Media Resources

Organised by Towngas and State Power Investment Company Limited (SPIC), the inaugural TERA-Award smart energy innovation competition held its final contest on 29 December 2021, at which the winners of the top prizes were selected.
 
The “Liquid Sunshine Methanol” project from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences won the Gold Award with a prize of US$1 million. Greendrogen from the United States came in at second place with its “Highly efficient and low-cost H2 production using AEM Water Electrolyzers” project, winning the Silver Award and US$100,000. The “Copper-HeteroJunction with Intrinsic Thinlayer (C-HJT) Battery” project from SPIC New Energy Science and Technology Co., Ltd. and “Safe and Low-cost Flow Battery” from Hong Kong’s Luquos Energy Limited both placed third, receiving a Bronze Award and US$50,000 each.
 
The winning “Liquid Sunshine Methanol” project utilises large-scale renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydropower to produce electricity, which in turn yields hydrogen from water through electrolysis. The green hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources reacts with carbon dioxide to produce methanol, thereby storing the energy from renewable sources in liquid methanol fuel.
 
Throughout the course of six months, the competition recruited 208 participating projects from 23 countries and regions for an exciting challenge. Eight renowned experts from the international energy field selected the winners of Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards at the finals.
 
The announcement of the prizes signals the competition’s success in delivering on its purpose to drive the research, development and application of innovative technology. As the host and organiser, Towngas has established its intention for strategic cooperation and investment with the above winners in order to further push for the practical application of the winning projects. Going forward, the competition will aggregate broader resources to support innovative start-ups in the energy arena to foster in-depth cohesion of the industry and contribute towards the country’s dual carbon goals and the resolution of the global climate crisis.

The “Liquid Sunshine Methanol” project won the Gold Award of the first TERA-Award smart energy innovation competition.