On June 25th, AgentschapNL, on behalf of the Netherlands Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation signed its first Partners for International Business Agreement. The agreement was signed with the “Orange goes Green Cluster”, largely developed by Real NewEnergy. OrangeGoesGreen develops new sustainability and bio based business for and with its cluster partners.
The Ministry’s new Partnership for International Business (PIB) service concept offers targeted partnership opportunities for the private sector. The Orange goes Green Cluster has developed such a partnership consisting of a multi-year program combining economic diplomacy, business development and knowledge transfer between Netherlands’ and US public, private and scientific entities.
The Orange goes Green program is built around the themes renewable energy, bio based economy, energy efficiency, energy storage, smart grid/city and electric transport. The concrete target for the cluster is securing US contracts for the participating partners and vice versa encouraging US entities to develop and roll out activities in the Netherlands.
The cluster has a geographical focus on the US and Canada, that are among the largest investors in Renewable Energy worldwide. Especially the North American West Coast is setting the pace for greening the Economy. California for example aims at covering 33% of the State’s energy needs by means of sustainable energy in 2020. During the cluster program at least 15 different projects will be developed in which often more than one cluster partner will be participating. The cluster derived revenue per partner is estimated at $500.000 to $2.5 million.
Orange goes Green is innovatively organized and financed combining the strengths of economic diplomacy and international entrepreneurship. The cluster is aiming for developing very specific contract opportunities enabling the monitoring and measurements of its success rate. When successful, the Partners in International Business approach will develop into a role model for future public private partnerships.
The Orange goes Green agreement has been signed by Agentschap NL and a consortium of Rabobank, Deerns, Ecofys, Priva, Tocardo, IF Technology, Aqualiner and the Universiteit of Wageningen. Real NewEnergy acts as the accelerator and coordinator for the cluster. The primary partner for the Netherlands Government is the Consulate General in San Francisco.
