The CEM16/MI-10 ministerial meeting took place from August 25 to 27, 2025 in Busan, South Korea, and brought together over 1,000 delegates from the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and Mission Innovation (MI).

The Italian delegation, led by Deputy Ambassador of Italy to Seoul, Dr. Andrea Celentano, took part in the event. Within the delegation, RSE played a leading role, providing a qualified and widely recognized contribution. In particular, Luciano Martini, Director of the Generation Technologies and Materials Department (TGM), participated as Director of the Green Powered Future Mission (GPFM) of MI and as Chair of the International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) of CEM, while Mattia Cabiati joined as Coordinator of International Activities of TGM and Leader of GPFM’s Pillar 2. Professor David Chiaramonti, Chair of the CEM Biofuture Platform Initiative, was also part of the delegation.

The presence of the Italian delegation at the event confirmed Italy’s commitment to promoting dialogue and international cooperation on the themes of energy transition and technological innovation.

Role of GPFM 

The GPFM played a key role during CEM16/MI-10 and was a central player in several sessions:
• August 25 – “MI-10 Program Opening” – During the opening session, Luciano Martini, GPFM Director, shared the mission’s significant progress and announced major milestones shaping work in the coming years, such as the release of the Action Plan 2025–2027 and the second round of Technical Factsheets.
• August 25 – MI Innovation Track “Fostering Clean Energy Innovation in EMDEs and Mission Innovation” – Organized by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the session explored innovation trends within MI Missions and in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs). The GPFM Director joined the roundtable, presenting best practices and lessons learned in clean energy cooperation with EMDEs, together with colleagues from the Clean Hydrogen and Urban Transitions Missions and representatives from UNIDO and Kisumu County, Kenya.
• August 25 – MI Innovation Track “Artificial Intelligence in Mission Innovation” – Organized by the MI Secretariat, this session examined how Mission Innovation can effectively harness the power of artificial intelligence to accelerate innovation, enhance knowledge sharing, and achieve greater impact, while ensuring ethical and safe use of technologies. Mattia Cabiati, GPFM Pillar 2 Lead, actively contributed to the discussion, presenting SGIA’s experience and the platform’s main features, the GPFM Toolbox.
• August 26 – “MI 10th Anniversary and Innovation Action Forum” – The Innovation Action Forum featured major announcements from heads of delegation of GPFM coalition members, including the launch of a Canadian national project aligned with GPFM objectives. The project will become a part of the Flagship Project 1 “5 Demos in Five Continents”, as well as the launch of the GPFM Young Talent Exchange program.

ISGAN-Related Commitments 

Alongside GPFM activities, ISGAN was also in the spotlight with an intense, high-level program.

• The ISGAN Awards of Excellence 2025 ceremony took place, marking its 11th edition and dedicated this year to the theme “Solutions for Enhanced Grid Operations”. The event, organized jointly with CEM H2I and IEA Hydrogen TCP, featured international speakers and awarded the most innovative projects in the field of smart grids. This year’s winners were the Energy Networks Association (ENA) (first prize), the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) (second prize), the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) and Eindhoven University of Technology (honorable mentions). Luciano Martini, as ISGAN Chair, presided over the ceremony, opening with an introductory address on the edition’s theme, highlighting the international jury’s contribution, and underlining ISGAN’s role as a global cooperation platform. Martini also shared the stage with representatives of MOTIE (South Korea) and DESNZ (United Kingdom) for the official announcement of the winners and, in the same context, signed with the President of the Global Smart Energy Federation (GSEF) the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding, which consolidates collaboration between the two organizations and strengthens their common path towards smarter and more resilient energy systems.

• Another highlight was the event “Advancing Clean Energy Transition: The Role of Distribution Grid and DC Solutions for Modernization,” co-organized by ISGAN and KEPCO. The session offered a high-level discussion on policies, strategies, and best practices to accelerate the modernization of distribution grids and promote next-generation direct current solutions, essential for increasing the efficiency and resilience of power systems. As ISGAN Chair, Luciano Martini gave the opening remarks and moderated the high-level roundtable, guiding the debate among speakers and highlighting the experiences of the various participants.
• Luciano Martini/RSE also participated in the international roundtable “Driving Grid Resilience – Battery Solutions and V2G Integration in the Era of Electric Mobility,” organized by the India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF). The meeting was dedicated to the role of batteries and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technologies as key tools to improve the flexibility and reliability of energy systems in a context of increasing electrification of mobility. Luciano Martini presented ISGAN’s experience, stressing the importance of international cooperation and innovative solutions to foster more resilient power systems.

The CEM16/MI-10 Ministerial Meeting represented a highly important occasion to discuss the challenges of the energy transition and to strengthen international collaboration.