On 10 February 2026, a team from the University of Cologne, partner in the INTELLIGENT project, participated in the E-world energy & water in Essen, Germany, contributing to discussions within the New Energy Systems Forum.
Since 2001, E-world has been one of Europe’s leading networking platforms for the energy sector, bringing together global and regional companies, innovative start-ups, policymakers, and researchers. The 2026 edition, marking its 25th anniversary, welcomed more than 37,000 energy professionals and 1,136 exhibitors, with participants from 126 countries. Discussions this year focused strongly on the energy transition in connection with security of supply, storage technologies, artificial intelligence, and the evolving design of energy markets.
Within this context, the University of Cologne team contributed to a panel discussion entitled “Bridging Wholesale and Retail: Who Shapes the Future of Europe’s Energy Markets?”. The session addressed the growing importance of local energy and flexibility markets and explored how their proper design can provide services to wholesale markets while supporting local stakeholders. Particular emphasis was placed on the role of market architecture in enabling coordination between decentralised actors and system-level mechanisms, an issue that lies at the core of current electricity market reform debates. The session gathered around 200 participants from industry and business communities, reflecting significant interest in these developments.
Although the partners attended the forum in a broader professional capacity, they actively promoted the INTELLIGENT project throughout the event by distributing project brochures and engaging in discussions with industry representatives. This direct outreach helped raise awareness of INTELLIGENT’s work on open-source, interoperable solutions for peer-to-peer energy trading, AI-driven flexibility optimisation, and the integration of energy communities into future market structures.
By contributing to high-level industry discussions at E-world 2026, the University of Cologne reinforced INTELLIGENT’s visibility within the European energy sector and strengthened connections with key market actors. Such partner-led engagement is essential for ensuring that project results reach relevant stakeholders and contribute to ongoing debates on the future of Europe’s energy markets.
