Fraunhofer Technologies for the Herkulean Energy Transition Project "Energiewende"

The transition of our energy supply is succeeding with more effective and simultaneously more cost-efficient technologies, flexible capacity management and synthetic fuels.

Everyone knows that the objectives defined by the 195 UN members at the Paris climate summit in late 2015 will be difficult to achieve: By 2050 the use of coal, petroleum and natural gas is to be for the most part eliminated and CO₂ emissions are to be radically reduced. A Herculean task for all countries, including Germany. But this energy transition also means enormous opportunities for Germany as the home of innovation and for the technology leadership of German industry in the international market. The Fraunhofer Institutes are bundling their outstanding expertise to make sure that these opportunities lead to success.

Modified and new technologies are now in demand for all aspects of the energy system. This is why several German Federal ministries are supporting the innovations of the "Energiewende" (Energy Transition). The Energiewende Research and Innovation platform, coordinated by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, engages in dialog with the national players in the German Federal government, in business and science regarding the strategic orientation of energy research.

The new formulation of the funding priority areas and the formation of the 'Research Network Energy in Industry and Commerce' back up the focused support of research on energy efficiency. Fraunhofer will be able to contribute extensive expertise to the various research segments of the funding priority area, for example regarding iron and steel or manufacturing technologies.

An award-winning example in photovoltaics (PV) is the Laser Fired Contact (LFC) process: Highly reflective mirrors are inserted in the innovative PV cells as a thin intermediate layer. The layer reflects those photons which in the past could not be absorbed in conventional PV cells back into the cells. They pass through the semiconductor several times, producing more electricity. The LFC process, developed at Fraunhofer ISE, enables mass production of this type of innovative solar cell for the first time ever.

Together with his colleague Jan Nekarda, Dr. Ralf Preu was awarded the Fraunhofer Prize for developing the method. The jury emphasized that the LFC technology contributes to "the continuing successful participation of German companies in the hotly contested photovoltaics market."

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The efficiency of wind energy systems is constantly improving, for example through earlier detection of damage, thus reducing outages and high repair costs, in particular in the offshore sector. The bearings of the rotor blades in large turbines are particularly sensitive. In order to optimize these bearings, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology IWES Bremerhaven are developing a test methodology and a testing station. "We're developing an accelerated method that simulates 20 years of wind turbine operation in only six months," says Christian Broer, describing the subsidized project Highly Accelerated Pitch Bearing Test.

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The Institute's Bremerhaven facility is also home to the world's only wind energy testing facility DyNaLab: The gondolas of the next generation of wind turbines, weighing as much as 400 tons, are put to the test here.

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In the subsidized project SEEDs, Fraunhofer IISB is researching at its own institute how different technologies  can be adapted for local application in industrial companies: The Institute's laboratory and plant technologies are comparable to those of a medium-sized industrial company. "In addition to electric energy we're also considering energy in the form of heat and cold which play a major role in industry," explains project coordinator Dr. Richard Öchsner. "We're developing power electronic converters to couple the various different forms of energy and components." Fraunhofer IIS and Fraunhofer ISC are also participating in SEEDs, in addition to Fraunhofer IISB.

• www.energy-seeds.org (only available in German)

The North-Sea island of Pellworm serves as an example of the energy mix of tomorrow. 90 percent of the island's energy requirements are already being met by wind, solar and biomass sources. Scientists from Fraunhofer UMSICHT and the Ilmenau branch of Fraunhofer IOSB designed an operational management tool for the hybrid storage system on location. This tool generates automated operation plans on the island making it possible for example to use control energy for network operators and to make the greatest possible use of energy from renewable sources. 

• Smart Region Pellworm

The forecast platform EWeLINE makes generation of electricity from weather-dependent renewable sources planable and reliable. Fraunhofer IWES, the German weather service Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) and three transmission network operators are collaborating in the project. The scientists at IWES are using the latest mathematical methods to facilitate highly precise forecasts for solar and wind-based power generation..

• www.projekt-eweline.de