The Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) Conference, which took place in Luxembourg on September 21-22, has provided the impetus needed to kick-start an innovation-led transition to a low-carbon and high-growth economy in Europe, European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete said in his closing speech at the conference.
With sessions on accelerating the transformation of the energy system, ensuring the competitiveness of European energy technologies and retaining European leadership in technological development, the SET-Plan Conference put research and innovation at the heart of Europe’s future low-carbon energy system.
Commissioner Arias Cañete said that the European Commission would continue the momentum provided by the SET-Plan Conference at a meeting in Luxembourg on September 23 between himself, European Commission Vice Presidents Maroš Šefčovič and Jyrki Katainen and Energy Ministers from all 28 EU Member States, at which it was planned to discuss how best to unlock the potential of research and innovation in the energy transition.
Echoing sentiments expressed by many of the speakers at the conference, the Commissioner said that, in order to deliver on the promise of energy transition, a more targeted, integrated and transparent approach would be required. He said that to ensure this, the SET-Plan would be adapted to make it more focused and better integrated, with increased transparency and accountability. Furthermore, smart financing will ensure that investment is channelled to where it is most needed.
The Commissioner said that the SET-Plan would now concentrate on four core research and innovation priorities: reducing the cost of renewable energy technologies; developing smart grids that meet the needs of consumers and prosumers; developing new technologies to improve energy efficiency; and increasing the sustainability of the transport system. He added that carbon capture and storage (CCS) and nuclear power could be added to this list for Member States interested in these technologies. The recently published Communication - Towards an Integrated Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan: Accelerating the European Energy System Transformation [C(2015) 6317 final] contains a series of ten actions in support of these priorities.
The Commissioner stressed the need for greater transparency: if Member States are to avoid duplication of research efforts they need to know what initiatives other countries are working on. There is also a need for a more "open-data" approach to the results of research, he said.
The issue of financing energy transition was a core topic at the 2015 SET-Plan Conference, with a dedicated session on financing challenges and possibilities, and possible synergies between financing instruments. Commissioner Arias Cañete also placed emphasis on the finance issue in his address at the conference. He said that, given the high costs involved in implementing large-scale renewable energy projects, public money would be insufficient, and that it would be necessary to use public funding to leverage as much private investment as possible. Public institutions must act as a guarantor to incentivise private funding and allow financial institutions to offer long-term financing to projects with a higher risk profile. The Commissioner said that this was the thinking behind the new EUR 315 billion European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
Arias Cañete also noted that, in order to fully exploit the potential of European innovation, it would be necessary to look horizontally at the whole energy system across Europe. Europe needs to be as strong as the sum of its research parts - which will only happen if there is more cross-border and cross-sector integration.
For this reason, SET-Plan implementation will not be a stand-alone process but, along with the Strategic Transport Research and Innovation agenda and the Global Technology and Innovation Leadership Initiative, it will be one of three strands that will contribute to the research and innovation competitiveness strategy to be presented as of part of the State of the Energy Union in 2016, the Commissioner said.
For more information:
http://www.setplan2015.lu/en/welcome-to-the-2015-set-plan-conference