B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy Announces 2023 Open Call for Innovation Funding Recipients

June 8, 2023

Nine B.C. clean energy innovators secure a total of $5.2M in funding to propel a carbon-negative future

The B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) is pleased to announce its allocation of $5.2M in non-dilutive funding to expedite the commercial development and global scaling of clean energy innovations originating in British Columbia. Funding was granted through CICE’s 2023 Open Call for Innovation, which attracted over 100 applications from across the province, highlighting an impressive range of strategies and technologies to advance decarbonization.

Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy’s (CICE) annual open call for innovation launched in January 2023, and welcomed game-changing ideas and project proposals across CICE areas of focus. Funding recipients include:

Battery and Energy Storage

• Mangrove Lithium is validating electrochemical processing technology that will reduce the carbon and energy intensity of critical battery materials by refining a diverse source of feedstocks into battery grade lithium – with zero waste products.
• Atlas Power Technologies Inc. is engineering and field-testing a unique supercapacitor system that provides fast electrical response and improves the reliability of utility systems to support renewable energy growth on power grids.
• Invinity Energy Systems is scaling up its vanadium flow batteries to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy by delivering utility scale longer duration storage for electric grids worldwide.
• Rainhouse Manufacturing Canada Ltd. is repurposing electric vehicle battery packs for affordable energy storage and developing a first-of-its-kind “pay-per-use” business model for lowering the cost of leasing and energy delivery to remote communities.

Low Carbon Bio and Synthetic Fuels

• Anodyne Chemistries is building the world’s first industrial bio-electric process to convert carbon dioxide into low carbon fuels and specialty chemicals, replacing the carbon intensive synthesis of chemicals such as methanol.
• Metro Vancouver is validating technologies that enhance microbial activity in anaerobic digestion to generate low-carbon fuels at wastewater treatment plants.
• Takachar is making biomass-based chemicals and biofuels economically feasible by prototyping a small-scale, portable biomass conversion unit on tractors and pick-up trucks to process raw biomass on-site in remote communities and places where it is usually not economic to process.

Low Carbon Hydrogen

• HTEC is building weatherized hydrogen fueling stations to improve reliability in extreme weather conditions, allowing for the continual optimization of its station network in Canada and the U.S.
• Illuming Power Inc. is accelerating the migration from diesel engines to hydrogen fuel cells by integrating fluorine-free proton exchange membrane with their expanded graphite composite bipolar plate technology, to create and validate an advanced fuel cell stack design that will reduce cost, elevate performance and improve durability.

“B.C. is home to amazing innovators that are fast-tracking our progress towards ambitious net-zero targets and securing a greener and more prosperous future for generations to come. CICE is proud to be funding B.C.’s clean energy technologies at the intersection of breakthrough and real-word implementation. Together, we are full charge ahead.” 

Ged McLean, Executive Director of the B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy

Past CICE project funding recipients include: Cascadia Seaweed, Corvus Energy Inc., Ekona Power, H2 Portable Power Corp, Hexagon Purus, HTEC, Hydra Energy, Hydron Energy, Lafarge Canada, Moment Energy Inc. and Parkland Refining BC Ltd.

To learn more about upcoming innovation calls and funding opportunities, CICE invites you to attend the following virtual informational sessions:

Forestry Residue Management – June 22, 10am PT

Measurement, Monitoring and Verification of Carbon Management – June 27, 10am PT

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