From ENLIT to the Guggenheim: Seeing the Future from a Different Perspective

The image of the researchers inside Yayoi Kusama’s installation “Infinity Mirrored Room – A Wish for Human Happiness Calling from Beyond the Universe” at the Guggenheim Bilbao captured something essential: How systems – whether artistic or energy-technical – shape our orientation. How boundaries can dissolve and new connections become visible. And how we need both technological precision and creative imagination to build tomorrow’s energy-efficient and flexible societies.

Kusama’s work invites us to think bigger. The energy transition is not only about kilowatt-hours and models, but about the kind of future we want to reflect back to ourselves:

• What does a flexible, secure and sustainable energy system actually look like?
• And what new ways of thinking do we need to get there?

In November, researchers in the NORCE-led EU project ELEXIA gathered in Bilbao to advance their work. Together with 12 other EU-funded energy projects in the Energy Nexus Cluster, we also met 15,000 industry actors at ENLIT Europe 2025. The result was a week filled with scientific depth, new partnerships and an important outside perspective: an encounter with art that challenges how we imagine possible futures.

The ELEXIA project is developing next-generation tools for planning and operating local energy systems. Through life-cycle assessment, interoperability and cybersecurity, ELEXIA aims to support smarter and more secure energy infrastructures in European cities, industrial parks and energy communities.

But the energy transition is about more than technology. As the text “Other systems to think with” (published on Enlit World) reminds us, the shift toward new energy systems also opens a wider conversation:

"The energy transition is an opportunity to rethink work, freedom — and what the “good life” should look like. What is it we want? And how do we imagine our futures?"

This societal perspective aligns closely with ELEXIA’s ambition: to develop technology that not only optimises energy use, but strengthens local communities, industry and sustainable ways of living.

ENLIT Europe is one of the world’s leading arenas for the energy transition.

The numbers speak for themselves:

• 15,000 participants from more than 140 countries
• 700+ exhibitors
• 500 expert speakers
• Major European players such as Iberdrola and Clarion Energy as strategic partners

NORCE and ELEXIA were strongly represented through the Energy Nexus Cluster in the EU Projects Zone. Here we met researchers, technology companies, grid operators, industry leaders and policymakers — all working to shape Europe’s energy transition.

The Energy Nexus Cluster participated with its own stand and programme. ELEXIA experts Carlos Medina (Tecnalia), Jean-Louis Nicolas (VTT) and ELEXIA coordinator Peter Breuhaus (NORCE) shared insights from the project in a panel debate on energy flexibility.

Learn what energy flexibility is in this video:

The cluster brings together 13 sister projects funded by Horizon Europe under the theme “Replicable solutions for a cross-sector compliant energy ecosystem”. The projects work on digitalisation, flexibility, cybersecurity and new market and governance models for energy.

Together we develop solutions that can be applied across countries, sectors and energy systems.

The cluster’s mission:

• Collaboration: building bridges between research, industry and policy
• Innovation: accelerating development of flexible energy systems
• Knowledge sharing: exchanging experience across European pilots
• Sustainability: supporting the EU’s climate and energy goals towards 2050

For ELEXIA, participation provides access to key stakeholders, joint policy contributions and collaboration opportunities that strengthen the project’s impact and relevance.

The gathering in Bilbao gave ELEXIA and NORCE:

1. Closer links to European energy experts
   Through meetings, workshops and the EU Projects Zone, researchers gained insight into needs, solutions and challenges shaping the future energy market.
2. Collaboration across ten EU projects
   From flexibility markets to geothermal heat, from cybersecurity to digital-twin technology: together the Nexus projects form a comprehensive picture of Europe’s energy future.
3. Visibility and positioning
   NORCE and ELEXIA were highlighted in an international arena with companies, authorities, standardisation bodies and R&D actors.
4. A shared language for the energy transition
   Art, technology and social science were brought into dialogue – reminding us that the energy transition is about people, quality of life and community.

ELEXIA now moves into an important phase. Over the next year, the project will:

• develop and demonstrate a modular digital platform for local energy systems
• strengthen interoperability and security in new energy services
• contribute to policy development through the Energy Nexus Cluster
• collaborate with cities, industrial parks and energy communities across Europe

The week in Bilbao gave us the technical insight, strategic partnerships – and creative perspective – needed to succeed.

The energy transition is about more than technology. It is about imagining – and building – a better future.