This session is focused on digitalising the energy sector and will present several relevant papers from our Special Issue in the MDPI journal Energies“Energy Digitalisation and Data” (accepting submissions till March 2023). Under the editorial leadership of EUREC board member Andrea Michiorri (MINES Paris), this Special Issue focused on digitalisation as an ongoing trend in shaping the energy sector, with the potential to guarantee better utilisation of generation assets and facilitate the integration of variable renewable energy sources and energy carriers. The session will allow for the research community to contribute to the debate on this issue, highlighting possible paths, benefits and challenges of this trend.A representative from the European Commission (DG ENER) will also present the EU Action Plan for digitalising the energy sector, aimed at “developing a competitive market for digital energy services and a digital energy infrastructure that is cyber-secure, efficient and sustainable”. EUREC previously co-hosted alongside DG ENER a workshop to collect input from stakeholders on the Action Plan in February 2022.

The session will conclude with an open discussion with the European Commission (with representatives from DG ENER and DG CNCT) related to some of its current initiatives such as Common European Energy Data Spaces. Anna Spoden, Communications and Policy Officer at EUREC, will give a brief update on MEPs’ interest in promoting access by building users to data from building energy management systems in under Article 14 of the new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). This session can help bring researchers’ perspective to this and other important policy debates surrounding the incorporation of data and digitalization into energy policy.

Decarbonising high-temperature heat is very challenging. Demand is huge and concentrated in a few places, often not very sunny. The plants were often designed around natural gas. What solutions exist, with what potentials and what costs?Work by Christian Breyer’s group at LUT University for the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, in the context of the Renewable Energy Directive revision shows that for a ‘REF’ scenario achieving climate neutrality by 2050, 1000 TWh of industrial heat demand is met largely with industrial heat pumps and bioenergy (Figure 19). Do we agree?

Speakers:

*Click on the name of each speaker to download the presentation files

• AIT: Gerwin Drexler-Schmid, “Energy efficiency and decarbonization in industrial high temperature processes”
• DLR: Eberhard Nicke, “Decarbonisation of High-Temperature heat for industry – a DLR perspective”
• WIP: Rainer Janssen  RE4Industry project (CORDIS entry)
• AEE Intec: Sarah Meitz solar reactor technology to produce hydrogen
• European Commission: Eric Lecomte, policy officer B.5 DG ENER (with responsibility for high-temperature heat decarbonisation among other topics), delivering remarks relating high-T heat to REPower EU, H Eu and SET Plan (esp IWG 6)

Workshop recording available here