Shaping the energy transition: Impressions from the EnergySystemTransition Conference 2023

November 20, 2023 | Around 150 participants responded to the invitation of Reiner Lemoine Foundation (RLS), Graduate School, and Reiner Lemoine Institute (RLI) on November 15. to attend the ESW Conference. The event took place at the Berlin Academy of Sciences, where participants collectively discussed solutions, opportunities, and challenges of the Energy System Transition (ESW). Philipp Blechinger, Head of the Off-Grid Systems Research Unit at RLI and Director of the RLS Graduate School, welcomed the guests in Berlin and guided them through the day.

There was consensus on the importance of the accelerated expansion of renewable energies as the foundation for the Energy System Transition, emphasizing the need to continue pursuing this path. Simultaneously, the impact of other issues such as skilled labor shortages or geopolitical crises on the energy transition should not be overlooked. It was emphasized that it is crucial to socially cushion the energy transition and to communicate its added values more clearly and vividly.

The focus is not only on a technical and economic transition but on a comprehensive transformation of the societal system. Claudia Kemfert from the DIW Berlin – German Institute for Economic Research emphasized in the closing discussion with Fabian Zuber from the Reiner Lemoine Foundation the task of turning the energy transition into a participatory movement.

The event program was diverse. Nina Scheer (Member of the German Bundestag, SPD) addressed political decisions for the Energy System Transition in her keynote, posing questions about the implementation and effectiveness of measures taken so far.

Following this, Carolin Dähling (Green Planet Energy), Matthias Kalkuhl (MCC Berlin), Philine Wedell (Dena), Anna Leipprand (Wuppertal Institute), and Nadine Bethge (DUH) provided overviews of various aspects of the energy transition in short presentations.

In four parallel sessions, the focus was on transformation across all sectors. Participants could attend a panel discussion on system perspectives. RLI Managing Director Kathrin Goldammer moderated the panel with Christian Breyer from Lappeenranta University of Technology, Julia Metz from Agora Industrie, and Pao-Yu Oei from Europa University Flensburg. In three additional workshops, participants could contribute their knowledge on topics such as the transition in transportation, societal dimensions, or decentralized energy system transition.

At the conclusion of the conference, Anja Lemoine and Anne Jatzkewitz from the RLS Board formally bid farewell to the first cohort of the Graduate School, including Anya Heider, Alexandra Krumm, Ricardo Reibsch, and Marlin Arnz, and expressed gratitude to the scholarship recipients.