Unique British designed and manufactured smart tools for use in pipeline maintenance stole the show at the EEEGR Energy Innovation Awards at Norwich City Football Club’s Top of the Terrace.
Aberdeen-based Equalizer International took the main award after a competition between nine finalists whose live presentations were assessed by expert judges and a business audience.
Runner-up was SubC’s FlexiCrane, which can quickly and easily be assembled on location at sites where help is need for easier and simpler movement of tools or materials.
And the Low Carbon Award went to UK Power Networks for its Flexible Plug and Play which help accommodate the increasing demand for connections to the grid from solar farms and onshore wind farms. It has been trialled in the East of England area but is expected to be introduced across the region and potentially nationwide.
Judges also gave a ‘special mention’ to a fourth entry, the TranSPAR prototype designed for rapid deployment from a central hub in the next generation of offshore wind farms, recognising its potential with further development. The concept was introduced by Peter Gifford who had travelled from Canada to make the presentation on behalf of Extreme Ocean and James Fisher (Fendercare).
Johnathan Reynolds, director of Nautilus Associates, who compered the event for EEEGR (the East of England Energy Group), said there had again been a record number of entries for the event with the quality and variety higher than ever. It was part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.