On the 

April 22, the SET Plan IWG-Industry and EERA - The European Energy Research Alliance's JP EEIP held a webinar on European Industry Electrification: Emerging Priorities & Challenges.

After a key note speech by Eric Lecomte (DG ENER), two key reports were presented:
- The IWG-Industry Electrification Task Force draft report, presented by Klaus Payrhuber (COGEN Europe / INNIO)

- The EERA JP EEIP draft white paper on “Electrification and Hydrogen for a Decarbonised European Industry”, presented by Mariya Trifonova (Sofia University)

Both highlighted similar challenges: electricity costs, grid capacity, and the need to adapt industrial processes to a changing energy system.

A few points stood out from the discussion:
- electrification and hydrogen serve different roles and should be developed together
- flexibility and better use of existing infrastructure can help manage costs
- high-temperature processes remain a key technical challenge

The panel discussion, moderated by Annita Westenbroek, brought in additional perspectives from Natalie Samovich, Venizelos Efthymiou, Marco Pezzaglia, and Herbert Zondag, particularly on flexibility, digitalisation and system efficiency.

The overall message was clear: electrification alone will not deliver decarbonisation. It needs to be combined with other solutions and considered at system level.

Thank you to the speakers Eric Lecomte, Klaus Payrhuber, Mariya Trifonova, PhD, Annita Westenbroek, the panellists, and to everyone who joined the discussion.