Advancing sustainable energy solutions
Securing our energy supply is at the forefront of a global conversation. Swiss Re believes advancing sustainable energy solutions is an important goal for a growing population and a developing world.
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and Solar Impulse: shaping the future of renewable energy
Encouraging the next big thing in renewable energy, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions partners with the aircraft project Solar Impulse, becoming the sole insurer of the revolutionary zero-fuel airplane.
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions is proud to join forces with Solar Impulse as their official insurance provider in their ambition to fly around the world powered only by solar energy.
The partnership is an important step in allowing Solar Impulse to continue to promote the technologies which will reduce energy consumption and help minimize society's dependence on fossil fuels. The connecting point between Solar Impulse and Swiss Re Corporate Solutions - the plane's sole insurer - is a shared aspiration to advance the search for alternative sources of energy which are clean, safe and have the potential to become what the printing press was for culture, or the steam engine was for industrialization.
The contributions of the Swiss Re Group to the global debate around sustainability, climate mitigation and adaptation, and renewable energy are based, ultimately, on a fundamental belief that these topics are worth every effort. In particular, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions is committed to advancing the pivotal role of insurance in enabling the risk taking essential to the renewable energy industry's growth and technological innovations.
A tailor-made fit
With a wealth of expertise in insuring large-scale aviation, engineering, construction and renewable energy projects along the entire value chain, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions is a strong and reliable insurance partner for a project as unique as Solar Impulse.
"This partnership is an excellent fit between two organisations who share a belief that innovation can flourish when knowledge and expertise is combined across industries," says Agostino Galvagni, CEO of Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. “We are showing that we have the expertise to match Solar Impulse's needs on a project which will potentially revolutionise the way we power society."
Through the provision of risk transfer and financing schemes, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions ensures the bankability of renewable energy projects. The company, with its significant experience in managing complex and challenging risks, has a track record of being able to insure what others consider uninsurable.
Encouraging pioneering
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions appreciates and admires the risk taking that comes with pioneering spirit. The company applies all its expertise to help others realize their dreams for a larger societal benefit, by taking care of the risk.
Bertrand Piccard, initiator and chairman of Solar Impulse welcomes this new partnership. “When my grandfather completed the first flight into the stratosphere in 1931, nobody wanted to insure him. Today, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has proven its pioneering spirit by insuring a revolutionary experimental prototype.”
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions enjoys a leading market position in the weather and energy sectors. The alliance with Solar Impulse is yet another addition to the company's series of market and product innovations.
“This partnership with a specialist in risks mitigation like Swiss Re Corporate Solutions will strengthen the team to further improve the reliability and the safety of the flight around the world,” explains André Borschberg, co-founder and CEO of the Solar Impulse project.
Published 19 September 2012
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions offers innovative, high-quality insurance capacity to mid-sized and large multinational corporations across the globe. Our offerings range from standard risk transfer covers and multi-line programmes, to highly customised solutions tailored to the needs of our clients. Swiss Re Corporate Solutions serves customers from over 40 offices worldwide and is backed by the financial strength of the Swiss Re Group. For more information about Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, please visit www.swissre.com/corporatesolutions or follow us on Twitter @SwissRe_CS.
Solar Impulse
Solar Impulse HB-SIA is the first aircraft that can fly day and night without fuel or polluting emissions. It demonstrates the huge potential of new technologies in terms of energy reduction and the production of renewable energy. This revolutionary carbon fibre aircraft, that has the wingspan of an Airbus A340 (63.4m) and the weight of an average family car (1,600kg), is the result of seven intense years of work, calculations, simulations and tests by a team of 70 people and 80 partners. A plane this light and of this size has never been built before. The 12,000 solar cells built into the wing provide four 10HP electric motors with renewable energy. By day the solar cells recharge the 400kg lithium batteries which means the plane can fly at night. The Solar Impulse project is supported by Main Partners: Solvay, Omega, Deutsche Bank and Schindler; Official Partners: Bayer Material Science, SwissRe and Altran; Official Scientific Advisor: EPFL (the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) and Aeronautical Consultant: Dassault-Aviation.
Building a sustainable energy...
New report examines six climate change-influenced scenarios for the global energy mix along with the risks, focusing on renewable energy and the role insurance can play in enabling innovation in the sector....