Worley, the Australian engineering, procurement and construction company, has partnered with Silicon Valley startup innovation platform, Plug and Play Energy & Sustainability, in the effort to support high potential startup companies across the energy supply chain.

The aim of the partnership is to bring innovation to the energy sector as the industry shifts to more digitally-focused operations as well as address challenges and opportunities in new energy, construction, safety, automation, sustainability and the digitalisation of the value chain.

As part of the work, Worley will have a remote office space in Silicon Valley that provides immediate access to the startup ecosystem, which includes over 300 corporate partners and 200 venture capitalists. It will also sit on the Energy and Sustainability board to highlight industry challenges, engage with startup companies, and run pilot programs to validate the value of new technologies and their potential impact on the wider energy industry.

“Our partnership with Plug and Play gives us insight into emerging technologies and trends that we otherwise would not have access to,” said Roy Brown, Director of Emerging Technology at Worley. “Through this partnership, we can come together with the startup community to highlight our industry challenges and bring new technology solutions to market. We can also connect with our peers and customers to share our challenges and lessons learned around sourcing, piloting and scaling technologies, and most importantly, share our success stories.”

In total, the program will have access to over 15,000 startups across 28 locations around the world, covering 16 industries.

“This partnership is incredibly exciting for the entire tech startup community. It will layer in many different areas they can immediately access and where new resources can be harnessed to test out products and services,” added Wade Bitaraf, Founder and Director of Energy & Sustainability division at Plug and Play.