Fluitec recently received the “People’s Choice Award” at the Castrol 20/20 competition held at the Google Campus in London. The Castrol 20/20 initiative is a global competition to help Castrol identify bold, new potential billion-dollar businesses.
Out of an estimated 500 total companies, Fluitec’s Wind subsidiary was selected as a top 5 finalist. In addition to Fluitec, companies who applied consisted of a London car-sharing program, a Swedish friction-reducing nano-coating technology, a Finnish air-pollution monitor sensor and an Irish driving-safety game.
Fluitec’s award-winning premise is the creation of a solution that can mitigate billions of dollars in costs from operating and maintaining (O&M) wind turbines. Currently, global wind turbine O&M costs stand at nearly $10 billion a year.
“O&M is the ‘fuel’ required to run wind turbines,” said Amar Pradhan, chief operating officer of Fluitec Wind. “By decreasing this expense, we help significantly increase the profitability of renewable energy production.”
Fluitec identified that a byproduct of the wind industry’s high costs is a treasure trove of unused data streams, specifically lubricant-related data streams. The company perfected an advanced analytical engine using the latest in big data technologies to transform this complex operational data to drastically slash O&M costs. The technology also improves wind turbine reliability and health.
Launched in March 2012, Fluitec’s service has been quickly adopted by marquee wind operators. The wind subsidiary was also awarded $3.3 million in financing from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to accelerate development. Additionally, Fluitec was recently recognized as the top cleantech company at the Cleantech Forums in New York and Paris.
“Fluitec has an exciting value proposition and a strong team,” said Bryan Rabenau of Castrol InnoVentures. “We look forward to working together to find a mutually beneficial fit.”
For more information, visit www.fluitecwind.com.
