintenance.