These are industry influencers and/or individuals who are innovative in their leadership approaches and strategies to improve the greater power and energy value chain on a regional and global level. These leaders can be active in the private or public sectors and can include academia. Their influential role should be setting benchmarks in their respective industry sectors including, but not limited to, project design and development, engineering, technology and innovation, data related projects, legislation and finance.

Projects in which electricity producers have improved power generation efficiency and/or capacity by developing and implementing advanced and innovative technology and solutions into an existing or new power plant. Things to consider include reduced operational or deferred capital expenditures, carbon and other emissions reductions, life extension, and plant uprates. 

Projects in which electricity producers have utilised renewable power generation and new business offerings to meet growing customer demand for cleaner energy options. This can include the utilisation of blockchain or peer to peer trading facilitation, utility facilitated residential storage or a complete restructuring of a business to accommodate.

Projects demonstrating the growth and development of microgrids driven by a need for greater grid reliability, more distributed energy resources, or more generation to allow power producers and their customers better control of energy costs. Projects should include the latest developments in design, implementation, operation and regulation of microgrids or the addition of energy storage, distributed generation or other DER solutions to increase grid stability; reduce operational or defer capital expenditure; or enhance energy security and supply.

Utilities that have significantly embraced the evolution of the electricity industry through implementation of smart grid, smart metering, integrated smart communication systems and new/innovative power generation sources

Water, gas or electricity AMI projects and applications that have significantly improved utility operations, resource management, efficiency, revenue collection and customer satisfaction in the past 24 months

Projects that have improved on the way grid owners/operators or electricity generators collect, handle, analyse, share, visual, protect and optimise data, leading to improvements in actionable intelligence and data driven decision making.

Utilities that have successfully integrated a demand response programme for better energy efficiency, or which have seen consistent improvement in demand management of electricity or water.

Utilities or energy service providers that have most increased the level of customer satisfaction through enhanced or new services - including new and/or improved billing/payment models - and how these results were achieved. This may include the addition of prosumers onto the network or facilitated the integration of electric vehicles, blockchain or other customer engagement offerings into their business.

These models should be exemplary in their fields which can be in the form of traditional financing models, FinTech and interactive platforms such as crowdfunding that attribute to the development of small, medium and large-scale power projects. 

The most innovative product or project of 2019/2020 – this can include innovations across the power and energy value chain (generation; transmission; distribution). 

Projects undertaken as part of a smart city initiative which has driven an integrated energy, water or gas system as part of an overall city plan. Initiatives can include increased access to data which has led to energy/water or gas savings or enhanced management, or the overall implementation of a water, gas or electricity management and/or supply programme.