MURAU, AUSTRIA — The REFORMERS project concluded its 3rd General Assembly. Held on 27 and 28 May 2026 in the historic Benedictine Abbey of St. Lambrecht in Murau, Austria. The bi-annual meeting marked a critical transition from initial deployment strategies to technology validation and long-term replication.
Hosted by Murau Holzwelt, the two-day event brought together the pan-European consortium to evaluate critical technical milestones, coordinate multi-energy valley efforts, and structurally prepare for the European Commission’s high-stakes project review meeting.
Alignment and Work Package advancements
A core objective of the assembly was reviewing the rigorous criteria set by European Commission reviewers. Led by the project coordinator, VUB, the consortium engaged in a strategic session to map out explicit links between advanced energy models, field-testing phases, and final implementation. This alignment ensures absolute clarity regarding how digital tools are refined and scaled across distinct European socio-economic environments, moving seamlessly from the Flagship Valley to the project’s seven Replication Valleys.
The assembly focused on the operational and technical progress of the project’s main pillars, highlighting a clear shift toward the testing and validation of tools and approaches, linked to the project’s Key Exploitable Results (KERs).
- Coordination & Dissemination. Led by VUB and Deep Blue, partners evaluated community engagement strategies and aligned the updated Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation Plan. Continuous tracking of outreach activities confirmed project reach, with the official REFORMERS website already surpassing initial visitor benchmarks.
- Flagship operation: led by NEC, partners outlined significant advancements in the Flagship Valley located in Alkmaar (Boekelermeer, Netherlands). Operational highlights included real-world testing of advanced infrastructure, notably tracking waste management operations using electric trucks charged directly on-site—a key milestone for multi-energy carrier integration. As further update in the Flaghip operations, HVC shortly presented the plan to implement geothermal energy district heating for the region.
- Digital Twin & Energy Valleys Toolbox: Led by TU Delft and AIT, developers showcased the progress of the model development and the integration of data spaces for energy valleys. Plans were formalised to validate the custom-built Energy System Designer tool in the Kozani replication site starting October 2026.
- Replication Assessment and potential pathways: under the leadership of CERTH and RISE, partners discussed replication frameworks. Internal milestones were established and the deployment of a public online platform to house recommendations and lessons learnt for future European valleys agreed.
Technical insight: harmonising the project’s KPI ecosystem
A major takeaway of the assembly was the strategic decision to harmonise the different KPI sets across various research tracks and work packages. Moving forward, the Consortium will implement an explicit cross-sectoral matrix separating project impact and outreach (WP2), technical performance monitoring in the Flagship Valley (WP4), subsets of KPIs associated with the individual tools (WP6), tool testing engagement levels (WP7), and broader cross-regional replicability (WP8). This framework will provide all interested audiences, including policy-makers and external energy operators, with a better understanding of the project’s performance monitoring approach.
Site visits
To ground theoretical multi-energy frameworks in real-world practice, Murau Holzwelt led the consortium on a rather technical tour of the local Murauer brewery and the regional hydropower plant. The visit demonstrated how regional industrial symbiosis and localized supply chains can successfully mitigate seasonal energy deficits, providing a concrete example of a pathway toward 100% energy self-sufficiency.
Knowledge transfer workshop
The gathering concluded on the second day with an interactive, hybrid Knowledge Transfer Workshop co-organised by Deep Blue, EUREC and NEC. The open-to-the-public plenary and world café sessions acted as a premiere platform for cross-border knowledge exchange. Attendees gained direct technical insights from Europe’s leading energy initiatives, including the pioneer HEAVENN Hydrogen Valley and the cross-border BalticSeaH2 project.
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