Open Thor Community Event: Matchmaking for Innovation
Three concrete challenges. One community of potential solutions.
On 17 November 2026, Open Thor brings together companies, researchers, infrastructure partners and other stakeholders around three concrete challenges within the energy transition.
We are looking for organisations that can contribute technology, expertise, infrastructure, testing opportunities or collaboration opportunities to one or more of these challenges.
Event Details
đź“… 17 November 2026
đź“Ť Thor Park, Genk
Community Event – Matchmaking for Innovation
13:00 – Reception
13:30 – 15:00 | Project pitches: 3 projects looking for partners
15:00 – 15:30 | Matchmaking sessions and project discussions
15:30 | Networking
Three Innovation Challenges
1. Electric trucks
How can we enable large-scale charging of electric trucks without overloading the electricity grid?
The electrification of heavy transport is creating a new challenge for energy infrastructure. The Megawatt Charging System (MCS) is being developed to charge electric trucks at power levels of up to 1,250 V DC, 3,000 A and 3.75 MW.
For logistics centres and other high-power charging locations, this raises questions around grid connections, charging infrastructure, energy management and storage. At the same time, batteries, renewable generation and flexible charging could create opportunities for smarter integration with the wider energy system.
KU Leuven/EnergyVille wants to explore how DC-based infrastructure and smart energy management can support high-power charging in real-life conditions. The challenge will be presented by Johan Driesen (KU Leuven/EnergyVille).
We are looking for companies and research partners working on:
- High-power and MCS charging infrastructure
- Smart charging and energy management
- Battery technologies and energy storage
- DC power systems and infrastructure
- Electricity grids and grid integration
- Electrified road freight and logistics
Do you have a technology, research question or project idea around the smart integration of high-power charging?
2. Data centres
How can new power architectures make data centres more efficient, flexible and grid-integrated?
AI and high-performance computing are driving a rapid increase in data-centre electricity demand. Computing racks are moving towards 1–4 MW, creating new challenges for how electricity is supplied, converted, managed and scaled.
One emerging direction is the use of DC-based power architectures inside data centres. Combining DC infrastructure with power electronics, energy storage and renewable generation could reduce conversion losses and enable new approaches to bidirectional power flows and interaction with the electricity grid.
KU Leuven/EnergyVille is exploring the concept of DC-powered AI Factories: flexible and modular architectures that combine bidirectional power flows, reconfigurable topologies, automated maintenance, operational resilience and digital twins. The challenge will be presented by Johan Driesen (KU Leuven/EnergyVille).
These concepts need to be tested at system level, bringing together power electronics, energy storage, software, control systems, digital twins and infrastructure design.
We are looking for partners working on:
- DC power systems and infrastructure
- Power electronics and bidirectional systems
- Energy storage and renewable integration
- AI Factory and data-centre concepts
- Software, control and digital twins
- Infrastructure design and system integration
- Education, training and workforce development
Do you have a technology, challenge or project idea that could contribute to the development of modular, efficient and resilient AI Factory concepts?
3. Low-temperature thermal networks
How can smart low-temperature networks make heating and cooling more sustainable while creating flexibility?
Heating and cooling networks are an increasingly important part of local energy systems. Low-temperature thermal networks can connect different energy sources and users, while heat pumps, thermal storage and smart control can create opportunities for greater flexibility.
The challenge is understanding how these technologies perform when they interact with each other and with other energy systems under real-life conditions.
VITO/EnergyVille is exploring these questions in the context of district heating and cooling. At Open Thor Living Lab, CollecThor provides the infrastructure for testing innovative low-temperature thermal networks, while the development of DemonstraThor will create further opportunities to connect thermal infrastructure with other energy technologies. The challenge will be presented by Johan Desmedt (VITO/EnergyVille).
We are looking for companies and research partners working on:
- Low-temperature thermal networks
- Heat pumps and geothermal energy
- Thermal energy storage
- Smart control and energy management
- Integration of different energy sources and users
- Demonstration and real-life validation
Do you have a technology, research question or project you'd like to test in a real-life environment?
Who can participate?
The event is aimed at organisations that are active in or contribute to the energy transition, including:
- companies and technology providers
- research organisations
- energy and grid partners
- infrastructure partners
- data centre and mobility companies
- technology developers
- public stakeholders
Join the Community Event
Would you like to participate?
As part of your registration, briefly indicate:
- Which innovation opportunity interests you most
- What expertise, infrastructure, pilot environment, technology or collaboration you can contribute
About Open Thor
Open Thor connects researchers, industry and governments around targeted innovation challenges and provides the matchmaking, community and demonstration environment needed to accelerate innovation in the energy transition.