Closing event

Project results presented!

After a duration of five years, the ENsource project, funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the EU, is nearing its end. During this period, not only were ideas discussed and evaluated, but tools were also developed and tested. These tools are intended to enable decentralized and flexible solutions, the networking of generators, converters, storage units, distributors and consumers as well as intelligent communication and control systems with the aim of achieving high shares of renewable energies with maximum energy efficiency. This provides the best possible support for an accelerated energy transition in Baden-Württemberg.

The publication of the results in book form was completed in time for the event. It is aimed at municipalities, engineers, and particularly aimed at planning offices, researchers, energy consultants, environmental officers and many more. The book is available as open access.

The results of the project were presented on 22.02.2021:

Prof. Rade opened the event, addressing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. She emphasized how much the project strengthens the last goal of the mentioned goals: "to fill the global partnership for sustainable development with new life".

In her welcoming address, Minister Bauer focused on the high topicality and relevance of the subject and emphasized ENsource's interdisciplinary expertise. In the solution-oriented approach and through the consideration of business models, the research association had shown a high transfer competence. She emphasized that the state will continue to provide research funding on a large scale for future topics such as resource efficiency and energy transition and has already laid the foundations for this.

In her keynote speech, Prof. Eicker, the initiator of the ENsource project, drew a line from the beginnings of the project to her current research at the Canada Excellence Research Chair for Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities and Communities, Concordia University Montreal, Canada, to which she has been appointed. She outlined the trends for the future, in particular the path from Smart Cities to Next Generation Cities, highlighting the importance of Digital Twins and scenarios for urban development as well as interdisciplinarity, which is mandatory for such work. She made this clear with the help of visualizations, which presented the planning and results in a striking way.

Prof. Hofmann (Aalen University of Applied Sciences), Dr. Steingrube (University of Freiburg), Mr. Sailer (Rottenburg University of Applied Sciences), Mr. Lewerenz (Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences), Mrs. Bartels (Robert Bosch GmbH), Mr. Pfeiffer (Biberach University of Applied Sciences), and Mr. Pins (City of Mannheim) then presented the various case studies and their results.

The contributors to the final discussion went on a short journey through time from the first idea for the project to its conclusion that day. During this journey, they looked at the successes and the balance of research and transfer services that were made possible in particular by the large association with eight universities of applied sciences, two universities and two non-university research institutions.

A compilation of the tools as well as brief descriptions and explanations can be found under Research > Tools and Services or directly here. The presentations of the final event are available for download, they are marked in the following program.

We, the ENsource researchers, were pleased with the large number of participants and lively discussions!