Last week, our COO & Commercial Director, Emmanuel S. Kirunda, was in New York City for the final week of the Global Incubation Programme, a six-month initiative led by Innovate UK in partnership with Urban Future Lab and Greentown Labs.
The week featured visits to key sites in New York’s cleantech ecosystem, including Governors Island, the Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT), and NewLab at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The highlight was Thursday’s Showcase event at CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen) in Midtown, where Emmanuel participated in a fireside chat on ‘Entering New Markets’.
Key Takeaways from the Fireside Chat:
Emmanuel shared insights from our customer discovery journey, which included 23+ in-depth interviews. One of the biggest lessons? Strategic customer targeting and segmentation is essential—particularly in the US, where state-level regulations and market needs vary significantly, making a one-size-fits-all federal approach ineffective.
A Major Challenge: Grid Interconnections
A key topic that sparked interest was grid interconnection challenges—a pressing issue in both the UK and the US. Transmission grid congestion is reaching critical levels, with clean energy projects in the US queueing to connect at almost double the current national grid capacity.
At Olsights, we are addressing this challenge with REACT, our pioneering digital decision platform designed to help Grid Operators at the transmission level. REACT provides data-driven insights to optimize infrastructure upgrades by accurately assessing true demand and project viability for grid connections. Interviews with US utilities such as Avangrid and National Grid greatly helped to uncover insights at least in the North East region.
What’s Next?
We are excited to continue our conversations with potential customers in the US, exploring pilot projects that will pave the way for our expansion beyond the UK.
Stay tuned for more updates as we drive innovation in grid planning and energy transition!
