Avangrid’s Seventh Innovation Forum Brings Together Top Universities, National Labs and Incubators to Spark Collaboration

Attending partners National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Yale, Greentown Labs, SeaDeep, MIT, University of Massachusetts, and University of Connecticut join Avangrid to foster collaboration and develop the energy industry’s next big innovation

Avangrid invested more than $102 million in energy innovation projects in 2023

ORANGE, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company and a member of the Iberdrola Group, hosted its seventh Innovation Forum today, titled “Transformative Collaboration”. The event featured some of Avangrid’s most innovative approaches to accelerating the country’s clean energy transition in both its networks and renewables businesses. Photos from the event can be downloaded here.

“Innovation is key to developing the solutions needed to advance the clean energy transition,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “However, we know that decarbonization cannot be accomplished through our efforts alone. The Innovation Forum is an opportunity to bring together our many partners—including top universities, national labs and incubators—to drive collaboration forward. The innovation displayed today will help us improve reliability across our operations, expand access to renewable energy, and increase access to cost-efficient clean-energy technologies for our customers.”

The event was kicked off by Jaquelin Cochran, director of the Grid Planning and Analysis Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), who gave the keynote describing how NREL's research is planning for increased renewable energy generation across the United States and potential solutions for the challenges associated with decarbonization. Other partners who joined the event were Greentown Labs, SeaDeep, Yale University, MIT, University of Massachusetts, and University of Connecticut.

“Innovation is at the forefront of how we think about things at the NREL,” said Cochran. “So much of the power system is changing—the impact of weather is greater, the demand for electricity is growing, and customer expectations are transforming. We don't want to operate in a bubble and just do research. It's important to us to interact with industry experts like Avangrid to not only share our findings and ideas, but also learn about the challenges they're experiencing.”

Avangrid invested more than $102 million in energy innovation projects in 2023 and, working with Iberdrola and under the leadership of Chairman Galan, the company is planning to increase that investment this year. At the Innovation Forum, Avangrid’s network team, which serves more than 3.3 million electric and natural gas customers across the northeast, showcased the company’s Utility Thermal Energy Network pilot project in Ithaca. This innovative project is being carried out by Avangrid’s New York subsidiary New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and aims to provide an alternative to natural gas for heating without increasing demand on the electricity grid. The company’s renewables team, which operates 8.8 gigawatts of emissions-free installed capacity and is developing the country’s first large-scale offshore wind farm, showcased innovation ideas for improving offshore operation and maintenance effectiveness, such as drone inspections of turbines or subsea cables.

About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $44 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens. In 2024, Avangrid ranked first among utilities and 12 overall. The company supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2024 for the sixth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit avangrid.com.