The 18^th Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan Conference, which took place from 14 to 15 November in Budapest, focused on the vital topic of ‘’Scaling up Research, Innovation and Competitiveness in Clean Energy Technologies,’’ one that is growing in prominence throughout the EU given the presence of increasing geopolitical tension and rising competition on a global scale. The EERA community, as the official research pillar of the SET Plan, was in attendance at the conference, bringing to the the firm belief that low-carbon energy research and innovation (R&I) must be at the core of a sustainable and competitive Europe going forward.

The event’s opening high level plenary session on 14 November brought together a panel of experts from industry, research, policy, and intergovernmental fields, including EERA’s very own President Henk-Jan Vink, to forward the discussion on bridging the gap between research and market in accelerating the development, manufacturing and commercialisation of innovative technologies. Speaking in conversation with Susana Alejandro, President & CEO at Saica Group, Ferenc Nagy-Rébék, Head of Department of the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation, Elizabeth Connelly, Senior Analyst at the IEA and Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe, President Vink highlighted the need for both public and private funding in research and innovation to be urgently accelerated.

‘’Innovation is the key word for tackling challenges, but we need the funding to back it up,’’ – Henk-Jan Vink, EERA President.

Building on this, Vink then detailed key recommendations stemming from EERA’s upcoming flagship report on the fundamental role of low-carbon energy research in propelling European competitiveness. He emphasised the need to defragment Europe’s R&I landscape, while also highlighting the importance of both rebalancing energy research and innovation across Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) and ensuring circularity by design for technologies in the EU.

Moreover, the first day of the conference also saw a second insightful high level plenary session, this time focused on inclusive and competitive skills for societal needs. Once again, EERA was skilfully represented in this panel conversation, with key input provided by Alliance member and Politecnico di Torino professor, Silvia Bodoardo. In the energy field, Bodoardo centred on the importance of ensuring interdisciplinary skills, while also pushing forward education and knowledge sharing, something that can be better achieved through collaboration between academia and industry.

After lunch, a series of parallel sessions took place, beginning with panel discussions on ‘’Advancing Emerging Energy Technologies: Barriers and Solutions’’ and ‘‘Empowering Climate-Neutral and more Competitive Industries through Electrification and Flexibility.’’ The former session, which featured insights from Edel Sheridan, key Advisor at Batteries Europe, a project in which the EERA Secretariat is actively involved, highlighted how the SET Plan can play a role in overcoming obstacles to boosting emerging energy technologies. On the batteries front, Sheridan outlined the importance of investing not only in manufacturing but also education, while in addition acknowledging the need for the recent EU Batteries Regulation to be correctly implemented. Meanwhile, the simultaneous session on climate-neutral and competitive industries examined the role of flexibility in the electricity market as industrial sectors transition towards climate neutrality. Among the key points raised, speakers emphasised the need for a more thorough assessment of costs associated with flexibility. To enable this, industries were urged to provide more comprehensive data, allowing for more accurate assessments and comparisons against other alternatives.

Following on from this, further parallel sessions filled the agenda on the afternoon of 14 November, focused on a number of timely and notable topics for clean technology competitiveness. These included onshore wind and offshore renewables, grids and digitalisation, solar energy, building decarbonisation, and nuclear innovation.

The second day of the conference, held on 15 November, featured forward-thinking conversations on scaling up R&I and competitiveness to strengthen the EU’s position as a key player in clean energy technologies. The day opened with a plenary session dedicated to hydrogen innovation, delving into its potential to be a cornerstone of the energy transition. Speakers underscored the importance of advancing research across all technology readiness levels to safeguard the competitiveness of European hydrogen. Following this, a panel discussion focused on geothermal energy centred on overcoming the remaining challenges that continue to hinder progress in this sector.

Fittingly, the final plenary session of the conference took the opportunity to exchange on the “The SET Plan of tomorrow,” particularly analysing its role in improving clean energy R&I in the years to come. Representing the core views of the EERA research community in this panel discussion was Secretary General of the Alliance, Adel El Gammal. Together with fellow leading voices in the field, namely Piotr Szymański, Director for Energy, Mobility and Climate at DG JRC, Vincent Berrutto, Head of Unit for Innovation, Research, Digitalisation and Competitiveness at DG ENER, Maria-Laura Trifiletti, ETIPs FORUM Facilitator from ZABALA Innovation, and Ákos Horváth, Director General at the HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research, El Gammal expertly noted that “for the SET Plan to succeed, we need to bring collaboration to the next level.”

Importantly, the panel also focused on how EERA can contribute when it comes to boosting Europe’s research and innovation landscape. Adel El Gammal highlighted the organisation’s key role as an engine for defragmentation across the continent, both in the technological and innovation cycles. He further elaborated on EERA’s unique position, among others as it represents the full spectrum of low-carbon technologies while also addressing critical non-technological aspects. Moreover, EERA has embarked in an effort to foster stronger collaboration across the entire innovation cycle by supporting the development of Centres of Excellence. He concluded with a powerful call to action to the SET Plan community: “We, as EERA, are an underutilised force in the ecosystem – profit from us!”.

Following two days of proactive discussions and exchanges on a number of crucial topics, the SET Plan Conference came to a close with a series of closing speeches from key policymakers. Among them was Iben Møller Søndergård, Deputy Director General from the Danish Energy Agency and representative of the Danish Presidency, who will preside and host next year’s SET Plan Conference in Denmark. Stakeholders will reconvene in a year. In the meantime, they will continue their crucial work to strengthen the EU’s clean energy technology capacity through research and innovation with the final goal of achieving an enhanced competitiveness, while guaranteeing a clean, fair and just society.