The EU Energy Projects Podcast

In this episode, Jonathan Spencer Jones is joined by Paolo Veronesi, professor of metallurgy at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia to break down the Metawave project.

A significant challenge in the drive for net zero is the decarbonisation of energy intensive industries such as ceramics, glass or concrete.

The further challenge is that the diversity of industries with their individual characteristics and processes require individual solutions.

One of these is high temperature heating and microwave – well established as a medium for cooking – seems to offer potential in industry as a replacement for fossil-fuel based heating.

“We decided to use microwaves because of their volumetric, selective and rapid nature of heating. And they are also useful to process multi-phase materials or materials having a low thermal conductivity,” Paolo explains.

In this episode of the EU Energy Projects Podcast, Areti Ntaradimou was joined by Duncan Gibb and Mojtaba Kamarlouei from the F6S cluster to discuss intelligent grid-forming buildings, interoperability, flexibility markets and the increasingly important role data is playing in Europe’s energy transition.

At the center of the discussion was the REFORMING project and the idea that buildings should no longer be viewed merely as passive energy consumers. Instead, they can become active participants in the energy system; flexible, responsive and capable of interacting directly with the grid.

In the latest episode of the EU Energy Projects Podcast, Areti Ntaradimou is joined by Hugo Morais from the INESC ID cluster, representing three EU-funded projects: SHIFT2DC, U2Demo and EV4EU. 

While the projects focus on different parts of the energy system, they share a common ambition: to support electrification, increase flexibility and make energy assets more visible, controllable and useful for the grid.

SHIFT2DC explores the potential of direct current solutions in buildings, data centres, industry and ports. The logic is simple but powerful: many of the technologies we use today, from PV panels and batteries to EV chargers and servers, already operate in DC. Reducing unnecessary conversions could therefore improve efficiency and support decarbonisation.

U2Demo focuses on energy communities and real-life demonstrations. Here, the challenge is not only technical. As Hugo explains, integrating heterogeneous systems is difficult, but regulation can be just as complex. Different countries have different rules on governance, for example or in sharing flexibility services, which means tools often need to be adapted country by country.

EV4EU, which is approaching its conclusion, brings the electric mobility angle. Among its key results is a prototype bidirectional charging station using CCS technology, as well as open source tools for charging point operators. Yet the conversation also makes clear that electric vehicles will only become real flexibility assets if users are engaged, infrastructure is ready, and business models properly reward participation.

What stands out in this discussion is that digitalisation is not just a nice addition. Without data, there is no control; without control, there is no intelligence; and without intelligence, the benefits remain limited.

In the latest episode of the EU Energy Projects Podcast, Areti Ntaradimou had a discussion with Vasilis Kotrogiannis, representing the Smart Energy Cluster, about why clusters like this may be more valuable than they first appear.

The Smart Energy Cluster already brings together 39 ongoing projects and its mission is simple: help EU-funded initiatives cooperate, share results, and avoid working in isolation.

That may sound obvious. Yet in practice, many projects still operate in parallel, each running their own dissemination plans, events, newsletters and stakeholder outreach. Necessary work, yes, but often repetitive.

This is where clusters can make a real difference.

According to Vasilis, members gain access to joint events, collaboration workshops, networking opportunities and shared visibility through the cluster’s channels. More importantly, they can exchange technical know-how, discuss replication pathways, and build partnerships beyond the usual communication exercise.

In this episode of the EU Energy Projects Podcast, Angelina Broukou of the Horizon Europe-funded SINNOGENES project, offers a timely reminder that while storage technologies themselves are not new, the way we deploy and integrate them is where the real challenge, and opportunity, lies.

“Storage is what makes renewables reliable and usable at scale,” Angelina explains. It is a simple statement, but one that captures a growing reality: without storage, the variability of renewables risks becoming a structural limitation rather than a manageable feature of the system.

Yet SINNOGENES does not focus on a single technology. Instead, it brings together batteries, thermal storage, hydrogen and even flywheels, connecting them through a digital layer and testing them across six real-life pilots in Europe. From industrial sites in Portugal and Germany to microgrids in Spain and island systems such as Ikaria in Greece, the project moves beyond theory to explore how these solutions perform in practice.