In its recently published Energy Union Package, the Commission puts a new European energy R&I approach – including an upgraded Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan – at the heart of its framework strategy for a resilient Energy Union.
In this context, Invest NI with the assistance of Horizon 2020 NICP Energy and support of Ulster University and Glen Dimplex organised a seminar for June 17th 2015 in Brussels during Sustainable Energy Week (SEW) addressing the role of energy storage and smart grids within the framework of the SET Plan Integrated Roadmap. This key event explored the state of play and bottlenecks in Energy Storage and Smart Grid technologies. The event provided a platform for stakeholders to discuss and explore the critical interrelationships between energy storage technologies and Smart Grid, and more importantly, to consider to what extent integrated energy storage and smart grid R&I strategy can support the delivery of a resilient Energy Union.
We were delighted to have the keynote speech delivered by Marie Donnelly, Director, Renewables, Research and Innovation, Energy Efficiency, DG ENER. There were presentations from Glen Dimplex (Rowena McCappin) and GE Energy (Graham McGuigan) as well as key speakers from the Commission and EU SME/Industry sector. The opening and welcome address was delivered by Mr Tim Brundle Director of Research and Innovation, Ulster University. There was a strong participation from NI in the audience as well as up to 40 delegates form across EU and many discussions around Horizon 2020 partnerships took place. A more detailed synopsis of the day will be provided in the Brussels Bulletin provided by Invest NI later in July 2015.
We are open to suggestions on the subject of next years event during SEW but it will need to have NI relevance in a strategically important energy technology and energy policy sector topic