MUNICH & PFORZHEIM, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 17, 2026--
Europe is once again facing an energy crisis, another reminder of just how vulnerable our fossil fuel-based energy system is. Yet the current crisis is also accelerating the energy transition and the adoption of electromobility. The objective is to reduce dependence on imports of fossil-based raw materials and thereby increase resilience. This year, The smarter E Europe, Europe’s largest alliance of exhibitions for the energy industry, is sending a strong and clear message with its new special exhibit Renewables 24/7: Renewable energies ensure a secure, reliable and affordable energy supply every day, around the clock. This message is scientifically supported by a new study from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, which will be presented on June 23. From June 23–25, around 2,800 exhibitors will present groundbreaking, market-ready and cross-system technologies for a 24/7 renewable energy supply at Messe München. More than 100,000 visitors are expected.
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The new study, Cost-Optimal Transformation of the German Energy System by 2045 – Setting the Course for a Reliable, Resilient and Climate-Neutral 24/7 Energy System, was conducted by Fraunhofer ISE on behalf of The smarter E Europe. Based on facts, it demonstrates that a renewable energy system is reliable, cost-effective, resilient and climate-neutral while promoting growth and prosperity in industrialized nations.
Special exhibit Renewables 24/7
The special exhibit Renewables 24/7 – Secure Energy for a Changing World in hall C5 demonstrates how this vision can be put into practice. It is the standout attraction at this year’s event. The exhibition shows how a renewable energy system functions.
The energy transition is a mindset challenge
On June 23, Michael Kellner (Member of the German Bundestag), Ursula Heinen-Esser (President of the German Renewable Energy Federation, BEE), Prof. Dr. Christian Stöcker (journalist and media researcher) and Luisa Neubauer (climate activist) will discuss how a fully renewable energy system is both technically practicable and socially viable. Hosted by energy expert Dr. Tim Meyer.
E-mobility and grid integration
The Bidirectional Zone is the place to discover how electric vehicles can be used to charge, store and feed electricity back into the grid. Companies operating large fleets benefit from add-on technologies such as smart charging or virtual swarm storage, which allow them to achieve attractive returns on investment.
Green hydrogen: the key to the transformation
At the newly designed Hydrogen Dialogue Forum & Expo exhibition segment ees Europe is placing the topic firmly in the spotlight. On June 24 and 25, the Hydrogen Dialogue Summit at the International Congress Center München (ICM) will explore current trends and challenges in the hydrogen sector. The event is sponsored by Bavarian Minister of State for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, Hubert Aiwanger, who will be opening the summit on June 24.
Technology transfer from space
The results of the ees Island Challenge 2026 (BEYOND EARTH) will be presented on the ees Innovation Hub Stage in hall B0. Solutions developed for operation in space conditions can also be applied to critical infrastructure and stand-alone power systems, or microgrids, on Earth.
For more information, please visit:
www.TheSmarterE.de
At The smarter E Europe 2026, around 2,800 exhibitors will demonstrate how a 24/7 renewable energy supply can be achieved. © Solar Promotion GmbH
CAIRO (AP) — The interim deal reached by the United States and Iran to end their war will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and bring the two adversaries back to the negotiating table over Tehran’s nuclear program. It will also give Iran an immediate benefit, allowing it to sell its oil freely again, according to a text of the accord read by U.S. officials.
Besides the new oil revenue for Iran, the two sides are more or less back where they were 3½ months ago — before Israel and the U.S. on Feb. 28 launched their war on Iran, which has left thousands dead across the region, triggered a global energy crisis and shaken the American economy.
Iran and the U.S. will enter a 60-day period of negotiations, and hanging over them will be the question of whether U.S. President Donald Trump can wrest a better deal than the 2015 nuclear accord he scuttled eight years ago.
Here’s what to know based on the U.S. text, which hasn't been confirmed by Iran:
Once the deal is signed, expected Friday, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and the U.S. will lift its blockade of Iranian ports, which should push gas prices down. Passage through the waterway will be toll-free for only 60 days, and the deal doesn't preclude fees in future, according to U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to read the draft language.
Iran’s closure of the strait, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil supplies must pass to reach markets, proved perhaps its strongest weapon. It drove up global fuel prices, made food and other basics like fertilizer more expensive, and helped push U.S. inflation to 4% ahead of this fall's midterm elections.
The deal immediately waives, but doesn't eliminate, sanctions that Trump imposed on Iran’s oil exports, allowing it once again sell its crude on the world market and restoring a revenue stream worth billions.
Last year, Iran earned an estimated $45 billion from oil sales. But it had only one major buyer, China, and had to ship its crude through a shadow fleet of tankers to elude sanctions, eating into its profits. Under the blockade since April, its exports have nearly ground to a halt.
With the waiver, Iran will likely be able to find more customers and sell its oil for higher market prices.
The draft agreement includes language on Iran’s highly enriched uranium, requiring it be downgraded on site at a “minimum,” according to the U.S. officials. But negotiations on the particulars of Tehran's nuclear program still lie ahead.
Trump withdrew from the previous nuclear deal in 2018, saying it gave a huge windfall to Iran. But the interim deal outlines even more lucrative incentives for Iran if it reaches a new agreement with the U.S. on its nuclear program.
One is the eventual lifting of all international sanctions, which would seem to go further than the 2015 accord. That agreement lifted sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program but kept others in place over what the U.S. alleged were Tehran's support for terrorism and rights abuses.
The interim pact also promises a $300 billion fund for reconstruction of Iran’s war damage. One of the officials said Wednesday that the agreement doesn't require the U.S. to pay any money toward the fund but permits other countries, such as Gulf Arab nations, to do so.
To give a sense of the extraordinary scale of the fund, the World Bank estimates that Syria, after 13 years of destructive civil war, needs $215 billion for reconstruction; the Gaza Strip, largely flattened in two years of war between Israel and Hamas, needs $53 billion.
The deal also promises to unfreeze billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets held abroad during the negotiations under a procedure the two sides will work out, according to the text provided by U.S. officials.
The Trump administration said its war aims were to “obliterate” Iran's missile arsenal, “sever its support” for proxies in the region, “annihilate its navy” and ensure it never acquires a nuclear weapon.
The seven weeks of U.S.-Israeli bombardment are believed to have heavily damaged Iran’s missile arsenal and production facilities as well as other parts of its military. How heavily isn't known, though, and Iran continued to fire on Israel as recently as last week. Meanwhile, Iran’s ties with its militant proxies — Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and Shiite militias in Iraq — appear strong as ever.
Neither the missile issue nor Iran’s support for its allies appears to be on the table in the upcoming negotiations. The interim deal only specifies that the talks will focus on Iran’s nuclear program.
The deal calls for an end to the war in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Hezbollah.
However, Israel and Hezbollah aren't parties to the agreement. Iran insists Israel must withdraw from the large swath of southern Lebanon it has occupied since March, but the interim deal doesn't explicitly require that and only affirms a commitment to ensuring Lebanon's “territorial integrity.”
Israel has vowed to keep its troops in the zone, while Hezbollah says it is committed to resisting Israel “until full withdrawal is achieved.” If fighting spirals, it could derail the U.S.-Iran deal unless the two countries can rein in their respective allies.
Israel was squeezed out of the negotiations with Iran, and Israelis from across the political spectrum have called the deal a disaster, directing their fury at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump, meanwhile, has grown more scathing in his displeasure with Netanyahu, even describing him as “crazy.” During the negotiations with Iran, Trump was furious over Israel’s strikes in Beirut, warning they could jeopardize an agreement.
In France on Tuesday, Trump said at the annual G7 summit that “without the U.S., there would be no Israel,” and added that Netanyahu “has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.”
Netanyahu is left in a precarious situation ahead of national elections later this year. His relationship with Trump may require downscaling a military campaign in Lebanon that is widely popular in Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel’s arch-nemesis, Iran, would emerge from the war seemingly bolder.
The Islamic Republic survived the most serious attempt ever by Israel and the United States to topple it, despite their thundering opening volleys of the war that killed Iran’s supreme leader and other top officials. And Iran demonstrated its ability to retaliate economically by shutting down the strait and striking U.S. Arab allies in the Gulf, giving Tehran confidence that Trump won't seek a return to war.
The 2015 agreement negotiated by the Obama administration severely limited Iran’s nuclear program for 15 years. During that period, Iran could only enrich uranium to a low level, 3.67%, which is far below the 90% needed for a weapon. It could only stockpile 300 kilograms of the material and had to sharply reduce its centrifuges carrying out enrichment. It was also put under stricter inspections by the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency.
One main criticism was the 15-year time limit, after which opponents said Iran would be able to quickly ramp up its ability to produce a bomb.
A key question now will be whether the U.S. can win stricter limits on Iran’s program for a longer term. The United States wants Iran to give up or dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Iran developed in retaliation after Trump pulled out of the 2015 accord.
Even if Iran agrees to that, it is almost certain to demand the right to rebuild its enrichment program at lower levels, for what it insists are peaceful purposes.
Associated Press reporters Michelle L. Price and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the G7 summit, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
People returning to their village following the announcement of an initial ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran, check a car at a destroyed market shop in Nabatiyeh town, southern Lebanon, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Tankers and cargo vessels are seen in the Gulf of Oman, along shipping routes linking the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo)
A woman waves an Iranian flag during a pro-government campaign under a portrait of the slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People who return to their village following the announcement of an initial ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran, gather with journalists at a destroyed street in Beer al-Salassel, south Lebanon, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Prime Minister Office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaks on the U.S.'s conflict with Iran, during a assembly session in the parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, June 15, 2026. (Pakistan Prime Minister Office via AP)
A woman waves an Iranian flag during a pro-government campaign as a portrait of the slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, is displayed at rear, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman walks past an anti-American mural on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy, now a museum, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
