BRIDGE General Assembly 2021 key takeaways
Read the conclusions of the BRIDGE General Assembly – the key annual conference of this European Commission initiative that unites Smart Grid, Energy Storage, Islands and Digitalisation Projects to create a structured view of cross-cutting issues.
On 2-4 March 2021, the BRIDGE General Assembly 2021 took place online, organised by the European Commission. The objective of the BRIDGE annual meetings is to create a better understanding of the BRIDGE projects, learn more about projects results and help to establish closer cooperation for European best practice standards. The BRIDGE initiative also aims to stimulate structured dialogues between regulators, authorities and innovation projects on smart grids and energy storage, as well as facilitate the uptake of technologies in the framework of the energy sector in the Green Deal.
The event attracted over 200 participants in the plenary and around 70 participants at each parallel session that gathered the 59 ongoing BRIDGE projects. 23 new projects were presented as well as the lessons learned from the 3 finalised ones. The sessions covered the work the BRIDGE working groups on Data Management, Regulation, Consumer and Citizen engagement and Business models as well as its Task Forces.
The 2021 BRIDGE General Assembly emphasised that technologies, and technology development, are crucial to achieve our Green Deal objectives. Our energy system needs to change, the technologies we currently use need to evolve and some of the technologies identified as needed are not available at a cost-competitive level yet.
On the policy side, the session highlighted the EU strategy on energy system integration, the EU strategy on offshore renewable energy and the Digitalisation of Energy Action Plan that the European Union is developing as part of the Energy System Integration Strategy. Representatives of DG ENER invited all participants to be even more conscious than usual of what is happening at the policy level since it will impact their work for the next years to come and makes any feedback from BRIDGE even more valuable.
For more details on the Bridge General Assembly key takeaways, please download the following report here