Research Infrastructures
The combination of a systemic perspective, broad research ranging from fundamentals to applications, and unique research infrastructures enables Helmholtz Energy to contribute essential insights to solving the most pressing societal issues—in particular, achieving climate neutrality in Germany and beyond by 2045. The development, construction, and operation of research infrastructures are essential prerequisites for our activities. They also make Helmholtz Energy a sought-after partner for research institutions from all over the world, for universities in the regional, national, and international environment, as well as for companies and start-ups.
Energy Lab (KIT, DLR, FZJ)
The Energy Lab is Europe's largest research infrastructure for renewable energies and is working on promising solutions for the overall energy system of 2050. It integrates research on smart and sector-coupling energy networks with chemical energy storage, hydrogen technologies, synthetic liquid fuels, gaseous energy carriers, and carbon recycling. Its overarching goal is to accelerate the transfer of successful research into new energy technologies from the laboratory scale to commercial application by combining experimental validation in a real-world system environment with real-time simulations.
High Power Grid Lab (KIT)
The High Power Grid Lab (HPGL) is a high-power and high-voltage laboratory for the development and testing of innovative hardware and control strategies for electrical energy systems. It enables the creation of a holistic Power Hardware in the Loop (PHiL) test environment, thereby complementing the test capacities of the Energy Lab.
Living Lab Energy Campus (FZJ)
The Living Lab Energy Campus (LLEC) is an integrated infrastructure for investigating sustainable energy systems based on decentralized and renewable energies. Through the use of extensive measurement technology and the implementation of a data acquisition and control system, as well as demonstration plants for various innovative energy technologies such as PV systems, electrolysers and batteries, it enables real-time analysis, design and operational optimisation of energy systems. It thus provides a complex and realistic design for local neighborhoods and regional energy system cells, leading to the sustainable and resilient development of decentralized systems based on simulation tools for the optimized design and integrated operation of individual components.
BESSY II (HZB)
BESSY II is a third-generation synchrotron radiation source that generates extremely brilliant X-ray light. Researchers around the world can use this light for their experiments. BESSY II is a universal tool for investigating a wide variety of samples, such as solar cells, materials for solar hydrogen production, and quantum materials.
Center for Resource Process Intensification (HZDR)
The planned Center for Resource Process Intensification (CeRI2) focuses on researching multiphase flows for resource technologies and H2 production in order to significantly increase the resource and energy efficiency of these processes.
Gas Turbine Research Center (DLR)
The DLR Test Center for Gas Turbine Research and Validation enables the development of highly flexible and low-emission decentralized, industrial, and heavy-duty gas turbine technologies using a variety of renewable gaseous and liquid fuels, including hydrogen, for a reliable, safe, and CO2-neutral energy supply for tomorrow. It consists of a compressor test facility, combustion chamber test facilities, and a turbine test facility.
More about the Institut of Test and Simulation for Gas Turbines
GeoLab: Underground Research Lab for Geothermal Energy (KIT, GFZ, UFZ)
GeoLaB (Geothermal Laboratory in Crystalline Bedrock) is the Helmholtz Association's research platform for deep geothermal reservoirs. By collecting in-situ data in a reservoir analogue, GeoLaB aims to create a solid foundation for the development of technologies for the safe and sustainable use of the largest geothermal resources in Germany and worldwide.
Helmholtz Energy Materials Foundry and Helmholtz Energy Materials Characterization Platform
Th Helmholtz Energy Materials Foundry (HEMF) and the Characterization Platform (HEMCP) are complementary large-scale cooperation platforms for research and development dedicated to the synthesis and characterization of new sustainable materials for applications in the field of energy conversion and storage.
More about the Helmholtz Energy Materials Foundry
More about the Helmholtz Energy Materials Characterization Platform
Helmholtz-Innovation-lab HYSPRINT
The Helmholtz Innovation Laboratory HySPRINT is a unique research and development infrastructure at HZB that focuses on the production, testing, and improvement of highly efficient, stable, and scalable perovskite-based solar cells and modules in collaboration with industry partners.
Membrane Centre (FZJ)
Membrane systems are crucial for the development of new energy-efficient technologies in the context of the energy transition. They form the basis for novel fuel cells, catalytic membrane reactors, and batteries. The Membrane Center at Forschungszentrum Jülich, with a usable area of around 1,550 m², covers the production of inorganic membranes, for example using tape casting, physical vapor deposition, and dip coating technologies, including a clean room infrastructure for coating in a dust-free environment. Operando characterization of materials and components is performed.
Solar Towers Jülich (DLR)
The DLR solar tower test facility in Jülich offers a unique infrastructure for testing components for concentrated solar energy in an MW system environment. With Synlight, the DLR also operates the world's largest research facility for generating artificial sunlight.
Research Wind Farm WiValdi (DLR)
The WiValdi Wind Energy Research Park in Krummendeich is a large-scale research facility with a globally unique sensor system that enables scientific investigations under real environmental conditions with unprecedented detail.
ASDEX Upgrade (IPP)
ASDEX Upgrade is a medium-sized tokamak and one of the world's most important devices for preparing for the operation of ITER and DEMO.
Wendelstein 7-X (IPP)
W7-X is the largest and most advanced superconducting stellarator-type fusion experiment and aims to investigate the physical and technological fundamentals of optimized stellarators and demonstrate their suitability for use in power plants.
HOVER (KIT, FZJ, HZDR)
The Helmholtz Research and Test Platform for Radioactive Waste and the Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities (HOVER), which is currently under construction, is of paramount importance for research activities in the field of nuclear waste disposal and will be fully available in the second half of this decade.
Center for Radiation Research and Radioecology (CARE) (HZDR)
The planned Center for Radiation Research and Radioecology (CARE) uses state-of-the-art techniques to investigate the effects of radionuclides on biological processes at the molecular and cellular level. It addresses open scientific questions concerning the release, transport, toxicity, and interactions of radionuclides at various levels, from biomolecules to complex systems such as microbial communities and plants, and is therefore of great societal relevance for hazard and risk assessment for human health and the environment.