TEN IRISH clean-tech companies, including Bord na Móna, have been in Vancouver this week to show their wares at Globe 2010, one of the largest environmental trade fairs in the world.
Marina Donohoe, of Enterprise Ireland’s green tech division, said it was a significant opportunity for them to meet buyers and key decision makers from Canada and the US as well as more than 70 other countries, including China, France, Germany, Japan and South Korea.
Ms Donohoe said North America offered strong opportunities for Ireland’s clean-tech sector. The Canadian renewables market was expected to grow in the coming years to reach a value of $42.4 billion (€31.4 million), adding that it was a key component of Canada’s stimulus package.
Enterprise Ireland clients are uniquely placed to capitalise on these opportunities, based on their innovative CleanTech offer and their track record in Europe, Ms Donohoe said. Globe 2010 should encourage the establishment of relevant partnering relationships.
A year ago Eddie O’Connor’s Mainstream Renewable Power showed the value of exploring the Canadian market when it signed a $622 million joint venture agreement with Alberta Wind Energy to develop over 400mw of wind power projects by 2013.
Under the terms of the deal, Mainstream holds an 80 per cent share of the venture.
Forecasts show that Alberta, which is said to have some of the best wind sites in North America, will need an additional 500mw of electricity generation capacity by 2017.
Irish companies following Mr O’Connor’s lead – even in a small way – include Dublin-based Openhydro, which is among those exhibiting at the Vancouver fair. Openhydro is working with Canadian utility Nova Scotia Power on a tidal demonstration project in Fundy Bay, Nova Scotia.
Dr Tom Kelly, clean tech divisional manager of Enterprise Ireland, said there was no doubt that such deals represented the route to economic recovery and that was why the State agency had decided to secure a significant footing at Globe 2010 for the first time.
"It's only three years ago that we set up a clean tech division at Enterprise Ireland, so this is something that's new to us," he told The Irish Times. However, he said the move was made before the Green Party had entered government in 2007.
Other Irish companies exhibiting at Globe 2010 include Biotech Treatment Systems, which provides proprietary sewage treatment systems using ultra-violet radiation for housing schemes as well as hotels, sports and leisure facilities.
Butler Manufacturing Services has set up BMS North America to manufacture and sell compact packaged sewage treatment plants, known as BMS Blivet. Produced in eight sizes, it is claimed to be the world’s leading, most compact all-in-one plant.
Bord na Móna Environmental Products US Inc is showcasing its Puraflow peat biofilter wastewater treatment system as well as its RainSava rainwater harvesting and MonaShell biofilter for removing hydrogen sulphide, odours and volatile organic compounds.
Others include IMEC Technologies, which specialises in software that tracks waste from the point of generation to the point of dispatch, and Ozo 24/7 Collect Recycle, which provides customised waste management, including a GMS tracking system for its truck fleet.
Vancouver is the greenest city in North America and aims to be number one in the world by 2020, according to its mayor, Gregor Robertson. Its latest initiative is to help businesses save money by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and telling their customers about it.
