The future was now at POWERGEN International in New Orleans last month.
POWERGEN held its first-ever Initiate! This competition focused on startups in the power generation sector, giving them a venue to be seen and heard by thousands of industry attendees in a friendly, but challenging setting. Think of it as the Shark Tank without sharks, but they still had to swim hard to win.
The three final winners of the first POWERGEN Initiate! included Anax Power, Infinite Cooling and Sensatek. The trio earned some serious name recognition and a chance to gain a foothold in a massive and competitive business.
“Anytime you can get on stage and have that opportunity is a plus,” Michael Longo, head of business development for Anax Power, said during a video interview at POWERGEN. See an video interview with Longo below.
Anax Power generates non-emitting power from natural gas, without combustion. The company uses a turboexpander generator and pipeline pressure to spin turbines. Anax, based in Santa Monica, California, sees its customer base as pipeline operators, gas-fired power plants and large industrial power users.
Sensatek, based of Daytona Beach, Florida, develops, produces and markets proprietary wireless sensors for use on turbine blades. The sensors can measure temperature, pressure and strain in extreme environments.
Melinda Fix, of Sensatek, said the company’s customer base would mostly be original equipment manufacturers and oil and gas producers. See a video with Fix below.
Infinite Cooling was spun out from a research lab with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company’s product utilizes electric fields to capture water as it leaves power plant cooling tower exhausts.
Power plants are one of the largest users of water in the U.S. Infinite Cooling says its technology can save those facilities about 20 percent on their water use and expense, while also eliminating visible plumes.
Infinite Cooling co-founder Maher Damak, pictured at top, said the company has two ongoing projects at natural gas and nuclear facilities. See a video with Damak below.
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DistribuTECH will feature its own version of Initiate! focused on the power transmission and distribution sector. DistribuTECH is happening Jan. 28-30 in San Antonio, Texas.
