SET Plan delivering results (2018)

The SET Plan promotes cooperation amongst EU countries, companies, research institutions and the EU itself. It has confirmed its role as a platform for knowledge exchange and for partnership creation, evolving and adapting to address low-carbon technologies holistically. Through this process, it has put forward a specific vision for each technology area through setting ambitious targets to be reached in the next decade(s) to place Europe at the forefront of the next generation of low-carbon energy technologies and of energy efficiency. For each of these technology areas, Implementation Plans (IPs) have been developed to reach these targets. The SET Plan has been instrumental in creating a synergetic momentum among all partners in a fully transparent way. The target-setting process was concluded in 2016 through the release of Declarations of Intent that cover all the Energy Union and SET Plan priority areas (its 10 Actions) and served as a basis for drafting and endorsing the corresponding Implementation Plans. This was achieved by bringing together interested SET Plan countries and relevant industrial and research stakeholders to sketch out synergetic and impactful R&I activities in order to accelerate the energy transition. The participants to this process debated thoroughly the main R&I priorities for each SET Plan Action and identified the best areas for future cooperation among the SET Plan countries and relevant industrial actors. The outcome of this work is now reflected in these Implementation Plans.

This publication offers a quick overview of this remarkable achievement. Chapter 2 illustrates each Implementation Plan in a concise manner and presents its specific features. Chapter 3 outlines the way forward, the expectations and the practical value of this exercise in terms of the overall EU energy transition and the optimal decarbonisation pathway to be followed.