The EU Energy Projects Podcast is an insider’s look into the world of EU-funded projects transforming the energy sector in Europe. Every fortnight we focus on a new topic in the energy transition and talk to representatives from projects that are enabling the transition to green energy by finding solutions to the sector’s most pressing problems. The EU Energy Projects Podcast s brought to you by Enlit Europe and is curated and hosted by EU Projects Zone Editor and Director Areti Ntaradimou.
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June 9, 202630 min
Digitalising Europe’s buildings and neighbourhoods with BuildON and OpenLab
In the latest episode of the EU Energy Projects Podcast, Alicia Kalms of OpenLab and Sofía Mulero of BuildON discuss how their EU-funded projects are using digitalisation, innovation and community engagement to create more sustainable and energy-efficient living environments.
While both projects share the goal of supporting Europe’s clean energy transition, they approach the challenge from different angles. BuildON focuses on individual buildings, developing digital twins, artificial intelligence tools and advanced optimisation services to improve energy performance, increase flexibility and enhance user interaction. OpenLab, meanwhile, works at neighbourhood scale, transforming urban districts into Positive Energy Neighbourhoods where buildings, renewable energy sources, storage systems and residents operate as part of an integrated energy ecosystem.
June 3, 202640 min
E-NERGY Cluster returns to the EU Energy Projects Podcast ahead of EUSEW 2026
For this special episode, Helena Gerard (EU-DREAM) steps in as guest host, joining Kostas Tsatsakis (DIGITISE) and Simone Nicolussi (CELINE) for a discussion on how digital tools, data platforms and consumer-focused services can help transform passive consumers into active participants in the energy transition.
The discussion highlights common themes emerging across the three projects, including interoperability, data management, privacy, cybersecurity, digital literacy and citizen engagement. The speakers emphasise that while technological innovation is advancing rapidly, success will ultimately depend on trust, accessibility and ensuring that no consumer group is left behind.
May 27, 202624 min
How TALOS is revolutionising PV management with robotics
In this episode of the EU Energy Projects Podcast, EDP’s Daniel Albuquerque introduces the TALOS project.A major challenge with the use of solar PV is keeping the panels in operating condition and clean and well maintained so that the output is maximised, particularly in remote areas, which can be challenging to access and where also conditions tend to be more extreme, perhaps with more birds present and in some more sand or humidity in the environment.
This is where TALOS comes in developing robotic and digital AI-based solutions to support the operation and maintenance of the PV, with a focus on three PV types: the standard ground mounted PV, floating PV located in water bodies and agrivoltaics in which the PV is installed in an agricultural setting.
May 20, 202620 min
Metawave pioneers microwave-based heating for industry
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.
May 13, 202632 min
F6S Cluster: Intelligent buildings, flexibility and the future of Europe’s energy system
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 WeForming 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.
May 6, 202633 min
INESC ID Cluster: From pilots to practical energy solutions
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.
April 29, 202610 min
Smart Energy Cluster: Why collaboration still matters in EU projects
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.
April 22, 202615 min
Bridging the gap in energy storage with project SINNOGENES
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.
April 14, 202638 min
Turning buildings into prosumers through thermal storage and smart energy solutions
In the latest episode of the EU Energy Projects Podcast, the spotlight turns to one of the most critical—and often overlooked—pillars of Europe’s clean energy transition: buildings.
Recorded in the context of Enlit Europe 2025 in Bilbao, this episode follows the session “Flexible Solutions Empowering Citizens” and explores how thermal energy storage and digital integration can unlock flexibility at the local level. Joining the discussion are Emilia Pisani and Guillermo Andrés Nieto, representing the Thermal Energy Storage Cluster (TES Cluster), a collaboration of four Horizon Europe projects: THUMBS UP, ECHO, BEST Storage and Hi-Store.
April 8, 202621 min
Decarbonising energy intensive industries
Katrin Stökle, project manager at Steinbeis Europa Sentrum, discusses how the Steinbeis project cluster is approaching the decarbonisation of energy intensive industries.
Five diverse projects – of which four are active and one completed – comprise the Steinbeis energy cluster, with the common goal of decarbonising and advancing the energy transition of energy intensive processes in various industries.
These are H2GLASS and MOST-H2 focussed on how hydrogen can be used in industrial processes in the glass and transport sectors and COREu and CAPTUS focussed on carbon capture, use and storage in sectors such as steel, cement and chemicals. The completed project is FLEX4FACT, which focussed on the use of flexibility in industry through enabling production processes to adapt dynamically to renewable energy availability.
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