This week, Bilbao was taken over by energy professionals for the 2025 edition of Enlit Europe. And this year again, Eurelectric joined the energy fair to bring its own spark with its exhibition stand, speaking slots and several panel sessions in the exhibition area. In case you couldn’t make it to the city of the Guggenheim, here is your recap.
Grids for Speed
Before the conversations on AI, mobility and innovation unfolded across Enlit, Eurelectric opened its week with a focus on the backbone of Europe’s energy transition: the grid. The Grids for Speed hub set the tone early, bringing together operators, technology developers and system experts to address a reality every Member State is facing: Europe cannot electrify at scale without accelerating its distribution networks. With around 70% of new renewable assets expected to connect at distribution level by 2030 and annual investment needs reaching up to €67 billion, the question is no longer whether to reinforce grids, but how quickly and efficiently it can be done.
Exactly that was the central theme of the session, which explored how Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) can help Europe deliver capacity faster, more efficiently and at lower cost. With contributions from Ralf Blumenthal (Siemens Infrastructure), Beatriz Alonso Santos (Iberdrola) and Oliver Franz (E.ON), participants examined concrete tools already in use today, from Dynamic Line Rating, which increases usable grid capacity through real-time weather data, to flexibility management platforms that activate local resources to relieve congestion and balance supply and demand. These solutions are not prototypes but proven instruments enabling operators to anticipate bottlenecks and automate mitigation actions, whether through flexible connection agreements or local flexibility markets.
Plugged into digitopia
If Grids for Speed set the foundations, Digitopia picked up the thread by looking at the digital tools needed to operate tomorrow’s system. The hub convened utilities, DSOs, tech players and digital experts to explore how AI and data can reshape Europe’s power system in two back-to-back sessions dedicated to AI, digitalisation and the future of Europe’s power system.
The first session, “The AI race: What is the role of the European power sector?”, confronted a question at the very heart of the energy transition: how can Europe leverage AI where it matters most for electricity systems? AI is already transforming forecasting, asset optimisation and real-time operations, yet Europe is not leading the race in general-purpose AI. Moderated by Jessica Garcia, the panel featuring Luis Vale Cunha (E-REDES), Dara Lynott (EAI: Electricity Association of Ireland), Cruz Enrique Borges Hernández (DeustoTech – Deusto Institute of Technology) and Christiane Mann (T&D Europe) explored where Europe should focus its efforts: not on replicating Silicon Valley, but on scaling targeted, sector-specific applications that deliver immediate value for grids and system operators. For Eurelectric, particularly after publishing our response to the Strategic Roadmap for Digitalisation and AI earlier this month, these questions strike at the core of how Europe builds a clean, intelligent, future-proof power system.
The second session, “Cutting connection queues,” turned to one of the most pressing operational challenges in Europe today: surging demand for grid connections. From renewables to the above discussed data centres, queues are stretching longer, delaying both the green and digital transitions. Our head of Grids & Distribution Savannah Altvater moderated a discussion with Patrik Öhlund (Microsoft), Gabriela Prado (Iberdrola), Arjan R. Stam (Alliander) and Alco de Lange ✩ (EU DSO Entity), that explored how digitalisation can turn today’s manual connection process into a streamlined, data-driven journey. One message resonated: without digital tools to unlock visibility, prioritisation and speed, Europe will struggle to connect the very resources it depends on for decarbonisation. We explore the issue more in detail in this paper.
Celebrating innovation
On Wednesday, Eurelectric turned its eyes to innovation. With its 4th edition Enlit Europe and Eurelectric’s Energy Transition Innovators Pitching Competition once again attracted innovative start-ups in the energy sector in a battle to the last pitch.
The most trail-blazing solutions were recognised across three different categories:
- “Novel Tools for Grid Optimisation” won by VEIR
- “Innovative Technology for Clean Energy and Storage” taken home by Halide Energy and lastly
- “Smart Solutions Empowering the Consumers” given to Gridio
The winning start-ups brought back home some prizes: a free ticket to Eurelectric’s Power Summit 2026 in Helsinki, (3-4 June), a complimentary Pod in the Innovators Zone at Enlit Europe 2026 and a speaking slot in next year’s conference in Vienna.
Setting the course on EVision
Lastly, EVision took front stage at Enlit, bringing a cross-sector look at how electric mobility can support Europe’s power system. The first session focused on one of the biggest untapped opportunities in the clean mobility transition: EV-driven flexibility. Building on Eurelectric’s Plugging into Potential study, our climate and sustainability officer Gabrielle Clark set the scene with a clear message – electric vehicles are not just loads, they are flexible assets that can strengthen grids, enhance resilience and empower consumers. That idea carried into a dynamic panel moderated by Eleonora Rinaldi (MLex), with contributions from Dr. Matti Sprengeler (The Mobility House), Adriana Pop (ACEA), Paul De Wit (Alliander), Jaap Burger (Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP)), Jorge Muñoz Riesco (Iberdrola) and Nicola Battey (Kraken). The consensus was clear: Europe cannot afford to leave EV flexibility idle. With the right market signals, interoperability, consumer trust and regulatory clarity, EVs can become a cornerstone of a smarter, cleaner, more resilient energy system.
After the panel, the EVision Hub session switched focus to destination charging, the next frontier of Europe’s e-mobility ecosystem. As EV adoption accelerates, charging at hotels, airports, retail centres and workplaces is becoming a fundamental component of the user journey. But integrating this into existing buildings, business models and local grid capacity remains a real challenge. The panel brought together Iberdrola, IKEA and astara to offer perspectives from utilities, retail and mobility services on how collaboration can unlock faster deployment and more seamless charging experiences. At the hub meeting, Eurelectric’s business member Jetpack.AI showcased their work with Brussels Airport to demonstrate why EV flexibility and smart deployment matter now more than ever; PlugSecure underlined the growing importance of cybersecurity in an increasingly AI-driven charging ecosystem and AFRY shared strategic insights on why destination charging has become the next major growth segment for both large and smaller CPOs.
The question of E-mobility was also tackled by our Head of Energy Energy policy, Climate and Sustaibility Paul Wilczek in his keynote “Zombie Technologies on Europe’s Roads? The Risks of “Technological neutrality” post-2035.”
But the EVision’s work has just started rolling and the next pitstop is on March 4th and 5th at our EVision 2026 event themed Fleet Forward at the Autoworld Museum in Brussels. You can get your early bird ticket here.
Conclusion
Enlit 2025 was more than a three-day conference it was a snapshot of where Europe’s energy transition stands at the close of a pivotal year. From Grids to AI, from e-mobility, to digitalisation, from startup innovation to system flexibility, and from data to results, this edition made one thing clear: the power sector is moving fast and the conversations happening in Bilbao are already shaping the agenda for the next months.
For Eurelectric, Enlit was the perfect stage to give a final push to some of our biggest priorities this year. Whether through our response to the Strategic Roadmap on Digitalisation and AI, our work on EV flexibility and destination charging, or the continued focus on industrial decarbonisation, each session reinforced the same message: Europe will only meet its climate and competitiveness goals by scaling electrification, and by doing so smarter, faster and more collaboratively.
Eurelectric will carry the momentum of this week into 2026 – continuing to champion clean, digital and electrified solutions.
This blog post was originally published as part of Eurelectric’s LinkedIn Friday Features. Subscribe here to stay updated and never miss an edition.
Disclaimer: This article is for communication purposes only and may not reflect Eurelectric positions. Any positions taken in this article shall not be attributable to Eurelectric’s official positioning. Official Eurelectric positions are reflected only in position papers published here.