ATAWEY wins the most innovative company regional contest in the production process category, an award highlighting its unique and innovative technological process.

 The 14^th edition of the Regional Artinov challenge recognized the particularly innovative characteristic of ATAWEY’s home-conceived and manufactured energy autonomy solutions ; a concept respectful of both mankind and the environment.

 Jean-Michel Amaré and Pierre-Jean Bonnefond were awarded a trophy realized by an art-glass-maker* echoing the renewable energies used in their device. Thanks to its colour and uncluttered shape, the blue-coloured glass sculpture handed-over to the Laureates embodied the four elements : air, fire, water and earth.

 ATAWEY’s fuel-free energy generator uses these flowing energies (solar, water, wind), and transforms the excess renewable energy into solid and storable hydrogen.

 ATAWEY’s energy autonomy solutions are the product of a lot work in terms of Research and Development and Testing in the energy and hydrogen technologies. During Artinov’s ceremony, Jean-Michel Amaré confirmed ATAWEY’s will to keep the company growing and developing thanks to a highly supported R&D plan.

* Guillaume Martin, OxyVerre.

ATAWEY receives the 2013 ARTINOV prize in the “production process” category of the innovation awards by the Savoie and Haute-Savoie Chambers of Trade. A contest that aims to reward both innovation and business development projects.

twenty years of innovations selected by professionals

Founded twenty years ago by the Ain Chamber of Trades, ARTINOV was taken over by Haute-Savoie and Savoie in 2000 and 2002. The aim of the initiative is to promote innovation and technological change in artisanal businesses.

The jury includes representatives of the Haute-Savoie Chamber of Trades, the Haute-Savoie General Council and the Rhône Alpes ARDI (Regional Agency for Development and Innovation) together with delegates from the NIIP (National Institute of Intellectual Property Rights) and OSEO Innovation.

ARTINOV not only promotes the integration of a new technology into an organisation but also covers other criteria such as the technical, commercial and financial realism of the business plan. The competition also assesses the company manager’s ability to implement an economic development strategy .

A challenge organised at département then regional level, focused on innovation, ARTINOV categories are as diverse as the trades and products or processes of production and high technology.

At the 2013 INNOV’R® Regional Trophies, ATAWEY received an award in the category “Energy: energy efficiency, storage and renewable energies” for its eco-innovative proposals.

Support for innovation

An original and unique scheme in France, the INNOV’R® permanent call for projects aims to contribute to rebuilding the industrial fabric of the region. Launched in 2008 by the Rhône-Alpes Region, Bpifrance, ADEME (French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management) , Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (Consignments and Loans Fund), the NIPI and AFNOR (in partnership with the ARDI regional development and innovation agency), the scheme encourages very small to mid-sized local enterprises to develop environmental innovations in the fields of renewable energies, construction and sustainable development, management of pollutant emissions, eco-innovative products and processes, and environmental measurement and evaluation.

Pilot installations under way

“Taking part in this INNOV’R® Trophy has helped to get ATAWEY and its innovative products known”, say the founders Jean Amaré and Pierre Bonnefond. “Initially, our actions are focused on the establishment of commercial partnerships with industry or managers of isolated sites in order to design the first regional installations.

We are currently working on an initial demonstration facility of 1 MWh which will be put in place early in 2014 and will be followed by a pilot production facility of 8 MWh, planned for an industrial signal transfer application”.

Invited to the French Senate by OPECST rapporteurs, Jean-Michel Amaré gave a presentation to the audience of senators, deputies and members of the hydrogen-energy sector on the innovative energy autonomy solutions developed by ATAWEY .

The two OPECST* rapporteurs, Laurent Kalinowski and Jean-Marc Pastor (Moselle Deputy and Tarn Senator respectively), selected ATAWEY for a public hearing dedicated to the energy applications of hydrogen. Young developing companies rubbed shoulders with key energy players such as Air Liquide and GDF.

Jean-Michel Amaré (CEO) presented the target markets of the startup together with the outlook (in the medium term) for applications of this vector within the framework of energy transition.

You can see the public hearing on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8a8d7G6kug

This was the occasion to recall the challenges faced by the hydrogen-energy sector, and to request increased support from the public authorities for the deployment of these systems in France; but also to state the need to remove legislative obstacles in order to develop the use of this mature hydrogen technology.

* OPECST: French parliamentary office for the assessment of scientific and technological choices