Season 1 Finale: Scaling up renewables for smart electrification and carbon neutrality

Enlit Europe has been focusing on the role of renewable energy during its first season of 2021, exploring different ways in which green energy is facilitating the energy transition and decarbonising the sector. But while the price of wind and solar power has fallen faster than anyone expected, the current build-out rate of renewables is widely considered to be too slow for the EU to meet its 2050 net-zero emissions targets. Can anything be done to speed up the pace of construction?

This is especially important as electricity demand increases in order for Europe to decarbonise its transport, heat and industrial sectors - either through direct electrification (heat pumps, electric vehicles and electric furnaces) or indirect electrification (green hydrogen derived from renewables). What will the future energy demand from these sectors look like in the coming decades - and what role will green hydrogen play?

This finale episode, co-organised with IRENA and RECHARGE, also explored how increased electrification with a power sector based on variable wind and solar power will actually work. How will grid operation change and what role will AI and machine learning play? We looked at how a smart approach to electrification will be required in order to balance a network featuring energy storage, demand response, distributed solar and electrolysers. We asked the question, how should all the different elements of this complex system be seamlessly woven together.

Moderator: Leigh Collins, Managing Editor, RECHARGE

Speakers & Panelists:

• Dolf Gielen, Director of Innovation and Technology, IRENA
• Ulrik Stridbćk, VP for Regulatory Affairs, řrsted
• Carlo Zorzoli, Head of Business Development, Enel Green Power
• Marc Lohoff, Chief Operating Officer, Sonnedix
• Pavel Zolotarev, Head of Trading, TransnetBW

Watch the full video below.

Quotes from our Speakers

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