2026 Cleantech Open Global Forum Showcase & Awards

The forum brings together cleantech innovators, investors, corporates, and other ecosystem participants to address grid stability, water scarcity, waste-to-value, critical minerals, and geopolitical pressures on supply chains and energy security. The program includes a closed-door, peer-level executive roundtable and an opening plenary covering cleantech trends, capital flows, innovation, and the 2027 Global Cleantech 100. Agenda topics include nuclear fuel supply and nuclear supply chains; mineral processing, refining, recovery, and the post-mining supply chain; physical AI applications in grid construction, critical minerals, and dual-use; data-center power demand, grid capacity, water use, cooling, and wastewater resource recovery. Other sessions address heat resilience, energy efficiency for AI compute, geopolitical risk across energy and cleantech supply chains, and investor perspectives on cleantech funding. Innovation Showcases feature cleantech companies presenting technologies and business models.

The forum connects energy startups with investors, corporations, and ecosystem partners through structured one-on-one meetings and a startup pitch competition. Its stated areas of focus include electricity; materials and industrial manufacturing; fuels and chemicals; the built environment; resource management; transportation and mobility; enabling technologies; and agriculture and food. Investor participation spans venture and growth equity, family offices, corporate strategic investors, and project finance groups. The event also features technical workshops on topics shaping the energy sector.

“Collaborative Capital: The Multiplier Effect for Clean Energy” frames a working forum on coordinating investment across public, private, and philanthropic sectors and addressing systemic clean-energy financing challenges. The program combines plenary discussions, facilitated small-group problem solving, and breakouts. Small-group topics include state policy blueprints, low- and moderate-income financial access, tax-credit monetization, the clean-energy capital stack, virtual power plant valuation, local alignment to reduce soft costs, financing data-center growth, solar finance in low-incentive markets, resilience and outage avoidance, first-of-a-kind project financing, turning small projects into investable portfolios, liquidity for CDFIs and green banks, Indigenous and rural capital access, early-stage geothermal exploration, and utility capital for flexible capacity with equitable benefits. Breakouts address how state and local green banks use public seed funding to attract private lenders; philanthropic impact investing and program-related investments; community ownership and retaining wealth locally; philanthropic guarantees and credit enhancements; financing grid modernization, battery storage, and microgrids in disaster-prone regions; and clean-energy finance amid AI-driven growth. The program also includes innovation spotlights. David Crane, CEO of Generate Capital, gives the opening keynote; Amir Kirkwood, CEO of Justice Climate Fund, gives a keynote; and Elizabeth Mahony, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, gives the closing keynote. The forum follows the Chatham House Rule, and solicitation of funding is not permitted.

The technical program covers the lifecycle of offshore energy projects, from exploration and development through production, maintenance, and decommissioning. Topics span offshore oil and gas, offshore wind, carbon management, hydrogen, marine resources, and technologies for operational efficiency, safety, reliability, and performance, including advanced materials, automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. Program elements include the Opening General Session on energy demand, market dynamics, policy and regulation, offshore innovation, collaboration, and sustainability; panel and technical sessions; keynote presentations; the University R&D Showcase; and the Presentation Hub and Around the World Series. Executive Dialogues use a limited-participation, peer-to-peer format and address emerging technologies, policy and regulation, capital investment, market outlooks, energy transition strategies, workforce development, and energy demand and security. The Energy Evolution Exchange Pavilion features carbon capture and storage, offshore wind, hydrogen, marine resources, low-carbon solutions, and energy efficiency. URTeC is co-located with OTC, with distinct technical programs focused on offshore and unconventional resource development.

An invitational pitch event for Cohort 2027 finalists, following application review and virtual presentations by selected semifinalists. The underlying program supports technical founders developing early-stage technology innovations. Its priority areas include domestic critical-mineral extraction, midstream processing and recycling; manufacturing scale-up for energy applications; industrial competitiveness; energy generation and power management; batteries; grid storage and security; and nuclear, fusion, transportation, computing, and biomanufacturing technologies.

The kickoff introduces the Year 6 cohort and features startup pitches from companies developing carbontech solutions that use carbon as a feedstock. The Carbon to Value Initiative connects startups with its invitation-only Carbontech Leadership Council, whose corporate, nonprofit, and government members provide market insights and explore collaboration on technology development, pilots, validation, testing, and demonstration. The initiative is a partnership among Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon, Greentown Labs, and Fraunhofer USA.

A member-focused policy program combining legislative meetings with panels on state energy and cleantech policy. Possible panel topics include policies supporting large-scale campus decarbonization efforts and workforce development. Panel 1 addresses Big Things on the Move: Policies to Consider for Current and Emerging Energy Projects, with Dave McCormack, CEO, Clean Energy Supplier Alliance; Julianne Mattecheck, Fabrication Salesperson, UMC, Inc.; and Ryan Calkins, Commissioner, Port of Seattle. Panel 2 addresses Carbon Management and Growing Energy Demand, with Steven Schueneman, Manager, Emerging Technologies and Sustainability, Puget Sound Energy; Meghan Gavin, General Counsel and Director, Carbon Containment Lab; and Mike Robinson, Co-Founder, PacClean. Innovation cluster insights and moderation are provided by Mel Clark, President & CEO, CleanTech Alliance, and Cassie Losey, Director of Governmental Affairs, Port of Benton. Reception remarks are provided by Nora Hawkins, Interim Energy Policy Director, Washington State Department of Commerce. The program includes legislator meetings with Sen. Sharon Shewmake, Rep. Alex Ramel, and Rep. Clyde Shavers.

The program examines North American energy tradeoffs, grid reliability, clean-energy integration, affordability, and cross-border coordination. Opening keynote speaker Ernest J. Moniz is Founder & CEO of EFI Institute and Former U.S. Secretary of Energy; Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston joins a leadership fireside chat, and Charles Dickerson, President & CEO of the Northeast Power Coordinating Council, gives keynote remarks on the power grid’s current state and future outlook. Day 1 sessions address electricity-demand growth, reliability and the cost curve; U.S. and Canadian energy policy, prices and cross-border coordination; investment opportunities in Canadian critical minerals, clean electricity, renewables, hydrogen, new nuclear and infrastructure; nuclear affordability, small modular reactors, supply chains and regulatory timelines; infrastructure costs related to permitting, litigation, supply chains and community engagement; and grid-operator perspectives on reliability, cost control, planning and interregional cooperation. The program also includes a lunch program and table dialogues. Day 2 sessions cover regulatory and policy approaches to affordable reliability; energy-sector financing and investment; which generation technologies are likely to be built and how cost, deployment speed and scalability shape investment; demand flexibility, distributed energy resources, storage and digital grid tools; and firm-power options including nuclear and advanced geothermal. The Steve Leahy Energy & Innovation Collaboration Award recognizes a U.S.-Canada energy partnership demonstrating innovation, collaboration, and affordability and reliability benefits.

Presented by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Energy Technology & Environmental Business Association (ETEBA).