SET Plan in action

The SET Plan was established in 2007 to support the EU’s energy and climate goals and make Europe a global leader in low-carbon energy and energy efficiency technologies. It is linked to the 5th dimension of the Energy Union – research, innovation and competitiveness – which are translated into SET Plan’s 10 key actions.

Governance

The SET Plan is made up of the Steering Group, the Bureau of the SET Plan Steering Group and 14 Implementation Working Groups (IWGs).

The Steering Group is the decision-making body of the SET Plan. It consists of representatives of the SET Plan countries – the EU Member States as well as Iceland, Norway and Turkey. The Bureau supports its work with the preparation of internal meetings and discussions.

The SET Plan Information System (SETIS) underpins the operations of the SET Plan by providing the necessary scientific evidence for decision-making. SETIS also monitors and reports progress, and publishes SET Plan outcomes on its dedicated website, ensuring transparency.

The 14 working groups monitor and report progress to SETIS on the SET Plan targets and R&I activities carried out at national and European levels. The activities and targets, published in the working groups’ implementation plans, are identified in cooperation with national governments and stakeholders (industry and research bodies). The implementation plans represent the reference document of the SET Plan in each field and ensure that it is aligned with the key industrial developments.

Membership of the working groups includes representatives from industry, research institutes and non-governmental organisations, as well as national and regional authorities in charge of research, innovation, education, climate action and energy.

Implementation landscape

The activities of each working group benefit from continued liaison and support from other EU R&I initiatives such as:

the European Technology and Innovation Platforms (ETIPs), in which industry, research organisations and academia work together on the implementation of the SET Plan priorities along the innovation chain and develop strategic research agendas;
the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA), which represents the research community and seeks to catalyse European energy research in line with the objectives defined by the SET Plan;
the various Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs), funded under Horizon 2020, to support the IWGs in communication, dissemination and mutual learning activities;
the European Research Area Networks (ERA-NETs), one of the main instruments allowing Member States to support the SET Plan with increased funding for transnational research and R&I Framework Programmes. Following the establishment of Horizon Europe, the ERA-NET Cofund and the European Joint Programme (EJP) Cofund under Horizon 2020 are succeeded by the Co-funded European Partnerships.

	ETIP	CSA	ERA-NET	Industry association or other European coordination group
Photovoltaics	ETIP PV	PV IMPACT IWG PV	SOLAR-ERA.NET
CSP-STE		HORIZON STE	CSP ERANET	ESTELA Solar
Offshore wind	ETIP Wind	SET Wind		WindEurope
Deep geothermal	ETIP-DG	Deep GEOTHERMAL IWG	GEOTHERMICA	European Geothermal Energy Council
Ocean energy	ETIP Ocean	Ocean SET	Ocean Energy ERA-NET Cofund	Ocean Energy Europe
Positive energy districts	ECTP	JPI Urban Europe		Euroheat & Power
Energy systems	ETIP SNET		ERA-Net SES
EE in buildings	RHC			European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP)
EE in the industry				A.SPIRE
Batteries	ETIP batteries	BATTERY 2030+		Batteries Europe
Renewable fuels & bioenergy	ETIP Bioenergy	SET4BIO	ERA-NET Bioenergy	Bioenergy Europe Hydrogen Europe
CCS-CCU	Zero emissions platform	CCUS SET-PLAN	Accelerating CCS Technologies	CCSA CCUS Network
Nuclear safety	SNEPT
HVDC

_{The Implementation Working Groups are listed in alphabetical order.}