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Innovation Award

EnergyDecentral

The EnergyDecentral Innovation Award has been given out by an independent jury since 2014.

Pioneering, innovative developments in the energy industry are awarded the "Innovation Award EnergyDecentral". The winners of these prestigious innovations medals are representative of the creative spirit and innovative strength of the entire industry.

Innovation Award EnergyDecentral 2024

All qualified innovations of 2024

Innovation Award EuroTier 2024

Bild (Kopie 1)

All companies qualifying as exhibitors at EnergyDecentral 2024 and EuroTier 2024 and whose products fall within the categories listed below are eligible to participate in this competition. Joint submissions may also be made. Participation is voluntary and involves no extra costs. The participating company bears sole responsibility for adhering to all relevant statutory provisions and to these DLG award and judging regulations.

Products in the following categories may be entered:

1. Biogas and biomethane – production and use
2. Solid biofuels – production and use
3. Liquid biofuels – production and use
4. Solar energy systems
5. Decentralized energy technology
6. Airing and ventilation, waste air and exhaust gas cleaning
7. Recycling and waste disposal systems
8. Safety engineering
9. Energy distribution and storage
10. Measuring, control and instrumentation technology

To win a gold medal for innovation, a product must represent a new concept in which the function has changed significantly and which facilitates a new process or substantially improves an already familiar method. Decisive in its selection will be its practical significance, the impact on operating affordability and efficiency, on the environment and on energy consumption. Its impact on labour saving and health and safety at work will also be considered.

To win a silver medal for Innovation, a product must represent an advance on an existing product such that a significant improvement in functionality and process is achieved. It will be a product that does not fully meet the criteria for the award of an Innovation Gold Medal. Decisive in its selection will be its practical significance in terms of cost, its performance and quality under working conditions and its functional safety. Further factors taken into consideration include impact on the environment and energy consumption.
Products which have a level of innovation assessed as adequate by the Commission and are therefore rated as innovative but falling short of gold or silver medal standard, may nonetheless subsequently feature in the Innovations Magazine.

Award-winning products must be fully functional at the time of the exhibition and ready for market launch and available on the market at the latest by EnergyDecentral 2026. Exhibitors themselves are obliged to provide information about the market availability. This is done in two steps.

1. One year after the award the exhibitor must provide information about the market availability of the award-winning innovation.

2. Shortly before the next EnergyDecentral the exhibitor must provide a second statement about whether the award-winning product is available on the market.

The decision as to which products will win an EnergyDecentral Innovation Award medal is made by the Innovations commission meeting in accordance with the Guidelines for the Award of Gold and Silver Medals. The commission’s decision is final. Any recourse to a court of law is excluded.

For products that are not awarded a medal, the commission is under no obligation to inform the exhibitor of its reasons for not awarding a medal. Complaints should be addressed to the commission chair via the responsible employee at the DLG head office only.

The award-winners will be presented with a certificate and a medal for each winning product. In the case of joint submissions, each of the companies involved will receive a certificate and a medal.