Highlights - Future of our Grids: Accelerating Europe's energy transition
7 September 2023
Watch the full event recording on our YouTube channel here.
Together with industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators, we focused on two goals: Raising awareness about grids’ crucial role in facilitating the accelerated energy transition, and providing targeted, actionable input into the ongoing EU-level policy discussions.
The European electricity network is one of the largest in the world, and a key enabler for Europe’s clean energy transition. Europe will only ensure its energy security and deliver on its climate ambitions if our power infrastructure expands and evolve to be fit for a decarbonised energy system. But European networks are currently facing a number of challenges related to permitting, grid congestion and access to financing. The Future of Grids Forum is a timely opportunity for lead industries and stakeholders to make their voices heard and feed into the ongoing policy discussion at EU-level. I am grateful to ENTSO-E for collaborating with us on this forum and for driving attention to the European power grid at this crucial moment. Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner for Energy
The “Future of Our Grids: Accelerating the Energy Transition” Forum took place on September 7, 2023, in Brussels. In this occasion, more than 200 leaders from European policymakers, grid operators to industry leaders met to exchange on the opportunities and the challenges for accelerating the electricity grids which are needed for Europe’s energy transition.
The Forum discussions focused on four key themes related to unlock the potential of electricity grids to support reaching the European net-zero targets. The discussions were introduced by sector experts who provided introductory framework overview to lead to interactive discussions with the participants. The format gave the possibility to listen to many point of views reflecting different perspectives to common issues.
The themes for the discussions were:
The conclusions from the discussions are now available. These conclusions should ultimately serve as a valuable reference for future policy actions.
The Forum was organised by ENTSO-E under the patronage of the EU Commission. ENTSO-E is committed to continuing the constructive dialogue with the stakeholders initiated in this context.
The forum aimed to accelerate the development of electricity grids towards a sustainable future by highlighting
achievements in EU infrastructure policy, emphasizing investment needs, and accelerating grid deployment.
The Forum brought together high-level industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators to raise awareness about the
crucial role of grids in the energy transition and contribute to ongoing policy discussions.
The Forum debates focused on 4 key areas that were addressed to enable the potential of electricity grids in the energy
transition:
This Forum gave the opportunity to formulate concrete recommendations for policymakers and industry stakeholders highlighting the significance of implementing legislation and enable the electricity grids value-chain to contribute effectively to effectively support the energy transition.
The event featured a range of participants from relevant stakeholders, including ENTSO-E, ACER, and high-level representatives from the Commission, ministers, and the International Energy Agency (IEA). The format consisted of a morning session followed by a networking lunch, which provided ample opportunities for interaction and collaboration.
During the event, roundtable discussions on the topics took place in parallel sessions. These sessions enabled focused discussions among experts and stakeholders, that fostered the exchange of ideas, experiences, and recommendations. The outcomes of these roundtables contributed to the overall conclusions and deliverables of the event.
The event participation was only upon invitation although the plenary sessions were web streamed on this webpage live during the event.
