Subject to change, clarification of times and topics.
Panel debate with the above speakers. Moderated by Anne Marie Damgaard, Director, Danish Center for Energy Storage.
Moderator: Emil Drazevic, Associate Professor, Aarhus University
Elisabetta Gariboldi, Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy, "M-TES: Metallic Phase Change Meterial-Composites for Thermal Energy Management"
Fernando Ruiz, Coordinator and Administrator of the Grupo Riegosur, Spain, "EIC Project PUSC-CCC"
Christos Agrafiotis, Research Engineer- Project Manager, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Germany, "EIC Project Sulphurreal"
Energy storage solutions can be divided into electrochemical and thermomechanical and chemical storage. A good example of mechanical solutions is Pump Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) and Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES). PHES is limited to certain geographical locations, while CAES is still under development, and there is therefore need for technological advancement in mid to long-term electrical energy storage solutions. In this session EIC Pathfinder beneficiaries presents the bold projects within EIC Energy storage Portfolio, which address mid to long term electrical energy storage, using thermal, mechanical and chemical storage solutions
Questions to be adressed:
Moderator: Julie Søgaard, Communication Consultant, Danish Center for Energy Storage
Denmark is facing the most significant landscape changes in a hundred years, affecting agricultural production areas in particular. This happens while the society and climate require a major transition from fossil fuels and materials to biogenic biomass. The session explores how the biomass-producing sectors of society, agriculture and forestry, can adapt to the changing environment.
Questions to be adressed:
TBA
Moderator: Alexander Kies, Associate Professor, Aarhus University, Honorary Associate Professor, UKZN
Sebastian Svanström, Head of Industrial Decarbonization, Quantified Carbon, “Effect of flexible hydrogen production on electricity prices”
Theresa Kluetz, Team Lead Sector Coupling, Forschungszentrum Jülich, “PtX in the European Energy Transition”
As Power-to-X (PtX) technologies scale up across Europe, their strategic integration into national and continental energy systems becomes a critical component of the energy transition. This session focuses on the role of flexible hydrogen production, storage, and reelectrification in enhancing grid stability, supporting sector coupling, and reducing system costs. Special attention will be given to spatial deployment strategies—from Europe-wide scenario planning to NUTS-3 cost-potential mapping—and to the interaction of PtX systems with electricity markets, particularly in Germany and Denmark. Presentations will examine how flexible hydrogen production influences electricity prices and grid resilience, offering practical insights into optimizing PtX deployment at scale.
Questions to be adressed:
Siting and Sizing: What strategies ensure optimal siting and sizing of hydrogen-based PtX systems to support both system flexibility and cost-efficiency?
European Perspective: What roles will hydrogen production, storage, and reelectrification play in shaping the future European energy system?
Electricity Market Interaction: How does flexible hydrogen production affect electricity price formation, particularly in high-renewable systems like Denmark's?
Regulation and Market Design: How can regulation and market frameworks support flexible PtX integration without compromising grid stability or investment incentives?
Moderator: Anders Bentien, Professor, Aarhus University
Mark Kwakernaak, Postdoctoral Researcher, TU Delft, European Innovation Council, "EIC project REZILLIENT"
Julian Seiler, German Aerospace Center (DLR), European Innovation Council, "EIC project HIPERZAB"
This session will focus on the European Innovation Council portfolio of projects on Mid-term storage in particular the ones focusing on electrochemical storage. As the fraction of renewable electricity from wind and solar sources is increased this will lead to higher risks of brownouts (Dunkelflaute) during periods over days when there is no wind a solar electricity available. Current state-of-the-art technologies like Li-ion batteries are for cost reasons not suitable for mitigating this challenge. In the session projects from the EIC portfolio will be presented with focus on concepts battery storage concepts based on extremely low-cost earth abundant and non-critical raw materials.
Questions to be addressed:
Moderator: Lars Ditlev Mørck Ottosen, Professor and Head of Department, Aarhus University
Søren Bruun, CEO, Frisch Pyrolysis: “Title TBA”
Jens Christiansen, Team Manager, Danish Technological Institute: "Is Flash Pyrolysis Feasible for Scaling Biochar Production?"
Søren Ugilt Larsen, Senior Advisor, Aarhus University and Mona Ammitzbøll Rasmussen, Sustainability Engineer, Saint-Gobain Nordic: “The PROMISE project – an example of production and utilization of biomass from miscanthus”
Questions to be adressed:
Moderators: Eoghan Rattigan, Industrial Sustainability Scientist Green Lab Skive and Rian Holdstock, Project Manager, FORCE Technology
Setting the scene (30 min.)
Group work and Plenum discussion (50 min.)
Rounding up & closing remark (10 min.)
Smedien
Join us for a networking event to kickstart the conversation of how Power-to-X technologies can help make us more resilient as a society. How do we keep the lights on with a challenging global, geopolitical scene?
Program
17.00: Welcome by Lasse Rosendahl, Executive Director & Professor, CORC
17.05: Panel discussion and Q&A
17.50: Networking
Panelists
Moderated by Lene Johansen, Independent Journalist
Centralværkstedet
Panel debate with the above speakers. Moderated by Julie Søgaard, Communication consultant, Danish Center for Energy Storage
Moderator: Michael Vedel Wegener Kofoed, Associate Professor, Aarhus University
Few years back hailed as the swiss army knife of green transition, the hype about Power to X has cooled down significantly. Multiple challenges can be blamed for this, including regulatory and policy uncertainties, increasing cost, lack of infrastructure, technological immaturity etc. Further, competition for biogenic carbon lures in the horizon. Despite these challenges, the fundamental interest in PtX is still there, and many players are committed to overcoming the hurdles. In this session we will hear about a number of cases, where the efforts continue, with emphasis on how the many barriers are overcome, what the next applications are and perspectives for scaling.
Questions to be adressed:
Moderator: Pourya Forooghi, Associate Professor, Aarhus University
Karel Bouzek, Professor, UCT Prague, "Alkaline membrane water electrolysis as an alternative to PEM process"
Marie Vedel Lauridsen, Co-Founder & CEO, ShipTown, "Reversible Alkaline Systems: Bubble-Free Electrolysis based on Fuel Cell DNA"
Sarah Groot Shapel, Founder & CEO, Nordic Hydrogen, "Redesigning the Classic: Innovations in Alkaline Water Electrolysis"
Alkaline Water Eletrolyzers (AWE) are expected to play a major role in realizing the demand for green hydrogen in the coming decades given their technological maturity compared to other technologies. There is however a considerable room to increase the energy efficiency of these devices. To this end, there has been a great deal of innovation regarding the design of electrode, cell and stack in recent years. The present session aims to give an overview of the state of the art on this topic including the present industrial practice as well as the innovative ideas and the expected developments in the years to come. The scope will cover both academic low-TRL (<3) and already commercial concepts.
Questions to be adressed:
Moderators: Uffe Sognstrup Thomsen, Executive Director, WATEC, Aarhus University and Paw Fallgaard Mortensen, Mission Officer, Energy Mission, Aalborg University
Water is a foundational input to PtX , not only for a sustainable green hydrogen production, but as a central piece of Europe’s infrastructure transition. In this session, we explore water's strategic role at system level: the integration of water into circularity models, industrial symbiosis, and large-scale infrastructure planning. We examine how PtX water needs intersect with the EU Green Deal and emerging Blue Deal, including resilience planning in the face of climate-related water stress.
Questions to be addressed:
Moderator: Björn Andresen, Professor and Head of Section, Aarhus University
Efficient power conversion is a critical component in the integration of renewable energy sources with Power-to-X (PtX) plants for green hydrogen production. This session will focus on the latest advancements in power electronics, converter topologies and control strategies that optimize energy transfer from variable renewable sources to electrolysis systems. It will cover the entire spectrum from large-scale to cell-level green hydrogen production. Topics include high efficiency power conversion topologies, electrolysis characteristics, system stability and real-time modeling techniques. Experts will discuss the latest technologies in power supply unit topologies and control, electrolysis impedance characteristics as well as challenges related to grid fluctuations, power quality and the seamless operation of PtX plants in future energy systems. Attendees will gain insights into innovative solutions that enhance system efficiency, reliability and scalability, driving the transition to a renewable hydrogen economy.
Questions to be adressed:
Moderator: Thomas Helmer, Professor, Aalborg University
While we start to see the first capture and storage chains materialize, it is also clear that we are at the very beginning of a long journey. Meeting the targets set in national and international agreements will require an enormous and broad effort from many stakeholders. Technological development and innovation will be critical to improve the technical and economic feasibility of carbon capture and also enable targeting of new and very dilute sources of CO2 as eg. atmospheric air. In this session, we will hear from companies and researchers, who are approaching this magnificent challenge from different directions.
Questions to be adressed:
TBA
Moderator: Anja-Verena Mudring, Professor, Aarhus University
Molten salts offer features for modern energy technology that are not attainable from other materials. Because of their unique thermal and chemical properties, they find applications in heat transfer and storage, in molten salt nuclear reactors and for metallurgical processing including the recovery of critical materials. In this session we will discuss the potential of molten salts in PtX applications and address the following critical questions.
Questions to be adressed:
1. Chemical Stability & Corrosion
What are the long-term corrosion mechanisms at high temperatures?
Can we develop corrosion-resistant materials for pipes, pumps, and reactor walls?
2. Thermophysical Properties
What are the precise physico-chemical properties of different salt mixtures and how can be optimize them?
How do these properties change over time or under radiation exposure?
3. Salt Chemistry & Purity
How does impurity buildup affect salt performance over time?
How can we monitor salt composition in real time during operation?
4. Fuel Cycle (for Molten Salt Reactors)
How can we handle online fuel reprocessing and fission product removal?
What are the best strategies for managing radioactive waste from salt reactors?
5. System Design & Engineering
What kind of maintenance and safety protocols are needed for large-scale deployment?
Can we scale-up lab prototypes to commercial-scale systems?
6. Safety and Environmental Concerns
How do molten salts behave during accident scenarios (e.g., overheating, loss of coolant)?
What’s the long-term environmental impact of different salt chemistries?
7. Modeling and Simulation
Can we accurately model the thermodynamics and fluid dynamics of molten salts?
What tools are best suited for simulating multi-physics behavior in salt-based systems?
Moderators: Uffe Sognstrup Thomsen, Executive Director, WATEC, Aarhus University and Cejna Anna Quist-Jensen, Associate Professor, Aalborg University
This session dives into the technical frontier of water treatment and purification for PtX. Researchers and industry experts will present cutting-edge solutions for producing ultra-pure water from low-grade sources such as wastewater and surface water. From membrane technologies and PFAS removal to hydrothermal liquefaction and industrial treat-ment systems, we explore what it takes to meet stringent water quality demands for electrolyzers — and how to do so sustainably. The session offers hands-on insight into technological trade-offs, inte-gration challenges, and scaling opportunities. A must for engineers, scientists, and developers seek-ing practical answers in PtX water purification.
Questions to be adressed:
Moderator: Björn Andresen, Professor and Head of Section, Aarhus University
As more PtX plants are integrated into the energy sector, their flexibility will be crucial for maintaining grid balance. This session will explore the flexibility of different electrolyzer systems (e.g., alkaline, PEM, solid oxide, and AEM) and e-fuel plants, focusing on key performance indicators (KPIs) for system flexibility, dynamic performance, and operational adaptability. Discussions will cover the behavior of electrolyzer systems and key plant components (e.g., reactors, compressors, and gas storage) under varying conditions, as well as control strategies to optimize performance. Contributions may include insights from modeling tools, experimental research, and industrial data and experiences.
Questions to be adressed:
