Panel
Road-Mapping Grounds for Electricity Transition: Experiences Across the Atlantic and Beyond
Moderator: Dr. Isaac Dyner
As the world accelerates electricity transition, each country must design effective pathways to ensure the process unfolds in an orderly manner. Challenges include gaining acceptance from policymakers and all stakeholders, as concerns persist about technology intermittency, transmission capabilities, and environmental impacts. Society remains anxious about land use, costs, and security of supply—issues that depend on market design, power adequacy, transmission reliability, and a strong emphasis on education. Institutional readiness is still lacking in areas such as market mechanisms, policy frameworks, regulation, competition, and supply security. Research—through roadmaps—must help policymakers understand that the transition requires careful design, leaving minimal room for setbacks. Differences in national contexts—policy perspectives, market structures, energy mix, renewable potential and location, grid development, and societal attitudes—add complexity, along with the need to convince media and the public of the benefits. This is despite the maturity of renewable technologies, which are flexible, cost-effective, and modular—an undeniable advantage. Countries in Europe, the Americas, and Oceania have accumulated over a decade of experience, yet there is no one-size-fits-all solution. While ideas circulate globally, each country faces unique challenges. There is still much to learn, particularly in achieving 100% renewables. Integrating solar and wind farms has progressed relatively well, but phasing out coal, gas, and even nuclear power remains difficult. Hydro, biomass, and geothermal can help, but these resources are not abundant everywhere. Hybrid systems (solar plus batteries) are widely available, yet seasonal variations outside tropical regions make baseload provision challenging. This panel will examine experiences and challenges, aiming to establish roadmaps that incorporate key elements of market design, supply security, and electricity price reductions. We will discuss energy auction designs complemented by capacity mechanisms—what configurations work best? What other essentials are needed? The discussion will be broad and forward-looking, with the goal of inspiring progress toward net-zero targets and 100% renewable energy.
Prof. Neven Duić
University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Neven Duic is a Professor in Energy Planning, Policy and Economics since 2001, at Power Engineering and Energy Management Chair, Department of Energy, Power Engineering and Environment, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb. He is vice-president of Croatian Academy of Engineering and Chair of organising Committee of CAETS 2023. He is member of International Scientific Committee of Dubrovnik Conference on Energy, Water and Environment Systems since 2003 and chair of its Local Organising Committee since 2007. He is co-Editor of Energy Conversion and Management, subject Editor of Energy, Editorial Board member of Applied Energy, member of regional editorial board of Thermal Science Journal and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems. His research covers areas of energy planning of energy systems with high penetration of renewables, sustainable communities, energy policy, energy economics, mitigation of climate change, energy efficiency and combustion engineering.
Prof. Felipe Feijoo
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
Felipe Feijoo is an associate professor at the school of Industrial Engineering at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile. Dr. Feijoo has worked in world-renowned institutions including the Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Zagreb, and at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories. Dr. Feijoo is an expert in modeling and optimization of complex systems, particularly in energy system modeling using game theory, optimization, data driven techniques, and Integrated Assessment Models (IAM), such as the GCAM IAM, leading to the analysis of regional and global energy transition pathways. Dr Feijoo has led and participated in several national and international projects including the Fondecyt Regular grant (2022-present), Fondecyt Iniciación grant (2018-2021), INTERENERGY project (2020-2021), and the CONICYT MEC Project (2018-2020). Dr Feijoo also serves as board member of the Journal “Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy”.
Prof. Brian Vad Mathiesen
Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
Brian Vad Mathiesen, Professor in Energy Planning and Renewable Energy Systems at Aalborg University, holds a PhD in fuel cells and electrolysers in future energy systems (2008). His research focuses on technological and socio-economic transitions to renewables, energy storage, large-scale renewable energy integration and the design of 100% renewable energy systems. He is one of the leading researchers behind the concepts of Smart Energy Systems and electrofuels. He is on the Clarivate, Web of Science Highly Cited list (2015-2020), thus among the top 1% most cited researchers globally. Among other positions, he is member of the EU Commission expert group on electricity interconnection targets in the EU as well as Research Coordinator of the Sustainable Energy Planning Research group, Principal Investigator (PI) of the RE-INVEST and sEEnergies projects, and Programme Director for the MSc in Sustainable Cities. He has been PI, work package leader and participant in more than 60 research projects as well as editorial board member of The Journal of Energy Storage (Elsevier) and The Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water & Environment Systems; Associate Editor of Energy, Ecology and Environment (Springer) and Editor of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. Furthermore, he is a member of The Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV) and a board member at The Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP).
Prof. Sylvain Quoilin
University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Sylvain Quoilin is an assistant professor in the field of Energy Systems. His research focuses on the optimization of power systems, on the optimal integration of heating appliances and on the integration of high shares of Renewables. His teaching activities include various classes linked to the modeling of energy systems as well as the supervision of PhD students and several master students each year. He gained a strong international experience with several stays in foreign research groups (MIT, TU München, University of Antwerp) working on similar topics. In particular, he developed a very strong collaboration with EU institutions by spending three years at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, working on the modelling of solar home batteries, self-consumption potentials and EU power dispatch.
He is the author and co-author of more than 100 publications in conference proceeding and journals. He is also the main developer of various open-source energy modelling tools, including a toolbox to simulate prosumers’ behaviour and a power system model used to evaluate flexibility in EU power systems. The tools are currently used by various institutions in the scope of ongoing studies on PV self-consumption, demand response, energy system flexibility assessment, etc.
Road-Mapping Grounds for Electricity Transition: Experiences Across the Atlantic and Beyond
As the world targets 100% renewable power, the roadmap for electricity grids is no longer just about capacity—it is about managing a structural shift in flexibility and economic logic. While technologies like solar and wind have reached maturity, the "implementation gap" remains wide due to grid bottlenecks and outdated market designs. This talk bridges the gap between climate physics and power system reality, focusing on the systemic evolution required for a resilient, carbon-free grid.
Key Discussion Points:
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The Integration Paradox: While solar and wind follow a disruptive S-curve, they face a "connection gap" (e.g., 2000 GW idling in US queues, the same starting to happen in the EU). I will discuss how Sector Coupling—specifically Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and smart charging—can significantly reduce integration costs, transforming the asssets from a grid burden into a decentralized storage asset.
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The Cost of "Baseload" vs. Flexibility: Comparing the "negative learning curve" of nuclear (averaging 120% cost overruns at Hinkley Point C and Flamanville) against the 1% overrun and rapid modularity of solar, future grid should rely on demand flexibility and industrial "smart-shedding" rather than expensive, static baseload.
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Energy Sufficiency: Efficiency is often neutralized by the Rebound Effect. Energy Sufficiency policies are essential to manage demand, such as progressive pricing and curbing high-intensity, low-utility loads (e.g., advertising lighting and private jet infrastructure), to ensure the grid serves essential needs first.
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De-risking the Industrial Pivot: Transitioning "hard-to-abate" sectors to electricity requires price certainty. Instruments such as Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfD) or Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) ncentivize the electrification and decarbonization of these sectors.
Ultimately, the roadmap to net-zero is not a one-size-fits-all solution; it requires a radical redesign of market mechanisms that prioritize flexibility, material circularity, and social equity over simple generation volume.
