On April 3, 2025, the GALILEO consortium convened for its first official project meeting since its kickoff at the Entras office in Mechelen. The gathering brought together all project partners for a productive day of collaboration and knowledge exchange. The agenda centered around detailed updates from each of the active work packages, as well as key discussions on research coordination and next steps.
Work Package 1 presented progress on assessing the potential for industrial flexibility in Belgium. The team reported that Deliverable 1 is nearing completion, having addressed critical research questions: how much flexibility Belgian industry can provide, the projected future system needs, existing barriers to development, and preliminary solution pathways. These findings will form a crucial foundation for subsequent analyses in GALILEO.
Work Package 2 shared the current status of its models supporting long-term energy procurement, bidding strategies, and market design to enhance industrial competitiveness. Initial frameworks have been developed for the methodologies, tools, and expected results of the three tasks within the work package. These include portfolio strategies involving PPAs, storage, and renewables; a bidding strategy model for industrial flexibility across various market segments; and upcoming efforts to analyze product and market design adaptations necessary to unlock broader flexibility participation. These models are being developed in tandem with the use cases defined in Work Package 3.
Work Package 3 focused on the ongoing development of industrial reference cases. Industrial partners shared their selected use cases and engaged in fruitful discussions to refine the specific research questions each case will address. These real-life applications—spanning several key industrial clusters—will anchor the modeling work across GALILEO and ensure relevance to Belgium’s decarbonization and electrification challenges.
The GALILEO team extends its sincere thanks to all consortium members for their active participation, valuable insights, and collaborative spirit throughout the meeting. The strong engagement across all work packages reflects the shared commitment to advancing industrial flexibility in Belgium. We look forward to building on this momentum in the coming months as we transition from analysis to implementation and further refine the project’s strategic direction.
