The second Advisory Board Meeting report is ready
The second Advisory Board Meeting took place on 23rd of March 2026 online. Overall, eleven (11) out of eighteen (18) invited external experts took part in the meeting, ranging from researchers, DSO representatives, energy provider representatives, technology providers and energy business companies.
Second Advisory Board Meeting Summary
The meeting spanned over two hours. After a quick tour-de-table, in the first 30 minutes partners delivered quick presentations focused on project achievements and plans for the third year of the project. Triggered by questions focused on each research track, Advisory Board Members took an active role in providing their feedback and essential suggestions to better align with real-life needs.
Questions addressed to AB members were the following:
| Communication and Dissemination: Having a quick look at our website, to what degree are able to find the information you’re most interested into? What kind of information are you seeking the most? |
| Socio-economic impact assessment: We’re proposing a SEIA framework specific for Energy Valleys, which shall be replicable in different socio-economic and climatic contexts. Reflecting on potential impacts on society, could you name those that would be more relevant to your domain/organisation? |
| Replicability assessment: Renewable Energy Valleys aim to demonstrate integrated regional energy systems that can accelerate the clean energy transition. From your perspective, what are the most critical factors that determine whether such regional initiatives can be successfully replicated and scaled across Europe, particularly in regions with different regulatory frameworks, energy infrastructures, and stakeholder ecosystems? |
| Uptake and Adoption: The project will deliver several outcomes – How we can present the results of the replicability assessment in a way that is of use to the other replication valleys and future Renewable Energy Valleys? |
| Digital Twin Blueprint: One of our goals is to drive widespread adoption of the open-source, interoperable, Energy Digital Twin blueprint. From your distinct perspectives (whether policy, or industry) what do you see as the biggest non-technical barriers to adoption, and how should we address them? |
| Future outlook and long term sustainability: Now that we are more than two years in REFORMERS, in which we have achieved considerable milestones when it comes to the implementation and operation of Flagship Valley, we want to start thinking about the ownership, governance and operation of the Flagship Valley after the lifetime of REFORMERS. How can we make sure that all our achievements are being taken-up by the ecosystem of stakeholders and, how can we stimulate the extension and further roll-out of the valley after 2028? |
| Governance, business and legal frameworks: Considering the complex ecosystem required to deploy Energy Valley, what governance structures, legal frameworks, and business model mechanisms do you believe are essential to overcome the current deployment barriers? Specifically, which institutional arrangements or multi stakeholder coordination models could most effectively address challenges such as permitting delays, fragmented responsibilities, risk-sharing between actors, and long term financial sustainability? |
Conclusions
The Minutes of Meeting are considered restricted content in REFORMERS’ project, nevertheless at the end of the meeting it became clear that the suggestions and ideas for the next phases of the project were useful. The discussion was lively and focused on the challenges that emerged so far, especially in ensuring that the project insights are reaching the right targets: grid operators, local and regional authorities and policy makers. Also, suggestions of improvements for the website’s user experience were provided, with the aim of creating navigation paths specific for people interested in governance and policy aspects.
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