Chair’s Opening Remarks

Session 1 – Developing offshore wind hybrids by connecting multiple projects with multiple interconnectors and markets

The EU aims to produce a quarter of its energy through offshore wind by 2050. Europe is now generating, for the first time, more electricity from wind and solar sources than from gas. Continuing this progress requires a rapid expansion of not just offshore wind generation, but also offshore transmission grids. This will require investment in infrastructure, an enabling regulatory and permitting regime. The traditional approach of a single radial connection has drawbacks. Connecting offshore wind farms to two or more markets, combining offshore wind farms and interconnectors into a ‘hybrid offshore wind project’, enables both lower costs and inbuilt balancing in the energy system. Hybrid projects, however, will require a rethink of the current
regulatory setup to facilitate an integrated approach to offshore wind buildout.

• How can the development of offshore wind hybrid projects increase energy security and create
  collaboration between numerous markets and nations?
• What are the implications for offshore and near-shore infrastructure based upon hybrid energy
  system projects that are currently being implemented?
• What are the legal, regulatory, and other barriers to offshore wind hybrids?

Audience Insights:

 Gain insights into the potential of offshore wind hybrid projects to enhance energy security and foster collaboration among diverse markets and nations. Consider the implications and challenges associated with their implementation on offshore and near-shore infrastructure, including legal and regulatory considerations.

Networking Lunch Break

Session 3 – Sustainable mobility: Balancing new infrastructure to store and supply new energy vectors and vehicles with current assets

Investment in ChargePoint infrastructure and incentivising the modernisation of fleets will be required to support the transition to sustainable mobility. Policy measures have a key role in the initial uptake of electric light-duty vehicles (LDVs) and underpin the scale-up in EV manufacturing and battery industries - primary measures being subsidies and registration tax rebates. Tightening of fuel economy and tailpipe CO2 standards have accelerated the adoption of EVs. Today, over 85% of car sales worldwide are subject to such standards. CO2 emissions requirements in the European Union played a significant role in promoting electric car sales - 2020 saw the largest annual increase to reach 2.1 million.

• What role will the EU Commission’s ‘Fit for 55’ package have in toughening standards of cars and
  vans to reduce emissions which currently account for 15% of the EU total?
• What strategies are in place to combine new, environmentally advanced vehicles with existing fleet
  that aren’t due to be decommissioned until a much later date?
• How can we streamline the permitting process and provide clear guidelines to help accelerate the
  deployment of EV charging infrastructure?

Audience Insights:

The impact of the EU Commission’s ‘Fit for 55’ package on emissions reduction and strategies for integrating new environmentally advanced vehicles with existing fleets. Gain insights into streamlining the permitting process to accelerate the deployment of EV charging infrastructure through clear guidelines.

Presentation - Blockchain, smart cities and sharing energy within communities

Networking Coffee Break

Session 4 – Repowering renewable energy assets maximising cost savings and circular economy gains

The EU aims to be the leading hub for green industry. This requires an uplift in solar and wind generation and storage capacity. The repowering of renewable energy assets and the supply chain for critical minerals contains geopolitical risks and environmentally unsustainable practices. The demand for critical materials is expected to increase exponentially in the coming years. To plan for this, the European Parliament and Council have produced the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) - regulation that affects mining, processing, and manufacturing companies. New practices and technologies are required to meet increasing regulation whilst meeting the principles of circularity and sustainability.

• How can repowering existing renewable energy assets optimise performance whilst also aligning
  with circular economy principles?
• What is the role of technology and training in extending the lifespan of wind turbines, solar panels,
  and energy storage systems?
• What is the role of the European Critical Raw Materials Act in promoting supply chain sustainability
  and circularity?

Audience Insights:

Insights into optimising performance and lifespan extension of renewable energy assets through repowering and technology advancements. Understand the role of the European Critical Raw Materials Act in fostering supply chain sustainability and circularity.

Chair’s Closing Remarks

Close of Summit Day 1

Chair’s Opening Remarks

Session 5 – Utility scale solar: Overcoming challenges associated with electricity grid connections

The European Solar Energy Strategy targets over 320 GW of newly installed solar photovoltaic capacity by 2025, and 600 GW by 2030. To transition grids from centralised fossil power plants to distributed renewable infrastructure will require substantial investments in infrastructure and new optimising technologies. Beyond funding, several regulatory hurdles remain, including outdated grid infrastructure, bureaucracy and UK grid connections for renewable deployments taking up to 15 years. Emerging priorities are for projects to combine long-duration energy storage (LDES) to ease transmission congestion by storing excess energy during periods of over-generation and deploying on demand.

• How can grid operators forecast the demand and impact on long-term grid investments?
• Which investments in Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs), transmission line infrastructure
  and interconnection should be prioritised?
• Will integrating battery storage with solar address intermittency challenges?

Audience Insights:

Capacity planning challenges, prioritisation of investments in Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) and transmission line infrastructure, and strategies for enhancing reliability and efficiency in utility-scale solar through battery storage integration, addressing intermittency challenges.

Networking Coffee Break

Session 6 - Optimising storage & BESS to efficiently meet demand

As the price of battery storage falls and its usage continues to increase, asset owners are investigating the systems and technologies that optimise usage. By 2050, 1,290 GW of new batteries will be commissioned worldwide, and energy providers will need to find a way to extract maximum value from this resource. The need for optimisation - especially for aggregating, integrating and orchestrating batteries in concert with energy management systems - will involve examining which energy-storage control options work best in different applications.

• Understanding sector-based electricity consumption patterns to design sector-based storage
  solutions more effectively.
• Efficiency depends on the understanding of consumption: the use of AI, including machine learning,
  to model sector-based consumption.
• The challenge of critical materials and production of new generation of batteries.

Audience Insights:

 Gain a deeper understanding of sector-based electricity consumption patterns, utilisation of AI systems for modelling consumption, and challenges related to critical materials and battery production, providing valuable knowledge for optimising storage solutions and addressing industry demands.

Session 7 – Developing distributed power generation through photovoltaics

Technological innovations and a changing economic and regulatory environment have resulted in a renewed interest for distributed generation. Developments in distributed generation technologies and constraints on the construction of new transmission lines have increased demand for highly reliable clean electricity. Portugal’s energy strategy aims for 80% of electricity in the country to be renewable by 2026, and 85% by 2030. The revised plan sets a target of 20.4 GW of operational PV systems in 2030, with 14.9 GW for utility-scale plants and 5.5 GW for distributed generation. The 14.9 GW will come from a few hundred companies, while the 5.5 GW will involve thousands of private households and commercial and industrial entities looking to secure and decarbonise their energy sources. 

• • Strategies to maintain grid stability, voltage regulation, and frequency control while accommodating variable PV generation. 
  • Policies, regulations, and incentives to promote distributed PV adoption. 
  • Navigating local regulations and obtaining permits. 
  • Energy-efficient practices and technologies for end-users. 

Audience Insights:

Strategies for grid stability with variable PV generation and information on distributed PV adoption through policies, navigating local regulations, and implementing energy-efficient practices for sustainable energy deployment.

Networking Lunch Break

Session 8 – Hybridised onshore renewable energy projects

Hybridising onshore renewables is an essential part of the energy transition toolkit. Combining solar, storage and wind facilities drives economic efficiencies. As companies face grid connection backlogs, co-locating renewable energy with industrial consumption can maximise the utilisation of renewable energy. Excess energy use for long duration storage or in producing green hydrogen opens further revenue streams through HPPAs and mitigates intermittency issues. However, adding battery storage to renewable energy generation can potentially double the capital outlay required and may not demonstrate ROI for years.

• How does hybridising onshore renewables, i.e. combining solar, storage and wind facilities,
  drive efficiencies?
• How can training and technology help to efficiently managing current assets?
• What role can hybridising projects play in enabling permitting and driving grid stabilisation through
  diversifying energy sources?

Audience Insights:

Uncover the benefits of hybridising onshore renewables, optimising asset management through training and technology, leveraging hybrids for permitting and grid stability, and maximising renewable energy use by co-locating with industrial consumption.

Tiago Palma Veigas

Head of Country

Vestas Portugal

Pedro Gomes Perreira

Managing Director Southern Europe

Eurowind Energy

Miguel Lobo

Head of Country

Lightsource BP

Networking Coffee Break

Start up & Innovation Showcase

Today’s energy industry is awash with new and innovative ideas, technologies, entrepreneurs, and startups. As the energy transition continues to accelerate at pace, it is vital to identify these latest technologies and ensure they have a platform to showcase their groundbreaking innovations. This session provides a stage for innovative organisations to showcase their products, technologies and growth strategies to senior peers and investors, knowledge-share and make the connections necessary to take their business and the energy transition to the next level.

Chair’s Closing Remarks

Close of Summit Day 2

Chair’s Opening Remarks

Session 9 – The role of EU energy storage at a time of increasing demand

The increasing proportion of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources such as solar and wind necessitate a more adaptable energy framework to guarantee their efficient and dependable integration. Battery storage systems are emerging as a promising solution to enhance system flexibility, due to their distinctive ability to rapidly absorb, store, and subsequently redistribute electricity. Utility-scale stationary battery storage systems, also known as front-of-the-meter, large-scale, or grid-scale battery storage, play a crucial role in facilitating the integration of a larger proportion of VRE into the system by offering flexibility.

• What flexible energy storage solutions are available to enable renewables onto energy grids?
• For electricity distribution, what are the issues surrounding efficiency, optimisation, redundancy,
  and standardisation?
• Can the different support mechanisms being discussed help give storage the boost it
  desperately needs?

Audience Insights:

Learn about flexible energy storage solutions, issues in electricity distribution efficiency, and explore support mechanisms to boost storage adoption, offering valuable insights into grid integration challenges and solutions.

Session 10 – Ensuring the grid is renewable energy ready: Regulations, permitting, enhanced technologies & increased efficiencies

Grids across Europe are facing the same issue – permitting systems that were designed around a minimal number of consistent fossil fuel sources must now harness numerous intermittent renewable energy sources. Regulatory and permitting reform and adopting new innovations that are commercially available today are key to enabling grid modernisation. The Portuguese solar market has made several regulatory improvements – including loosening environmental assessments for projects of up to 100 hectares – yet more needs to be done. Transmission system upgrades are also needed to expand the capacity of existing high-voltage transmission lines to allow greater flows of renewable electricity, carry electricity long distances and better-connect regions and communities. In the long-term, upgrades are likely to require more cables, poles, wires, and transformers to transport electricity, as well as skilled workers, investment, and specific materials - all of which will be in high demand as many countries face the same challenges at the same time.

• What are the shared policy and technical problems facing European countries in readying their
  grids for the future?
• What are the regulations and challenges involved in gaining permits and how can processes
  become more streamlined to accelerate applications?
• How can we engage effectively with local stakeholders to overcome objections to necessary grid
  infrastructure investments?

Audience Insights:

Shared policy and technical challenges for European grid readiness - navigating regulations to streamline permit processes, and engaging local stakeholders to overcome objections, facilitating efficient grid infrastructure development.

Session 11 – Energy efficiency first: The key to accelerating decarbonisation?

EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED, 2023 revision) established the principle of “energy efficiency first”, binding for EU countries to collectively ensure an additional 11.7% reduction in energy consumption by 2030. EED emphasises that energy efficiency must be considered in all relevant policy and major investment decisions across energy and non-energy sectors. Experts at COP28 discussed the need to double the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030. The International Energy Agency (IEA) highlighted that efficiency gains could cut the efforts required to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in half.

• What role will disruptive technologies play in enabling greater energy efficiency?
• How can the energy industry further efficiencies in electricity generation?
• How can policymakers encourage best practices in industry 4.0?

Audience Insights:

Learn more about the impact of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and the critical role of efficiency in accelerating carbon neutrality efforts.

Chair’s Closing Remarks

End of the Climatetech Conference