Resilience and preparedness in Europe’s energy transition: the role of low-carbon energy R&I

Europe confronts interconnected challenges ranging from climate change and cyberattacks to geopolitical instability, necessitating resilience and preparedness as central policy priorities. Resilience encompasses a system's capacity to withstand, adapt to and recover from shocks while maintaining essential functions, whilst preparedness involves anticipating risks, strategic planning and coordinated responses across governance levels. Within energy systems—understood as socio-technical frameworks of production, distribution and consumption—these concepts extend beyond traditional energy security to address complex, often unpredictable disruptions. Effective resilience and preparedness strategies integrate three key policy objectives: energy security, affordability and access, and environmental sustainability, providing a unified system-level approach rather than addressing separate challenges. The energy transition introduces both opportunities and risks through low-carbon technologies, digital infrastructure and new interdependencies, requiring short-, medium- and long-term research and innovation efforts. Recent events—including the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the Spain-Portugal blackout in April 2025—have exposed European vulnerabilities and underscored the urgency of strengthening preparedness capacity. EU policies including REPowerEU, the European Preparedness Union Strategy, and the Strategic Foresight Report reflect adaptive governance efforts. This paper examines how resilience and preparedness concepts impact energy systems and the role of low-carbon energy research and innovation in strengthening these dimensions. The analysis identifies priorities for directing energy R&I investments and derives operational policy recommendations to position Europe toward enhanced competitiveness, climate neutrality and strategic autonomy.