© BETD / Thomas Trutschel

BETD 2025: Change as an opportunity

In mid-March, Berlin hosted the eleventh edition of the Energy Transition Dialogue. This annual conference is widely regarded as one of the world’s most important forums on the energy transition and attracts high-ranking representatives from the political sphere, from industry and civil society.

This year, the focus was on the implementation of the targets agreed at the COP 28 United Nations Climate Change Conference, on global expansion targets for renewable energy, on energy efficiency, the phase-out of fossil fuels, and financing for the global energy transition.

The common thread running through the meeting was the motto “change as an opportunity”. In times of major geopolitical tension, a sustainable restructuring of the energy systems to increase energy security and take climate action is more important than ever before. For the same reason, the global energy transition is an opportunity for sustainable economic development and for energy security. It is a global project and as thus needs to be achieved as part of a shared international effort. This is why the BETD highlighted the importance of international cooperation.

^{Letter of intent for a bilateral German-Thai Energy Dialogue}

Apart from multilateral formats, Germany is also using long-term energy and climate partnerships with more than 30 countries to speed up the necessary investments in clean-energy technology and sustainable infrastructure. A new partnership was forged at the BETD: Mr Udo Philipp, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and Samerjai Suksumek, advisor to the Thai Minister of Energy, signed a joint letter of intent on establishing a bilateral German-Thai Energy Dialogue (in German only).

The agreement centres on decarbonisation of the energy systems and the industrial sector, improved business opportunities for companies from both countries, and increased energy security. It covers dialogue on energy policy, energy efficiency in industry, decarbonisation and b2b cooperation. 

In a next step, projects for improved energy efficiency and for the decarbonisation of the industrial sector are to follow. Here, the focus will be on building energy efficiency networks in Thailand. These are to bring together German and Thai companies with a high potential for energy savings.

At the Startup Energy Transition (SET) Tech Festival at the BETD, outstanding innovative ideas and solutions for the energy transition were honoured with the SET Award. SET is a global platform for innovation established by the German Energy Agency (dena) in 2016 with the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The initiative brings together startups in the fields of the energy transition and climate action with companies, investors and other startups.

^{Awards for innovations in the energy transition and climate action}

The award in the Clean Energy & Storage category went to Cowa Thermal Solutions AG from Switzerland. The company’s compact thermal storage units contribute to the integration of renewables and improve energy efficiency in urban areas.

Nyobolt Ltd. from the UK was awarded the prize in the Mobility & Transportation category for its super-fast charging batteries with a long life and reduced content of critical raw materials.

The laureate in the Industry category is Cyclize GmbH from Germany. Using a patented plasma reactor, this company transforms plastic waste and CO₂ into a synthetic gas that can be used to replace natural gas – helping to bring down both plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Concular GmbH from Germany, winner in the Buildings & Construction category, impressively demonstrates how the recycling rate of building materials can be increased from just 1% to up to 80% by using digital processes.

Koolboks from France specialises in grid-independent, solar-powered refrigerators using ice battery technology, earning the award in the Quality Energy Access & SDG 7 category. 

All of the SET award winners’ innovations come at exactly the right time, with the energy transition more likely than ever to succeed: the cost of renewable energy has dropped significantly, the global expansion of wind and solar energy is progressing at a high speed, and storage technologies are increasingly crossing the threshold to competitiveness. 

The question is no longer whether fossil fuels will be phased out, but how. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects that the market volume for key energy transition technologies will be the same size in 2035 as that of today’s global market for petroleum. Discussions at the BETD therefore often revolved around fair market conditions that strike a fair balance between social and economic aspects. A just energy transition means an energy transition that gives all countries access to climate-friendly technologies and investments, irrespective of where they started out.

The Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue is an annual event that has taken place since 2015 at the invitation of the Federal Government. It is hosted in cooperation with the Federal Association for Renewable Energy (BEE), the Federal Solar Industry Association (BSW Solar), the German Energy Agency (DENA), and consultancy firm eclareon.

Video recordings and additional information about the event can be found here.