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Hannah Wang

Julie Zhang

UK-based start-up Barocal, which specialises in energy storage and conversion, won the US$1 million top prize at this year’s TERA-Award, created by Hong Kong tycoon Peter Lee Ka-kit.
Lee is on a mission to discover unicorns in green energy development and innovation through his platform, aiming to tackle one of the world’s most pressing challenges: climate change.
Now in its fourth year, the TERA-Award, established by Lee’s family office, Full Vision Capital, received a record 785 submissions.
In the previous three years, TERA-Award received around 1,000 applications in total, according to Alan Chan, executive chairman of the TERA-Award organising committee and managing partner of Full Vision.
“The reason we established this competition is that we’re looking for the next batch of unicorns who could be the superconnector, to connect people and solve the climate problem,” said Chan.

Lee, the co-chairman of Henderson Land Development, is the eldest son of the recently deceased Lee Shau-kee, the founder of the company. Full Vision Capital focuses on investing in smart energy solutions and innovative environmental technologies.
“Our goal was to become an international platform within five years, but I feel that we have been a bit conservative,” said Chan. “We have reached an international level to a certain extent this year.”
Barocal, which develops solid cooling and heating technologies aimed at decarbonising the sector, said the award would help it scale its technology more rapidly and expand into Asia.
“Asia is one of our most important markets, and we plan to use the network and exposure through the TERA-Award to deepen relationships with Chinese partners, suppliers, and manufacturers,” said Florian Schabus, Barocal’s chief commercial officer.
“We will use the prize money to accelerate the development of our novel cooling and heating technology. The additional funding will enable us to deploy our high energy-efficiency systems in real-world settings,” he said.

US-based Feon Energy, an advanced battery electrolyte start-up that emerged from Stanford University, won the silver prize and a cash award of US$100,000.
Syzygy Plasmonics, another US start-up specialising in green fuel and hydrogen energy, came in third, winning a cash prize of US$50,000.
“We chose to participate in an Asia-based award because Asia, and China in particular, is leading the renewable energy revolution, both in scale and in innovation,” said Huang Wenxiao, the CEO and co-founder of Feon Energy.
“We’re already continuing conversations with several of the people we met through the TERA-Award to explore pilot projects, partnerships and entry points into the Asia-Pacific market,” Huang added.
TERA-Award not only provided start-ups advice on choosing the right talent, but it also identified funding sources and helped them build their supply chain, Chan said.

Start-ups from mainland China and Hong Kong won the top prize in the past two years: Hua Xia Hydrogen Technology (Xiamen), which is developing an advanced alkaline water electrolysis system for hydrogen production, in 2023, and i2cool, which specialises in unique electricity-free refrigeration technology, in 2022.
Chan said i2cool had secured nearly HK$100 million (US$12.7 million) from investors, including Hong Kong’s sole piped-gas provider Towngas, also controlled by the Lee family. The Hong Kong-based start-up has expanded to more than 20 countries and regions globally, including the Middle East and Europe, he added.
“Our country’s development projects have been very powerful, especially in green technology,” said Chan.
Of the more than 1,000 submissions for the award received in previous years, more than half were from China and Hong Kong, he added.
This year’s judging panel was led by Professor Cui Yi, a well-known scientist in the field of energy and nanotechnology, who also teaches materials science and engineering at Stanford University.
The judges evaluated start-ups from many aspects, such as innovation and the potential for global impact.


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Business of climate change

UK start-up Barocal wins US$1 million TERA-Award for green energy innovation

Winners at the fourth TERA-Award. Photo: Handout

The UK-based team behind Barocal, winner of this year’s TERA-Award. Photo: Handout

Huang Wenxiao (right), CEO and co-founder of Feon Energy, winner of this year’s TERA-Award silver prize. Photo: Handout

Martin Zhu, co-founder of i2cool. Photo: Handout

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(Clockwise from top left) Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan, CIMC Enric Holdings president Leo Yang Xiaohu, CIMC Enric Technology Innovation Sharing Centre general manager Li Dong and principal assistant secretary of the Transport and Logistics Bureau Klaus Chan, at the MOU signing ceremony on Wednesday. Photo: Handout

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The award, which is in its fourth year, has been set up by Hong Kong tycoon Peter Lee Ka-kit to find green solutions to tackle climate change


The award, which is in its fourth year, has been set up by Hong Kong tycoon Peter Lee Ka-kit to find green solutions to tackle climate change.


UK start-up Barocal wins US$1 million TERA-Award for green energy innovation

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The award, which is in its fourth year, has been set up by Hong Kong tycoon Peter Lee Ka-kit to find green solutions to tackle climate change

The award, which is in its fourth year, has been set up by Hong Kong tycoon Peter Lee Ka-kit to find green solutions to tackle climate change