The SET Plan, supported by its Strategic Energy Technologies Information System (SETIS), is the key implementing instrument of the European Commission’s Energy Union Research and Innovation (R&I) Strategy. A SET Plan Steering Group (SG) meeting took place in September 2018. The discussions between the SG Members and the European Commission (EC) focused on the reporting obligations of the EU Member States (MSs) according to the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union [1]. MSs are expected to deliver a final draft version of their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) [2], covering the fifth dimension of the Energy Union, by the end of 2018. SET Plan is key to implementing the fifth dimension of the Energy Union, i.e. Research, Innovation and Competitiveness. The discussion focused on how the SET Plan can facilitate this reporting task, building upon its achievements and ongoing activities with regard to the endorsed Implementation Plans (IPs) [3].

The Chairs of the temporary working groups on 1) Consumers and 2) Energy efficiency in buildings informed that the relevant IPs are almost finalised, and that both documents will be summited briefly to SG members for final adoption through written procedure. The same procedure will be applied for the endorsement of the IP on Nuclear Safety.

The SG meeting also hosted representatives from EUROGIA2020 [4], the EUREKA [5] cluster for low-carbon energy technologies. They highlighted the common objectives of SET Plan and EUROGIA2020, to accelerate the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies through the coordination of national research efforts and funds. They presented the joint call with a focus on the Renewable Energy: Solar [6], CSP [7], Wind [8], Geothermal [9] and Ocean [10]. The goal is to generate project ideas in these low-carbon sectors that will contribute to the execution of the relevant SET Plan IPs in these areas.

This year’s SET Plan Conference will take place in Messe Wien in Vienna (Austria) on 20-21 November 2018. It will take stock of progress towards the SET Plan actions, following the finalisation of the relevant Implementation Plans3, and aims to identify how publicly and privately funded R&I efforts at European and national level contribute to the EU’s energy transition. It will highlight the importance of making synergies and developing partnerships among public and private actors to implement R&I activities with real impact. Discussions will address the challenges of meeting the objectives for 2030 and 2050, the financial instruments in support of R&I, the EU’s position in the world, and the importance of engaging cities and regions. Registration is open and participation is free. You can find out more on the conference website [11].