Opean Energy

London-based SME accesses unique expertise via Enterprise Europe Network London.

A London-based company sought European partners to co-develop a little-used biomass waste product as a source of alternative energy. Posting a technology profile online with Enterprise Europe Network uncovered the right contact: a Danish company that has helped develop the process and prepare the product for international markets.

Opean Energy is a young London company which supplies biomass products from around the world, delivering high quality feedstock reliably to clients for use in their businesses. The company identified that the biomass waste product Palm Kernel Shells (PKS), with its potential for co-combustion in coal-fuelled boilers, decreased the boilers' carbon footprints.

Odera Ume-Ezeoke, Managing Director of Opean Energy, contacted Enterprise Europe Network London for help finding partners in the energy generation industry for joint trials of PKS. Enterprise Europe Network London is a consortium of business support organisations, including technology transfer company LTN, who assisted Odera in the submission of a technology profile on a massive online innovation database.

“I found the team at the LTN very helpful and capable,” Odera said. “They took the time to understand our business model and goals, and after an initial meeting we soon started receiving responses to the profile they helped us create. This was several months ago, and responses are still coming in today.”

At the Agro Business Park, an Enterprise Europe Network office in Denmark, consultant Anders Skeem notified local firm NetVitae about the profile, and helped introduce the partners.

Skeem said: "Kaspar Nielsen of NetVitae, is a very active person and he immediately reacted positively to this new business opportunity. From the first contact it did not take long before the two of them made an agreement. This being our first contact to Mr. Nielsen, we are now assisting him in other matters assisted by Enterprise Europe Network partners".

NetVitae assisted Opean Energy with the treatment of PKS through fumigation and the organisation of sampling to market to global client bases. Fundamentally, NetVitae’s knowledge and resources have aided in preparing Opean Energy’s product for international markets. The two companies also now hope to work together on a future project involving the marketing and development of wind turbine.

“LTN's free service saved us a lot of time that would otherwise have been spent on the road networking, not to mention the costs and effort associated with building a business in this way,” Odera said. “By working with the team we were able to cut out a lot of the risk and hassle of networking alone, not to mention that LTN's endorsement added a lot of credibility for a small company like ours when contacting new potential business partners.”

Enterprise Europe Network London is a consortium of business support organisations, including GLE, London Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and LTN. They are part of a European-wide network consisting of 600 offices across 40 countries, assisting companies to engage in transnational technology transfer.

For more information please contact Enterprise Europe Network London at 020 7940 1512 / innovation@gle.co.uk