All eyes are looking to the future of Europe’s energy industry – and it’s clear that the EU is betting on the European Green Deal to kick-start the economy post-COVID and reach its ambitious climate neutrality goals. EIT InnoEnergy is at the centre of this movement, enabling necessary industry development and training young engineers across Europe in innovation and entrepreneurship to lead these booming sectors!
The European Green Deal
The European Green Deal, with its goal of climate-neutrality by 2050, transforms climate and environmental challenges into opportunities! Just one example: the energy storage industry in Europe expects to increase its production capability 20-fold in the next seven years, resulting in 100,000 new jobs every year! The EU Parliament, with big names from politics, industry, the European Trade Union, and the private sector – including EIT InnoEnergy’s CEO Diego Pavia – have also signed the Green Recovery Alliance (on April 14th 2020) to build upon the Green Deal. Prof. Dr Frank Gielen, EIT InnoEnergy Education Director, shares: “We will need to fill hundreds of thousands of new jobs and roles by 2030 to meet energy demands and reduce emission targets. By 2050, it will be millions.”
Decarbonising energy production
The focus is on energy production and consumption, responsible for 75% of the greenhouse gas emissions. On March 16th, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, gave a keynote speech at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue 2021, where she mentions initiatives using Green Hydrogen to decarbonise the production of Steel. She shares, “We want to reconcile the way we produce and do business with the health of our planet… because what is good for the planet is good for business and good for us all.” Following this physolophy, EIT InnoEnergy has launched the European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center (EGHAC) – an initiative supported by Breakthrough Energy – to create half a million direct/indirect jobs across the entire value chain.
Programmes aligned with the Green Deal
EIT InnoEnergy’s innovative Master’s programmes focus on training a new wave of experts in these evolving fields. For example, the EIT InnoEnergy Master’s in Energy Storage which is preparing students for the thousands of jobs being created in this field on a yearly basis.
Key to the EIT InnoEnergy’s training is the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Journey, a parallel track offered throughout the Master’s studies. ESADE Business School and UnternehmerTUM are amongst the institutions that conduct courses on topics like design thinking, innovation management, start-up creation, dealing with investors, and more. These courses result in graduates better prepared to disrupt the market with innovative solutions.
EIT InnoEnergy students are also provided with a test ground to explore their innovative ideas further: the Battle of Green Talent. During this online competition, students design their start-up idea and compete to attract investors (MBA students from leading business schools) The result of the competition is not only a rewarding 10,000 EUR cash price for the winning team but also the possibility to access EIT InnoEnergy’s business creation services to continue the development of their venture.
Hands-on learning
EIT InnoEnergy Master’s programmes also offer fields projects to give students first-hand experiences. Such as the hydrogen-based storage system a team of MSc in Sustainable Energy Systems students created for the small Finnish island of Kökar. Team member Vamsi Krishna Dokka shares: “Studying at the best universities in Europe certainly offers us resources that would not have been available elsewhere. The industry is open to our ideas and eager to help us develop them, making it easier to find good projects so we can learn by doing.” By addressing small-scale scenarios to find scalable solutions, these student projects pave the way for exciting new global solutions!
As President von der Leyen says, “The energy transition is at the heart of our European Green Deal.” Therefore, EIT InnoEnergy is dedicated to not only enabling industrial development to meet the EU’s goals – but also to train the engineers needed to make this transition successful!
Exclusive opportunities for European students
EIT InnoEnergy understands that the success of the European Green Deal is linked with the capacity to attract and on-board the most talented professionals in the field. Therefore, it has introduced dedicated support mechanisms for European students interested in its Master’s programmes:
- Full participation fee waivers for selected candidates from EIT RIS (regional innovation scheme) countries.
- European partial fee waiver (worth € 12.000 per year): awarded to graduates from top European universities.
Discover how to apply to our programmes and join us to shape the future of sustainable energy in Europe.
Photo credits: Konstantin Spuler.