Symposium on Industrial Heat and Power: A Day of Collaboration at HPT

Published Apr 10, 2025

On April 2nd, the Heat and Power Technology (HPT) division at KTH hosted a full-day symposium focused on advancing industrial decarbonization. The event brought together researchers, students, industry representatives, and public sector stakeholders for a day of presentations, panel discussions, and collaboration.

Organized by HPT, the symposium created a space for open exchange around some of the most pressing challenges in the energy transition. The program featured keynote talks, technical sessions, and panel discussions on topics including thermal energy storage, electrification, financing innovation, and research-industry collaboration.

The event served as a valuable opportunity to strengthen ongoing partnerships and explore new areas of collaboration. It also emphasized the important role of academic research in addressing real-world energy challenges, particularly through industrially driven projects and innovation initiatives.

The program included presentations from HPT researchers, invited speakers, and project partners. The day concluded with a networking session, giving attendees the chance to connect more informally and continue conversations sparked throughout the sessions.

Throughout the day, we spoke with several participants to gather their reflections on the symposium and the challenges of industrial decarbonization:

“This symposium has been very interesting—and the topic is so important for society. It’s great to hear different perspectives from industry and research on the energy and climate transition,” said Dr. Klara Helstad, Deputy Head of R&I and Business Development at the Swedish Energy Agency.

“Just getting people from different sectors in the same room—that alone makes this event meaningful,” shared Dr. Monika Topel, Power System Analyst at Svenska Kraftnät. “These are people who usually don’t talk every day, but in the big picture they are collaborating together. The most useful outcome is that we acknowledge and talk about what is an issue for one, and what might be a bigger problem for another.”

“I enjoyed the symposium very much,” noted Prof. Robert Pitz-Paal, Director of the Institute of Solar Research at DLR. “The key aspect is that you (HPT) were really capable of bringing together a lot of different industry stakeholders. And for academia, this was really worthwhile to see all the challenges and aspects they addressed. Particularly interesting was the involvement of the financial sector—this perspective is often missing in similar events, and from a research point of view, it's very valuable.”

A video teaser and the full event summary—including more quotes, panel highlights, and photos—are available on the event page .

We thank everyone who joined us and contributed to the success of the symposium—and we look forward to welcoming you again at the next edition, tentatively planned for 2027.