OREANDA-NEWS. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced the six winners of its IDEAS V 2014 Energy Innovation Contest, an initiative for improving energy efficiency and expanding access to renewable energy in Latin America and the Caribbean, following a selection process which considered a total of 282 proposals from all 26 of the IDB’s borrowing member countries.

Sponsored by the Energy Sustainability Fund from Mexico's National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT) and the Ministry of Energy (SENER), the Government of South Korea, the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the fifth contest was launched in October 2014. It sought proposals to promote innovative solutions to energy problems, benefit local communities or regions, create jobs, and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The individual category winners of the IDEAS V Contest are listed below. The consortia category winners will be financed through the CONACYT-SENER Energy Sustainability Fund. For more information please visit their web page.

ID PROPOSAL

PROJECT TITLE

LEAD PROPONENT

COUNTRY

2624

CASSA – Sustainable social housing

CASSA

Guatemala

2789

Micro hybrid autonomous power grid of 16 kW for productive uses in rural areas

Waira Energia SAC

Peru

2949

Kara Solar: Solar-powered river transport in Achuar Territory, the Ecuadorian Amazon

ALDEA

Ecuador

3003

The sun shining condominium

IDEAAS

Brazil

3044

Ecological biomass stove

FdS Haiti

Haiti

3049

Using ubiquitous flexible energy loads to provide grid-scale balancing and societal co-benefits

PELICAN, SA

Nicaragua

Each winner will receive up to US\$100,000, as well as technical and business development support to implement or scale up their ideas. They will also receive access to consultations with technical experts, policy makers, institutions, and potential financial partners. The goal is to enable the winners to turn their ideas into financially sustainable businesses, thereby helping solve the energy problems of the region.

“This year’s IDEAS winners provide an excellent example of the quality of innovation our region is capable of developing. The IDEAS contest – which benefits from the sponsorship of actively engaged donors like Mexico and South Korea - recognizes the region’s brightest innovators and helps improve the region’s economic performance,” said Arnaldo Vieira de Carvalho, IDEAS team leader at the IDB.

“Contributing to the pioneering IDEAS energy innovation contest constitutes an excellent opportunity for the Multilateral Investment Fund to share our deep experience in private sector development by designing, financing, and executing innovative models that benefit entrepreneurs, MSMEs, and low-income households in the region,” said Michael Hofmann, IDEAS coordinator at the MIF.