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Solar energy, fusion and international co-operation in focus at this year's KTH Energy Dialogue

People mingling in a hall.
Researchers, students and representatives from business and government authorities gather at the KTH Energy Dialogue to be inspired by each other’s work and find new ways to collaborate. Photo: Fredrik Persson
Published Oct 19, 2022

The theme of KTH Energy Dialogue 2022, which will be held on 17 November between 1pm and 4pm, is co-operation and internationalisation. This year’s panel discussions will focus on the importance of international co-operation between business, politics and academia. The keynote speaker is Richard Pitts from ITER, the world’s largest fusion project.

Lina Bertling Tjernberg. Photo: Ateljé Uggla

This year’s KTH Energy Dialogue opens with a panel of high-profile speakers who will discuss the topic of Sustainable Growth with Cooperation from Business, Politics and Academia. Panellists include Robert Andrén, General Director of the Swedish Energy Agency ; Tobias Krantz, formally Sweden’s minister for higher education and research who now heads the High Level Group on Systems Innovations ; Anna Kinberg Batra, Chairman of the Board of Swedish Solar Energy , and Victoria Van Camp, winner of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences 2022 Gold Medal  and Board Member of SR Energy .

“This year, the KTH Energy Dialogue particularly highlights recent years' progress in breakthrough technologies for energy, such as fusion energy, small nuclear reactors and next-generation nuclear power, hydrogen storage and solar energy,” says Lina Bertling Tjernberg, director of KTH's Energy Platform.

A big machine.
Fusion energy is one of the topics during this year's KTH Energy Dialogue. Earlier this year, members of the Swedish parliament visited KTH's fusion reactor where Lorenzo Frassinetti told them about KTH's participation in the construction of the ITER fusion reactor. Photo: Mikael Sjöberg

“We’ve really succeeded in creating a programme that truly reflects the fantastic international opportunities for co-operation and development that exist in the energy sector. KTH Energy Dialogue should be an inclusive place for meetings across silos,” says Lina Bertling Tjernberg.  

Keynote speaker at the KTH Energy Dialogue is Richard Pitts, Leader of the Experiments and Plasma Operation Section at ITER , France. The keynote is entitled ITER: putting the sun in a box, Abstract & Bio (pdf 471 kB) . He will also participate in a panel discussion on Technologies for Future Energy during which an update will also be given by two KTH research centres PUSH and Sunrise, (more details in this article on the KTH Energy Dialogue 2020 ). 

The day’s next panel discussion is on Energy Efficiency and Transition to Fossil Free Future, with participants including Desirée Comstedt, Director of Business Development, Nuclear Power at Vattenfall , Maria Xylia, Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute  and expert in energy system analysis specialising in fossil-free transport, charging infrastructure strategies and off-grid solutions, and Francesco Fuso Nerini, Director of the KTH Climate Action Centre .

The closing panel will discuss the High Voltage Power Grid Developments and Sustainable Solutions. Panellists will include KTH alumni Magnus Callavik who is now Global Head HVDC Engineering at Hitachi Energy , as well as the recently appointed professors Xiongfei Wang, Professor in Power Electronics KTH, and Mikael Unge, Adjunct Professor KTH and with NKT High Voltage Cables.

KTH Energy Dialogue 2022 programme

About KTH Energy Dialogue

KTH Energy Dialogue celebrates energy research and is an inclusive meeting place for dialogues about science-based solutions that will contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Specially invited guests are given insights into topics and areas that are crucial for the sustainable transition. 

Every year, some 200 researchers, students, representatives from business and government authorities meet to participate in discussions and share new research findings. Ideas and collaborations are raised here that contribute to new solutions and visions for a sustainable transformation of our energy system.

The event starts this year with a performance by singers from the Stockholm University of the Arts and includes a networking lunch and a poster exhibition with prizes awarded to the best posters. 

Text: Magnus Trogen Pahlén

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