InnoEnergy signs partnership agreement with RAFAKO to support the development of energy innovation
Kraków, Poland – 26 January 2018
InnoEnergy, Europe’s sustainable energy innovation engine, and RAFAKO, one of Europe’s largest boiler manufacturers, today announce an agreement for the leading Polish energy company to acquire shares in InnoEnergy.
The move marks the latest stage in successful collaboration between the two entities. Last year InnoEnergy and RAFAKO worked together to deliver on PowerUp! – the largest competition for energy-sector start-ups in Central Europe.
Jakub Miller, CEO of InnoEnergy Central Europe, says: “Our partnership is proof of the of positive changes occurring in Polish companies. RAFAKO will join a circle of leading companies, such as ABB, Schneider Electric and EDF who have also partnered with InnoEnergy. Confirming its ambition to follow trends of development and innovation in the global energy industry, and at the same time, taking an active role in co-creating them.
“InnoEnergy is engaged in flagship European projects, such as Sweden’s Northvolt giga-factory run and co-founded by Peter Carlsson, former vice president of Tesla, and a factory launched in 2017 by Skeleton Technologies, a producer ofSupercapacitors based on graphene. I hope that thanks to our cooperation with RAFAKO we will soon be able to boast similar investments in Poland”.
This partnership means RAFAKO will have the opportunity to contribute to InnoEnergy’s future development. It will also gain priority access to technologies developed in leading universities and research centres from InnoEnergy’s partners and participate in their commercialisation. The company will become an active participant in the InnoEnergy community, gaining the opportunity to cooperate with innovators as well as global energy companies.
Agnieszka Wasilewska-Semail, CEO and General Director at RAFAKO, says: “InnoEnergy’s mission in the area of innovative solutions in sustainable energy reflects our business philosophy – our work is not limited to the design and production of various types of installation. We have the ambitious goal of leading the generation of electrical energy in the most environmentally-friendly manner. Currently we are searching for solutions in the field of dispersed energy generation and the circular economy, among others.”
From this strong alliance, InnoEnergy will obtain a proven partner for large-scale commercialisation of innovative solutions. A great example of this is the joint investment in the polygeneration islands project, that started in 2016. For this project Spanish and French InnoEnergy partners provided technologies enabling Rafako to build the appropriate product and to commercialise it.
Miller concludes: “InnoEnergy manages the largest innovation ecosystem in the world, which already has more than 360 members. Among them are the largest energy companies in Europe, as well as universities and research centres. We have something to offer both large companies as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, meaning that firms of any size can join us. The condition is the idea and ambition of creating global solutions.”
About RAFAKO
Belonging to PBG Group, RAFAKO was established in 1949 and employs ca. 2000 people. RAFAKO company has been always tied to the power generation industry, offering design and the manufacture of boilers and environment protection plants. Since 1993 RAFAKO S.A. is a joint stock company and its shares are quoted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Since 2011 RAFAKO S.A. belongs to the PBG Group.
RAFAKO is a leader in the Polish power generation equipment market and the biggest boiler producer in Europe. Ca. 80% of boilers operated by Polish utilities have been delivered by RAFAKO. The Company is also a leader within the field of flue gas desulfurization plants based on wet lime and semi-dry methods.
The Company is based in Racibórz, in the South of Poland, where its headquarters and main production facilities were built, including five production workshops and design offices. During the past few years design offices in Gliwice, Częstochowa and Belgrade were established. In 2009 a new division was created in Pszczyna offering design and delivery of dust removal equipment. Components for such equipment are manufactured in its nearby Wyry workshops.
About InnoEnergy
InnoEnergy is the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe supported by the EIT.
We support and invest in innovation at every stage of the journey – from classroom to end-customer. With our network of partners, we build connections across Europe, bringing together inventors and industry, graduates and employers, researchers and entrepreneurs, businesses and markets.
We work in three essential areas of the innovation mix:
- Education to help create an informed and ambitious workforce that understands the demands of sustainability and the needs of industry.
- Innovation Projects to bring together ideas, inventors and industry to create commercially attractive technologies that deliver real results to customers.
- Business Creation Services to support entrepreneurs and start-ups who are expanding Europe’s energy ecosystem with their innovative offerings.
Bringing these disciplines together maximises the impact of each, accelerates the development of market-ready solutions, and creates a fertile environment in which we can sell the innovative results of our work.
