CBC, ACWA & NEIAAP (SNEC) Announce Strategic Partnership to Connect Global Innovation Ecosystems for CleanTech, Energy Storage & Hydrogen
Source：cleantechbusiness.club
During ACWA Innovation Days 2026 in Riyadh, a Strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was announced between ACWA, the New Energy Industry Association for Asia and the Pacific (NEIAAP) — organiser of SNEC — and the CleanTech Business Club (CBC).
The partnership establishes a structured framework designed to connect global innovation ecosystems across CleanTech, energy storage and hydrogen, integrating industrial leadership, research institutions, startup communities and international platforms.
From Platform Collaboration to Global Ecosystem Integration
Building on successful cooperation during SNEC PV and SNEC H2 & ES, the Parties agreed to deepen collaboration through structured innovation initiatives, including:
- The Global StorageVersity Innovation Challenge
- The Global Clean Hydrogen Innovation Hackathon
- Cross-border industrial and ecosystem mobilisation
The partnership moves beyond event-based engagement toward a scalable architecture aimed at accelerating innovation and deployment at scale.
Watch brief leadership insights from Thomas Altmann (ACWA) on this strategic partnership: https://youtu.be/pi-yzJRXDQQ
ACWA Innovation Days China 2026
During ACWA Innovation Days 2026 in Riyadh, it was further decided that the first regional edition of ACWA Innovation Days will be held in Shanghai.
ACWA Innovation Days China 2026 will take place in October 2026, organised in partnership with SNEC and CBC, preceding the week of SNEC H2 & ES 2026, where additional joint activities will take place.
The Global StorageVersity Innovation Challenge
A cornerstone initiative under the partnership framework is the Global StorageVersity Innovation Challenge — a structured global platform focused on intelligent energy storage systems, AI-powered optimisation and next-generation infrastructure integration.
StorageVersity addresses diverse storage solutions across the energy system, including:
- Battery storage technologies
- Long-duration energy storage
- Hydrogen storage and sector coupling
- Thermal and mechanical storage solutions
- Hybrid and multi-vector storage architectures
The initiative bridges storage technologies with grid intelligence, digitalisation and system-level optimisation, recognising storage as one of the most critical enablers of the clean energy transformation.
The initiative will be open to:
- Research institutions and academia
- Startups and scale-ups
- Industrial players and technology providers
- Cross-disciplinary innovation teams
The Launching Ceremony of the Global StorageVersity Innovation Challenge will be held during SNEC PV in June 2025, formally introducing the initiative to global CleanTech ecosystems.
The Ceremony and Final Recognition Event is foreseen to take place during ACWA Innovation Days China 2026 in Shanghai (7-8 October 2026), reinforcing the Riyadh–Shanghai innovation axis and positioning storage as a central pillar of intelligent energy infrastructure.
Through StorageVersity, the Parties aim to:
- Mobilise global talent across academia and industry
- Accelerate AI-enabled storage optimisation
- Support grid-scale and multi-vector deployment pathways
- Integrate storage with hydrogen, renewables and industrial systems
By aligning digital intelligence, infrastructure and industrial scale, StorageVersity contributes to building the foundation for the next phase of the CleanTech transformation.
Global Clean Hydrogen Innovation Hackathon – China Regional Collaboration
Within the framework of the Global Clean Hydrogen Innovation Hackathon — powered by ACWA in partnership with CBC and IRESEN — SNEC will collaborate on:
- The Regional Hackathon Event in China
- Global promotion and ecosystem outreach
This ensures strong mobilisation of innovation actors in China while maintaining the Hackathon’s global architecture.
Building a Scalable Innovation Architecture
By aligning industrial leadership (ACWA), global ecosystem mobilisation (SNEC/NEIAAP) and cross-sector coordination (CBC), the partnership contributes to building a structured innovation architecture designed to mobilise talent, accelerate deployment and drive measurable impact across CleanTech, energy storage and hydrogen systems.
Further updates on upcoming initiatives will be announced in the coming months.
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egional engagement framework will be formally unveiled during the Forum.