Nanoenergetic materials were synthesized and the thermite reaction between the CuO nanowires and the deposited nano-Al by Joule heating was studied. CuO nanowires were grown by thermal annealing on a glass substrate. To produce nanoenergetic materials, nano-Al was deposited on the top surface of CuO nanowires. The temperature of the first exothermic reaction peak occurred at approximately $600^{circ}C$. The released heat energy calculated from the first exothermic reaction peak in differential scanning calorimetry, was approximately 1,178 J/g. The combustion of the nanoenergetic materials resulted in a bright flash of light with an adiabatic frame temperature potentially greater than $2,000^{circ}C$. This thermite reaction might be utilized to achieve a highly reliable selective area crystallization of amorphous silicon films.