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The “Mission Innovation Net-Zero Industries Award” will once again honour outstanding companies and visionary individuals in 2025 who are actively shaping the transition to a climate-neutral industry through innovative approaches.

The Net-Zero Industries Award celebrates the people and projects leading the charge in industrial decarbonisation. Now in its third year, it offers a unique opportunity to showcase your work on a global stage, connect with top innovators and policymakers shaping the future of industry, and inspire the next generation of net-zero pioneers.

What is required to make energy infrastructure – particularly gas, CO₂ and heat networks – fit for the future and capable of actively contributing to the energy transition? This central question was the focus of the NEFI Technology Talk, which took place on June 2^nd, 2025 at Technical University of Leoben (Chair of Energy Network Technology), in cooperation with Green Tech Valley. Experts from academia and practice engaged in an in-depth discussion, drawing on insights from the latest Green Tech Radar, which explores key topics of the energy transition regularly, analysing both the current state of research and the potential for future developments.

How can industrial transformation be successfully achieved? Which technologies deliver real impact – and how can research, business, and policy work together to shape change? The event "Industry Impulses" on March 27^th, 2025, in Vienna provided answers to these questions. As part of the FTI Initiative for Industrial Transformation, the Climate and Energy Fund invited participants to exchange ideas – featuring top-class experts, practical project examples, and exciting insights from the NEFI+ innovation lab.

Josef Steinegger (Technical University of Leoben, Chair of Energy Network Technology) was honoured with the Raphael Bointner Award for the best paper in the field of "Energy in Buildings/Neighbourhoods" at the 14^th International Conference on Energy Economics at TU Wien (IEWT 2025). This prestigious recognition marks a significant achievement for Josef Steinegger and the entire team at the Chair of Energy Network Technology at the Technical University of Leoben.

The research project Industry4Redispatch (I4RD) has reached a significant milestone with the successful execution of a large-scale demonstration. During this demonstration, redispatch activation was tested at four Austrian industrial sites. Participants in the test phase included major companies such as MONDI and voestalpine Stahl, as well as medium-sized enterprises like Wiesbauer Wien and a “Virtual Power Plant” (VPP) operated by Siemens and Energie Kompass, where multiple facilities were pooled to collectively provide flexibility.

We need more energy in the future but less CO₂. Direct current aims to make both possible.

By 2030, global energy demand will increase by 30%. The challenge lies in meeting this growing demand without burning fossil fuels, says Hartwig Stemmberger, Manager at Eaton Technologies, during the NEFI (New Energy for Industry) conference in Vienna. However, existing energy grids are already reaching their limits, and expansion projects in Europe often take decades. For him, a viable approach is the expansion of DC in industry.