This report summarizes the development of European initiatives and activities on Smart Energy Systems in the three-year period 2019-2021, in light of the European energy policy, in particular the European Green Deal, the Recovery Plan (or NextGeneration EU) and the recent Fit for 55.
The discussion explores cases where this project contributed to the activities directly.
Ongoing R&I projects are also analyzed to identify their impact on future strategies.
The main objective of the work, in continuity with previous years, is the alignment of R&I activities at national level with European priorities.
After participating in the development of the strategic documents of ETIP SNET, RSE is now a platform collaborator thanks to the role it plays in various strategic initiatives, namely the coordination of the Implementation Working Group 4 of the SET Plan and the National Stakeholder Coordination Group (forum of governments’ representatives), as well as the responsibility of the Transition Initiative on the energy system integrated into the Clean Energy Transition Partnership, a significant financing program within Horizon Europe.
The analysis of the results of the R&I projects conducted by the BRIDGE and ETIP SNET initiatives also contributes to the updating of the various Implementation Plans. The main needs highlighted for integrated energy systems concern sector coupling, flexibility, energy communities, digitization; some of these areas are already included in the most recent transnational and national projects, as highlighted by the monitoring carried out by RSE during this activity.
Achieving increasingly ambitious R&I goals will require joint efforts of the entire community involved and the support of effective funding initiatives. Many initiatives are moving towards greater integration and alignment, both at European (Horizon Europe) and transnational (Joint Programming Platform ERA-Net SES and CETP) levels, and this is a positive sign.
Active participation in all the most important European R&I initiatives, conducted in parallel with similar ones at an international level, allows access to European forums for the development of Roadmaps and Implementation Plans and for the creation of future programs (including of financing), which helps strengthen its position as a center for research and direction of R&I on Smart Energy Systems.