On the 27th of June, the Catalan Energy Cluster organized the 11th edition of the Energy Efficiency Night, one of the cluster's annual events which is already the main meeting point for the energy sector and sustainability in Catalonia. More than 600 technicians, researchers, entrepreneurs and institutional representatives of the sector gathered at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya in a day that also served to celebrate a new edition of the EmErgEnt Awards.

The event, hosted by journalist Anna Boadas and actor Octavi Pujades, began with the intervention of the president of the Catalan Energy Cluster, Joaquim Daura, who talked about the main challenges of the energy transition. "We have a good starting point, the PROENCAT roadmap, but we have to be brave", commented Daura, who emphasized the fact that in the coming years "it will be necessary to close down all nuclear plants in Catalonia that represent 50% of the generated energy".

Following this, the Catalan Energy Institute's director, Marta Morera, referred to the work done by the Climate Action department, mentioning some of the milestones achieved recently, such as the approval of the biogas strategy of Catalonia or the 100,000 installations for selfconsumption. "We are going according to the set pace".

On her side, the Deputy Mayor of Agenda 2030 of Barcelona City Council, Laia Bonet, expressed the council's will "to speed up the energy transition in the city as much as possible". "This is a necessity," commented Bonet, who indicated that the Barcelona intends to triple the photovoltaic power installed by 2027.

The theme chosen for this year's edition was the art, a fact that was reflected in an arts performance called Girasomnis on the stage of the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya created by the Paco Gramaje studio. The show immersed the audience in a dreamlike experience where art and imagination converged.

Another of the protagonists of the day was artificial intelligence. The event included a presentation by the director of the Center of Innovation for Data Tech and Artificial Intelligence (CIDAI), Joan Mas Albaigès, who reflected on the White Paper on AI applied to energy. The head of the CIDAI referred to some of the opportunities offered by AI in this sector in the fields of generation, distribution and consumption. He also mentioned the barriers that limit its development, highlighting the data transfer, the lack of immediate return on investments or regulation.
During the ceremony, the cluster also received the ODS certification for its work promoting sustainability and its efforts to promote the decarbonisation of companies and organizations in the energy sector. The director of Bureau Veritas, Isabel Tejero, was in charge of delivering the badge that was collected by the cluster manager, Francesc Ribera.

New edition of the EmErgEnt Awards
This edition of the Night also included the celebration of another edition of the EmErgEnt Awards, which recognize the best projects of entrepreneurs and start-ups in the field of efficient energy management. In total, six projects were selected to be presented, most of them revolving around the green hydrogen, the electric vehicle or the energy management of buildings. The Energy Research Institute of Catalonia (IREC), Eurecat, Urban Impacta, Zertifier, Blockchain Digital Energy and Factor Energia were the participating companies.

The prize for the best project in the seed category, given by WATTEGA's Director of Innovation, Esther Izquierdo, and the general director of Industry of the Generalitat, Oriol Alcoba, went to Eurecat with the e-leaf project that aims at solving the lack of supply of material for electrolysers or fuel cells that want to use green hydrogen. Regarding the product category, the company Zertifier was the winner with the ZERTI Power project that seeks to take advantage of blockchain technology to improve the management of energy communities. The delivery of the prize in this case was done by the Deputy Mayor of Agenda 2030 of the Barcelona City Council, Laia Bonet, and the DAUSS Advocats lawyer, Lara Campanario.

The cluster also wanted to recognize different entities and people linked to the efficient energy and sustainability sector for their work, with the issuance of various prizes to Albert Bosch Foundation, the company Roca Group, or Cori Calero, journalist at the Catalan Public Television. The Catalan Energy Cluster highlighted their contribution to social development, the promotion and dissemination of environmental values and their efforts in promoting the energy transition and the decarbonisation process.