BRUNEI-MUARA – LiveWIRE Brunei — a Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) social investment flagship — launched its Energy Solutions (ES) Programme on Monday to nurture a future generation of entrepreneurs in renewable energy.
The two-day workshop is designed to create competitive and creative solutions on the use of natural resources of energy and converting waste to energy or repurposing waste to something useful.
Held in partnership with Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), ES also aims to develop awareness, entrepreneurial skills and ideas into viable business solutions for energy diversification and efficiency.
With Brunei’s annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions ranking per capita the seventh highest globally, officials from BSP acknowledged the need for diversification in the energy market.
One of the speakers during the two-day workshop, BSP officer Nur Aiman ‘Aqilah Salleh-Bostaman, said that the government aspires to generate at least 10 percent of total power from new and renewable resources by 2035.
She identified two areas of opportunity that have emerged: renewable energy and energy efficiency where users can use energy-saving appliances and vehicles.
Nur Aiman ‘Aqilah encouraged participants to conduct market assessments to get a comprehensive analysis of environment forces, market trends, entry barriers, competition, risks, opportunities, and the company’s resources and constraints. This includes getting an overview of the current energy landscape of Brunei.
Meanwhile, Hjh Rosita Hj Hassan, In-Country Value Manager of Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP) and Chairman of the LiveWIRE Board of Directors said enabling and accelerating Brunei’s success in the energy transition can help diversify the country’s energy supply and improve energy efficiency.
“This is crucial in creating shared value for society by providing reliable, affordable and cleaner energy solutions,” she noted.
“[This would] unlock new markets and contribute to a stable operating environment for Shell and by enabling local energy markets and supporting entrepreneurs and partners in the development of energy solutions.”
Among the topics presented on Monday morning included opportunities for entrepreneurs to innovate in the energy sector for three reasons namely high energy consumption, falling natural gas and oil reserves and government commitment to spur renewables.
The pilot programme also provides mentoring of entrepreneurial students, post-delivery for development of business case, prototype product and/or service.
Submissions received during the programme will be screened and successful applicants will then be channeled to the LiveWIRE Business Awards competition in May.
Selected candidates will further progress to the Business Award Funding Scheme in July 2019, where the students will be given the opportunity to pitch their business ideas. If they meet the criteria, selected participants may have the opportunity to enter into the oil and gas value chain.
The ES programme was conducted for UTB and Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) students as well as LiveWIRE participants, and introduced six modules namely conducting marketing assessment, applying design thinking, developing a theory of change, developing a business model, building and managing teams and developing a narrative.