The call for the Avonlea Awards 2023 has been launched and Colbun will once again reward innovations in energy – El Diario de Santiago

For the second year running, the generator will support the Colbún Energy category, which highlights initiatives that contribute to energy solutions and sustainable energy production to advance the energy transition.

With a call to promote the participation of women, regional projects and scientific-technical ventures, the 2023 call for the Avoni National Innovation Award was launched, organized by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, together with TVN and El Mercari Made by ForoInnovation. ,

This year the Avonlea National Prize seeks to recognize innovations across the country that are high-impact, that contribute to the sustainable development of Chile and that have transformative power to address the country’s challenges. “In a landscape of socioeconomic uncertainty, innovation is a strategic tool that contributes to generating economic, social and coexistence value. It has the potential to offer more sustainable solutions and respond to the great global challenges of the future,” ForoInnovation President Guillermo Carey said.

Colbún has been present at the Evony Awards since 2007. This 2023, for the second year in a row, it will be through the Colbún Energy category. This category seeks to recognize projects that provide innovative solutions to the sector’s challenges, such as clean and low-cost energy generation that allows diversifying the energy matrix with an ESG focus; Energy services or solutions that meet the needs of large electricity based customers; storage and efficiency; and initiatives or campaigns that promote the use and value of energy as a resource that contributes fundamentally to society and cares for the environment.

Diego Garcia, Innovation Manager of Colbun, declared: “At Colbun we want to continue supporting the national innovation ecosystem, creating a link with startups beyond the commercial, where they see us as a collaborator, a laboratory where they can test their technologies, products and services, and have our full support of resources, knowledge and human capital”.

In its 2022 edition, Energia Colbún received 20 applications, practically twice as many as in 2021. The winner of this category was T-Phite, from the SutrendLab innovation laboratory in the Valparaíso region, a project that uses world-leading technology to generate lithium-ion batteries from the end-of-life of tires for electric cars, recycling this waste into another Giving life

Regarding the value of the award, Bernardita Diaz commented: “It was a great feeling for us at SustrandLab to win the Avoni Energy Kolbun Award, as it was recognition of our work to create a cleaner planet with science-based technical solutions. The T-Fight has a concrete contribution to the circular economy, as it is possible to produce raw materials for electromobility from tire waste. The Awoni Award gave us a showcase which allowed us to scale the project”.

The Avonlea National Innovation Award includes 12 categories: Colbun Energy, Agrosuper Balanced Food, Aguas Andinas New City, Culture, Education and Social Innovation Caja Los Andes, IDB Public Innovation, Entel Digital Solutions and Services, Arauco Climate Action and Biodiversity, Mining and Metallurgy, health and the future of agriculture FIA. In addition, there are five macrozonal awards supported by ISA Interval and two special recognitions: Anacleto Angelini Innovative Trajectory and Banco de Chile Innovative Woman. Applications will be open until June 30 through the www.avonni.cl page.

Once the application process is over, the submitted innovations will enter the stage of deliberation by the expert panel. They will evaluate the projects to select finalists for each category. Based on this selection, a jury—composed of twenty members from the public and private world with an outstanding track record in innovation-related fields—will select the respective winners of the Avoni Awards 2023, who will be announced at the awards ceremony in 2019. november.

Launch in Antofagasta

In collaboration with Colbún and Fundación Minera Escondida, the Avonnai 2023 “Innovate Without Limits” meeting was held in Antofagasta, with a presentation by Pilar Goycoolea, founder of Locales Conectados and winner of the Avonnai 2021 Social Innovation Caja Los Andes; Arturo Soto, founder of Budo and winner of Avonlea El Sol 2014; and Paulina Gonzalez from Robotica and Avoni 2022 Mining and Metallurgy Finalists. Melissa Gajardo, Director of Corfo Antofagasta, also presented the “Innovation Catalyst System and the Antofagasta Innova Network” on the occasion.

Colbun’s Innovation Manager, Diego Garcia intervened in this instance, who highlighted: “As Colbun, we are interested in continuing to develop clean energy in Chile and Latin America. A typical case is the horizon. Located in the Antofagasta region, it is the largest wind project under construction in Chile and one of the largest in Latin America. Likewise, we believe that innovation is an excellent tool for adapting to the environmental and social challenges that the energy transition poses on a daily basis. We want to position ourselves in the innovation ecosystem and support various startups related to the world of energy, to strengthen such capabilities in the country.”