Green energy and technology dominated the finalists’ plans in the sixth annual Governor’s Cup competition, as did teams from the University of Nevada, Reno, organizers and team members said.

Eleven teams from UNR will present business plans to judges Wednesday at the Atlantis Casino, with the chance of walking away with a first-place award of $20,000. They will compete against teams from three other Nevada universities and colleges for nearly $200,000 in total prize money. The majority of this year’s entries are focused on green energy.

The Governor’s Cup, co-sponsored by Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NCET) and the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, encourages entrepreneurship and innovation in Nevada, organizers said. The Cup is divided into undergraduate, graduate and renewable-energy competitions, with first- and second-place teams from each moving on to a tri-state cup between Nevada, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Dave Archer, CEO of NCET, said the competition isn’t always based on green technologies, but changes in the market and the shifting of talent between university departments has brought green energy to the forefront.

“Green and clean energy lends itself to the competition well because it’s a burgeoning field right now,” Archer said. “This year there is a group of strong individuals in the engineering program. In 2008 it was a group from the journalism program.”

Of the six finalists from UNR, five modeled their business plans around renewable energy, Archer said. He said UNR and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas dominated the state competition in years past and continue to do so this year.

Emily Somerville, NCET’s senior marketing and events manager, said the majority of this year’s finalists are from UNR.  UNR finalists make up five of the six undergraduate teams, three of the six graduate teams, and five of the seven renewable energy finalists, she said.  The renewable energy competition is also known as the Lieutenant Governor’s cup.

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