With 2025 coming to a close, now is the time to reflect on what has been achieved in the COPPER project over the past 12 months. Innovating existing energy planning processes, so that they match the needed strategic frame, can seem like a slow process. This is why it is important to take a good look back and remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day either.
This year the COPPER consortium has engaged in multiple activities, on the one hand to build its internal (and later external) capacity for LEAPs (Local Energy System Planning) and on the other hand to collaborate and share with parties beyond the project.
COPPER on stage:
During 2025, COPPER was presented on various European stages. In February, the role of LEAPs in grid resilience and the critical need for strong cooperation between cities and DSOs was discussed at the FutureGrid Innovation Summit hosted by E.DSO. In April the project participated at the Cleantech Venture day in Amsterdam, hosting two workshops – one on virtual power plants and one on local grid technology – with the intention of highlighting the potential of integrating new technologies into local energy planning. In June, COPPER was brought to the EUSEW in Brussels, with a panel of public authorities, DSOs, policy experts and flexibility representatives.
These 3 events exemplify the public presence that the project searched out this year. Further events that the consortium participated in to highlight COPPER were the Climate Alliance International Conference and the Power Transmission & Distribution Technology Expo, both in Cologne.
COPPER on paper:
Next to presenting COPPER during events and engaging in valuable conversations, this year the consortium also produced statement pieces highlighting and supporting the work on LEAPs and how cities are taking up a bigger role in energy systems planning.
Firstly, the study Leading the Charge: local energy action planning techniques for a city-led local energy transition authored by Climate Alliance highlights 25 examples from 12 cities where municipalities in Northern Europe are pioneering innovative strategies for an accelerated, affordable, and competitive energy transition, often in collaboration with the Distribution System Operator. Five good practices were identified, from the securing of political engagement in energy management to the formalisation of cross-department energy management. The full study can be found here.
Secondly, the ongoing Now/New/Next series was launched in the beginning of this year. Produced by the COPPER partnership, the series highlights innovative concepts and trends within the local energy transition. The released editions discuss Virtual Power Plants, the City Energy Bill, City-wide Energy Planning and city-DSO collaboration. These outputs can be used not only to inform the city-partner's own investments into innovative concepts and technologies for catalysing the energy transition, but also as communication materials and ice breakers with external entities.
COPPER expands to the North:
When Interreg North Sea gave all projects the opportunity to integrate a Norwegian partner, COPPER immediately saw this as an opportunity to gain a seventh pilot, with a unique extra-European context. Successfully adding the city of Trondheim to the consortium gives COPPER a boost halfway through the project. The Norwegian pilot will tackle a local grid bottleneck within the Brattøra district by aiming to release 5-10 MW of capacity for shore-to-ship electricity, electric ferries, and HD electric vehicle charging, adding a unique industrial and port context to the project's portfolio.
COPPER coming together:
This year, the COPPER consortium came together for two two-day meetings, to profit from face-to-face presentations, lively discussions and interesting guest speakers. In March, Dordrecht was the stage to focus on scaling LEAPS from an idea to a broader mindset in cities. Guest speakers included the Deputy-Mayor of Dordrecht, highlighting the strategic importance of the energy transition in the city’s economic growth and the TSO TenneT on DSO-TSO coordination.
In Fredericia, the focus was on sharing pilot updates, welcoming the newest consortium member Trondheim and working on the COPPER digital toolkit. Furthermore, the consortium discussed how to make the planned European Conference on City Energy in March 26 in Ghent as engaging as possible. The two-day meeting was enhanced by presentations from Danish DSO TREFOR, the mayor of Fredericia and the COPPER Interreg project officer.
COPPER prepares:
The end of the year is not only a time for looking back, but also an occasion to look forward to the coming year. COPPER has great plans for 2026!
A new white paper: E.DSO will release a white paper on city-DSO collaboration, outlining what the challenges yet also the opportunities are. The paper introduces how LEAPs can be a tool for strategizing and establishing long-term, holistic synergies between public authorities and DSOs. The paper is planned to be presented at E.DSO’s second FutureGrid Innovation Summit in February.
European Conference on City Energy: In March 2026, the mayors of Ghent and Antwerpen are hosting a conference promoting city-led energy transition. On the guest list are mayors, aldermen, CEOs and many more! Sign up, to join the engaging day, learning more about the opportunity of the energy transition, to connect with peers and to help frame policy recommendations to the European Commission and national regulators.
Consortium meeting in Ghent: Following the conference, the COPPER consortium will get together for their 5th partner meeting in Ghent. During those two days, the partnership will use the momentum of the European conference to promote LEAPs to a wider audience and apply learnings for how to overcome barriers to each pilot’s local context.