BERLIN, February 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- International Prize for Energy Efficiency Under the Patronage of German Federal Minister of Economics Rainer Bruderle

Businesses from industry and production who have put exemplary projects for increasing energy efficiency in their own operations into practice have until 15 July 2011 to enter the international dena Energy Efficiency Award. The Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) - the German Energy Agency - is announcing the award with total prize money of EUR 30,000 as part of its "Initiative EnergieEffizienz" campaign in cooperation with the Premium Partners DZ BANK AG, Imtech Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG and Siemens AG. Patron of the competition is Rainer Bruderle, Federal Minister of Economics Businesses can find all necessary details about entering at http://www.industrie-energieeffizienz.de.

Stephan Kohler, Chief Executive Officer of dena: "Globally, businesses have recognised the opportunities offered by energy-efficient technology. The dena Energy Efficiency Award is intended to encourage innovative businesses to select the energy efficiency solution which has the best possible effect on climate protection and their bottom line and not simply to stick with conventional standards."

The competition is international in scope and open to businesses of any size from any sector. It is precisely small and medium-sized businesses which can also achieve significant cost benefits from energy efficiency and strengthen their own competitiveness. This is why the competition is intended to provide a platform for just such businesses.

The condition for entry is that the projects have been successfully put into practice to increase energy efficiency. The submitted projects will be assessed and prizes awarded by a jury of top-ranking experts from politics, business, science and the media. The first prize in the dena Energy Efficiency Award 2011 is EUR 15,000, the second EUR 10,000 and the third EUR 5,000. Prizes will be awarded during the dena Energy Efficiency Congress in November 2011.

In 2010, a total of four companies won a dena Energy Efficiency Award: Viessmann Werke GmbH & Co. KG received a prize for the energy optimisation of a production plant. SMA Solar Technologies AG was recognised for its energy-efficient CO2-neutral new build inverter plant. The remaining prizes went to two foreign companies: Saigon TanTec Ltd. received the dena Energy Efficiency Award for building an efficient leather factory in Vietnam. The Brazilian company Alunorte - Alumina do Norte do Brasil S.A. was awarded a recognition prize for the energy optimisation of a metallurgical production process.

The Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) - the German Energy Agency - is the centre of expertise for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources and intelligent energy systems. Initiative EnergieEffizienz is a dena campaign and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

The following companies are supporting the Energy Efficiency Award 2011 as Premium Partners: DZ BANK AG is part of the Genossenschaftliche FinanzGruppe Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken which brings together some 1,200 co-operative banks. Within the FinanzGruppe, DZ BANK acts as the central institution and commercial bank for the co-operative banks with their 12,000 branches across Germany.

Imtech Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG is a leading supplier of building technology. The Imtech Deutschland Gruppe is part of the pan-European Imtech N.V. group with some 25,000 staff.

Siemens AG is a world-leader in electronics and electrical engineering. The group is active in the industry, energy and health sectors and has some 405,000 staff worldwide.

Media contact:

Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), Gunnar Will, Chausseestrasse 128a, 10115 Berlin, Germany

Tel: +49(0)30-72-61-65-723, Fax: +49(0)30-72-61-65-699, E-mail: will@dena.de, Internet: http://www.dena.de

SOURCE Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena)