The Ministry of Science and Innovation, in collaboration with the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), and the European Commission organised the 17th conference on the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET PLAN), which this year focused on "energy research and innovation for a competitive Europe".
Spain hosted this edition on 13 and 14 in Viladecans on the occasion of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union. Since 2008, the conferences have followed the rotating presidency of the Council and have taken place in the corresponding country. This year, the need to strengthen research and innovation in new clean energy sources within the European Union has been addressed, making it possible to improve competitiveness and European energy sovereignty, while collectively overcoming the energy crisis and the global climate challenge.
EUROPEAN STRATEGIC ENERGY TECHNOLOGY PLAN
The conference brought together national and EU policy makers and representatives of research organisations to explore the transformative potential of the renewed Strategic Energy Technology Plan. In doing so, it has been presented as a key instrument to strengthen the links between research and innovation and the European Union's energy policies.
The European Strategic Energy Technology Plan was adopted by the European Commission on 22 November 2007, as part of the energy and technology policy measures that the Commission launched in 2008. SET PLAN seeks to promote cooperation between member countries, as well as to coordinate national research and innovation activities in low-carbon energy development, aligning national research programmes with the agenda.
In the face of climate and energy challenges, and the urgent need to transition to a sustainable and decarbonised future, the SET PLAN has been presented as one of the most important tools for EU countries to work and promote their policies, allowing for a more agile governance and a cohesive framework to accelerate the development, deployment and adoption of innovative energy solutions.
In addition, the new SET PLAN approach has been discussed, which includes cross-cutting issues such as the integration of social needs, digitalisation and circularity in the development of clean technologies.
During the conference, a wide variety of topics have been addressed such as empowerment to advance in the energy transition, new clean energy sources and technologies such as ocean and floating offshore wind technologies, green hydrogen, new research challenges in solar energy, innovative solutions for the decarbonisation of buildings or success stories in nuclear R&D&I, among many other issues.
VILADECANS, A EUROPEAN BENCHMARK
The fact that Viladecans was chosen by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union is no coincidence. This year's SET PLAN has been carried out in a city that is a member of citiES 2030, the Collaboration Platform for the Climate Neutrality of Spanish Cities, and REDS (Spanish Network for Sustainable Development). Viladecans has participated in numerous European projects and aims to inspire other medium-sized cities like it in sustainable development. For this reason, the European Union has just proclaimed it a Green Leaf city in 2025, i.e. the European green capital of medium-sized cities. It is also currently initiating a new URBACT project on sustainable urban mobility systems and a new NetZero Twinning Cities project.
Viladecans is an ambitious, innovative city, clearly committed to the 2030 horizon. A city of opportunities. It is one of the cities with the greatest income equality in Spain, with family income having grown by 20% in the last six years, above the Spanish average. It is a young city, which has increased the number of jobs in the municipality by 250% in the last decade, with a great diversification of companies and jobs.
Viladecans was one of the first sixteen Spanish pilot cities of the Local Urban Agenda and has already finalised its 2030 Strategy, which sets out two major city missions: to become a climate-neutral city by 2030 and to achieve zero school dropout rates by 2030.
One of the city's outstanding projects, which was a pioneering project across Europe in the field of energy transition, is Vilawatt, the local sustainable energy company. It was born in 2016 with the support of the European Union through the first call for Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) grants. Only three cities were chosen to address the challenges of the energy transition: Paris, Gothenburg and Viladecans. Through Vilawatt, Viladecans is promoting renewable energy, consumption savings, energy rehabilitation of housing, self-consumption, the implementation of energy communities and the development of a local currency linked to social, environmental and economic sustainability.
With regard to the mission of achieving zero school dropout rates by 2030, the City Council and the entire educational community are working to make school completion a new mission for the entire European Union. So far, the work carried out has achieved that 67% of the population has a higher level of education than their parents. This shows the value of education as a social lift in Viladecans.
ABOUT FECYT
The Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, part of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, works with the mission of catalysing the relationship between science and society, promoting the growth of Spanish scientific culture and encouraging the transfer of knowledge through dissemination, education, training, information and advice. It also collaborates with other agents and actors of the Science, Technology and Innovation System in the internationalisation of Spanish science, the generation and analysis of data, and the management of scientific information and open science.