The hackathon will take place on May 23–24th during ENERGY EXPO 2025, the region’s largest energy trase fair. Participants can compete for prizes totaling €22,000.

CleanTech Hackathon is part of CleanTech Nexus, a program launched in June 2024 by Techcelerator, the longest-running high-tech accelerator in Romania. The event is organized by Techcelerator in collaboration with ENERGY EXPO, Ascendis, the Romanian Tech Startups Association (ROTSA), and with the support of the Ministry of Energy and PPC Romania.

Participants may be individuals (entrepreneurs, researchers, tech or energy experts, science enthusiasts) or companies interested in the energy industry (startups or scaleups with existing products that want to validate them alongside experienced energy companies).

Those interested can apply by May 19th (11.59 PM) by completing this form.

The prizes have a total value of €22,000: €10,000 in cash and €12,000 in development resources. The winning team will receive €5,000, second place €3,000, and third place €2,000. Additional prizes and special mentions will also be awarded, along with access to pilot projects (Proof of Concepts) with major energy companies.

The event gives participants the chance to develop practical solutions for real industry needs and accelerate the transition from idea to implementation.

The 9 challenges are:

  1. Inteligent congestion management in electricity distribution networks
  2. Unified data integration platform for prosumers' energy flow
  3. Tokenized investment platform for renewable energy asset co-ownership
  4. Adaptive optimization algorithms for urban EV charging networks
  5. Digital Twin Solutions to identify defects and intervention needs before they affect performance (predictive maintenance) and cybersecurity:
  6. AI / AI agent solutions and integrated management platforms:
  • Ensuring data governance, integrating multiple sources (ETL), analysis and reporting (Business Intelligence).
  • AI agents for document management in departments such as HR, procurement, maintenance, or engineering.
  • AI solutions for managing corrective action programs and activity management.
  • Automating processes in energy, natural gas, and nuclear storage facilities.
  • Managing visitors and contractors in energy and nuclear facilities - implementing a solution to automate access flows to spaces with special access.
  1. Use of drones and software platforms for automating the inspection process of industrial facilities and surveillance of overhead power lines.
  2. AI forecasting of consumption and generation in low voltage networks
  3. Next-Gen AI-based SecOps for energy infrastructure, covering both OT and IT environments, designed to reduce false alarms, minimize the volume of stored cyber data, and scale analysis using minimal computing resources.

The finalists will be evaluated by a panel of experts and leaders in the fields of energy and business development, as well as investors and business angels. Teams and companies will have the opportunity to be supported not only by the representatives of the companies that proposed the challenges (challenge owners), but also by the hackathon mentors. Among them are:Alin Crăciunescu – Director Grids GM Staff Retele Electrice, Laurențiu Brumaru – Head of Delivery Factory PPC Energie, Andrei Mihalciu – Partnership Growth Director PPC Blue, Gabriel Popa – Head of Project Licensing PPC Renewables Romania, Mihai Stanciu – Head of Digital Innovation PPC Romania, Alexandra Voinea – Technical Business Analyst FintechOS, Alexandru Ruff – Partner GapMinder Ventures, Ștefan Iorgulescu – Co-founder & CEO Control F5 Software, Diana Nițescu – CEO Top Minds, Paul Murariu – Associated Director Kearney & Limited Partner, V7 Capital, Claudiu Butacu – Co-founder EFdeN, Aleodor Tabarcea – Engineering Manager Stripe, Marius Istrate – President TechAngels, Mălin Ștefănescu – Angel Investor TechAngels, Olivian Savin – Executive Director FEL Romania, named Young Energy Ambassador by the European Commission for 2025, Marius Opriș - Partner Ascendis, Ionuț Tarcea - Business Unit Manager of Organizational Culture Ascendis.

“Hackathons are synonymous with the idea of innovation, but what sets the CleanTech Hackathon apart is its focus on Corporate Open Innovation — specifically, our goal is for participants to develop solutions for challenges proposed by companies that are committed long-term to this open innovation process. This hackathon brings together the most important energy players from Romania and Southeast Europe who are both interested in and investing in innovation — organizations that are adopting the latest technologies in their electricity production, distribution, and supply processes.We aim to see technologies that bring fresh ideas to the business challenges faced by energy companies, and we hope that the collaboration between participants and companies will continue beyond the hackathon. Because yes, the ultimate goal of this event — and of Cleantech Nexus, the program of which the hackathon is a part — is to help companies innovate and become more resilient in today’s technological and geopolitical context, with the support of innovative startups and scale-ups. In turn, these startups and scale-ups will gain access to new clients and revenue streams that can help them attract further investment rounds,” said Cristian Dascălu, Managing Partner at Techcelerator.