The Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, with Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada winners.  

Last month, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, announced the 10 winners of the Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada (BESC) initiative — a first-of-its-kind public–private initiative in Canada aimed at accelerating the development of clean energy technologies with the potential to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

Back in December 2017, at the One Planet Summit in Paris, the Breakthrough Energy Coalition announced partnerships with some Mission Innovation members to explore new ways to coordinate public and private efforts in support of low carbon energy investments.

As one of the partner governments, Canada announced a partnership with Breakthrough Energy and the creation of the Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada (BESC) program with Breakthrough Energy Ventures at the Fourth Mission Innovation Ministerial (MI-4) this past May 2019.

Through this new two-year program, the Government of Canada and Breakthrough Energy, along with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), are working together to commercialize new energy technologies, faster.

Since MI-4, they have called upon the best and brightest in Canada to bring forward their game-changing ideas to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and advance a sustainable, resilient clean energy future in the areas of buildings, manufacturing, electricity, and transportation.

Over 100 firms applied, 22 finalists were selected, and on January 14, 2020, the finalists pitched their solutions to an expert jury. The final 10 winners were just announced on February 12, 2020 at the Globe Forum. Each of the winners could receive up to $3 million to develop their clean energy technologies with an opportunity to gain access to additional private investments from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the Business Development Bank of Canada and others.

This project is a great example of how Mission Innovation brings together public and private sectors to help transform the energy industry. Keep an eye on these winning companies!