International Minerals Innovation Institute

IMII’s Alternative Energy Systems Innovation Challenge Officially Launched!

Saskatoon, SK (Canada) – The International Minerals Innovation Institute (IMII) is excited to announce the launch of their inaugural Alternative Energy Systems Innovation Challenge to advance the development and adoption of new technologies that could provide significant benefits in reducing energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy security and creating new opportunities for clean economic growth in Saskatchewan’s minerals industry.

The IMII Alternative Energy Systems Innovation Challenge is an open innovation challenge – meaning solutions from outside IMII’s member organizations and the potash and uranium mining and minerals sectors are welcomed.

“The Alternative Energy Systems Innovation Challenge is a new initiative of the IMII and presents innovators from adjacent and other industrial sectors with a unique opportunity to advance their technology solutions in the minerals industry by working with Saskatchewan’s leading minerals companies – BHP, Cameco, K+S Potash, Mosaic and Nutrien,” says Al Shpyth, IMII’s Executive Director. “The minerals industry has been integrating environmental and social considerations into their business practices and operational processes for some time, and they recognize that accelerating the development and adoption of new technologies is key to simultaneously achieving economic growth and significant progress on climate change.”

With today’s launch, IMII’s Alternative Energy Systems Innovation Challenge enters the Innovator Selection phase where up to five finalists will be chosen to receive business development and financial support to participate in a Challenge Sprint to the end of 2021. The selected winner will have their technology scaled up for deployment at one of IMII’s member companies’ operations in 2022. As part of the process, IMII’s members companies and other subject matter experts will provide technical oversight and feedback to the finalists to prepare for technology development and testing prior to the selection of the winning solution. Successful applications must have the capacity and confidence to demonstrate technology readiness, cost-effectiveness, and ease of implementation – all of which are key to advancing adoption.

For more information about IMII’s Alternative Energy Systems Innovation Challenge, please visit imii.ca/aes-challenge

Full news release is available here.