An unusual project year has come to an end
 
REINVEST and all partners are finishing the most unusual year in the history of the project – and in the history of most of the participants in the project. COVID-19 has affected us all and REINVEST over the last nine months – but it has also shown that in spite of the changed manners through which we have had to engage and interact, we have managed. Thus while we have all really appreciated the opportunities we have had in past to meet and engage with all partners in the project, we have also been positively surprised by the relate ease with which we have managed to change both our internal work and our partner engagement to online platforms. Giving a Keynote presentation in REINVEST for a conference in Bosnia in the morning – and still being home in time for dinner is something new.

The work on REINVEST has progressed and as noted by the inputs from Jakob Thellufsen and Marta Victoria later in this newsletter, the scenario work is really picking up pace. This is where we all think matters are becoming even more interesting: Analysing different options how the energy system can transition – and what the implications are of the different choice made in designing such a transition. This was also some of the core topics of the partner seminar held in late November and something that will be at the core of our work in the period to come.
 
With this said, we all wish you a merry Christmas and a probably well-deserved holiday.

News from partner seminar and
steering committee meeting in November 
 
“On the recent partner seminar and steering committee meeting I presented our current work. We have established a Smart Energy Europe scenario that represents a clear alternative to the EU Commissions scenarios documented in a Clean Planet for All. Instead of systems build on extreme energy savings, fossil fuels offset by CCS and individual solutions in the heating system, we propose synergies and system integration through smart energy systems. This allows for achieving 100% renewable energy systems more efficiently with the entire energy system contributing towards a renewable energy system. In the new year, we will dig even more into detail with the smart energy pathway, by conducting further analyses on the individual sectors to determine robustness and key technological developments”
– Jakob Zinck Thellufsen, WP3 Co-leader

On 6-7 October, the Sustainable Energy Planning Research Group and Energy Cluster Denmark hosted the 6^th International Conference on Smart Energy Systems. 

It became a successful online event with 240 participants from 22 countries. 

The conference had two live sessions in Zoom with dedicated keynote speakers: Mogens Lykketoft, Catharina Sikow-Magny (EU), Michael Lundgaard Thomsen (Aalborg Portland), Lauren Edelman (Facebook) and Soteris Kalogirou (Cyprus University of Technology).

In addition, the conference participants could watch, comment on and ask questions to the recorded presentations of 150 session speakers. 

Covid-19 made conference planning a challenging task and new decisions had to be made several times in the process. The final decision was a virtual conference set-up, which was new to all. 
But the participants engaged actively on the conference platform, contributing to the success – and their feedback was very positive.
 

The conference will take place at Villa Copenhagen; Villa is situated in the former Post and Telegraph headquarters next to Copenhagen Central Station.
 

Annual PhD course in Energy System Analysis
on the EnergyPLAN model – April-May 2021

On 19-21 April 2021 and 3-5 May 2021, Aalborg University hosts its annual EnergyPLAN PhD course. The course has been conducted every year since 2005 with great success. It gives an introduction to advanced energy system analysis using the EnergyPLAN computer tool and model. 

The course is a combination of lectures and computer workshops of a total of 5 days (40 hours) and assignments of a total of 6-7 days (52 hours) and has a workload of 3 ECTS. Due to the current situation related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the PhD course may be conducted as a combination of physical lectures and online attendance.

The deadline for registration is 10 April 2021. Registration will open in January 2021.
 

For more information about the project please contact:

Brian Vad Mathiesen, Head of RE-INVEST
Professor, Department of Planning, Aalborg University.