A record turnout at EnergyWeek

Last week, the reformulated EnergyWeek 2019 brought together almost 4,500 event participants from 25 countries. All the continents were represented. During the week, participants got to hear a total of 110 speakers at 21 different events or seminars. The event had more than 170 exhibitors.

The objective of EnergyWeek is to bring together experts from the field and to offer them new contacts, networks and potential partners. This year’s themes were renewable energy sources, smart energy and gas energy.

Organised for the 15th time, the traditional Energy and Environment Seminar on Monday was attended by more than 300 participants, filling every seat in the Vaasa City Hall. They were brought there by both the top speakers and the party debate on energy policy in Finland.

This was the second year that the Energy & Innovation Awards competition was organised. The purpose of the competition was to find the most interesting energy solution of the year, and both the Jury’s and the audience’s favourite were awarded. The Jury chose the Northvolt case “The Greenest Battery Factory in the World” as the winner. In the audience vote, the favourite was the Brazilian AES Tietê & CERTI Foundation’s “Virtual Power Plant with Focus on C&I Clients Aggregation and Energy Market: Platform Development”.

“What makes EnergyWeek the special event it is, is the fact that there is a specific theme for each day and also different exhibitors. The exhibition area is rebuilt every night for the next day’s theme, ready for new companies to present their work. Each day’s seminars are also closely linked to the day’s theme,” says Kristoffer Jansson from VASEK.

“EnergyWeek is a genuine display of cooperation. I started my new job as the Communications & Brand Manager of EnergyVaasa slightly over a month before the zero hour and had to jump onto a train that was moving at speed. I’m truly impressed with the dedication of the region’s organisations and our partners in creating this shared event,” Jansson says.

EnergyWeek is organised by the Vaasa Region Development Company VASEK, the Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce, the Regional Council of Ostrobothnia, the Technology Centre Merinova, Pohjanmaan Expo, the University of Vaasa, the University of Helsinki (Vaasa unit of legal studies), Enterprise Europe Network, VES – Vaasa Entrepreneurship Society, and Wärtsilä Finland Oy. VASEK has been in charge of the entire event’s principal coordination and communications.

“Every year, we strive to create an even better event than the last year. Now after the event is over, we collect all the feedback received from the audience, the organisers and the exhibitors and, after taking a week’s breather, we start planning the next year’s event,” Jansson explains.

The next EnergyWeek will be held from the 16th to the 20th of March 2020.