Energy Symposium 2025: Powering the Future - Accelerating the Energy Transition

Patrick Jochem (DLR): Intermittent Renewables and Hydrogen Production in European Carbon-Neutral Energy Systems  

Future carbon-neutral energy systems will mainly be based on intermittent renewable energies and rely (besides hydrogen) on diverse storage technologies. The economic suitability of hydrogen depends mainly on the levelized costs of hydrogen (LCOH), i.e. the operation of the electrolyser. Current insights on these considerations applying the open source energy system model REMix are given.

Samantha Michaux (Ineratec): Modularity: the game-changer for commercial scale e-Fuel production from Power-to-X/PtX 

INERATEC pioneers modular Power-to-X plants that turn CO₂ and renewable hydrogen into e-Fuels like e-SAF and e-Diesel. The presentation dives into the unique reactor technology, the commercial-scale plant in Frankfurt, and the scale-up roadmap. With global partnerships and proven technology, INERATEC is shaping the next era of mobility and industrial decarbonization.

Daniel Banuti (KIT): Hydrogen for the Energy Transition 

Hydrogen will play a central role in our decarbonized future in Germany, including processes that are physically impossible to electrify in our steel and chemical industries, and other no-regret applications such as long-term energy storage and long-distance transport. Research in safety and handling directly supports public acceptance and forms the bedrock of a hydrogen economy.

Sophia Henneberg (IPP): Advancing the Frontiers of Fusion: Background, Breakthroughs, and Burning Ambitions

An overview of the latest advancements in fusion energy research will be presented, covering key concepts of magnetic and laser confinement fusion. The talk will highlight progress towards achieving sustainable fusion reactors and discuss recent breakthroughs and their current and potential future impact. This includes the emerging landscape of fusion startups worldwide.

Theresa Klütz (FZJ): Storing Energy: The Different Roles of Storage Technologies in Energy Systems Analysis

Future energy system designs are likely to rely on intermittent renewable sources, and use sector coupling technologies to decarbonize industry, buildings, and mobility. Storage technologies will become increasingly important to bridge the gap between supply and demand. The different roles they play today and in the future are illustrated using several case studies of transforming energy systems.

Annelies Vandersickel (DLR): Harnessing Heat: Advancements in High-Temperature Thermal Energy Storage

Over 70% of industrial energy demand is dedicated to heat, with the vast majority still supplied by fossil fuels. High-temperature thermal energy storage (HT-TES) is key to decarbonizing industrial heat while supporting flexible renewable energy systems. This talk highlights recent advances in HT-TES, from ceramic-based systems to molten salts, PCMs and innovative thermochemical systems. Case studies demonstrate how integrating heat storage can unlock a higher potential for renewable integration and reduce cost for the industrial decarbonization.

Yan Lu (HZB): Exploration of Cathode Materials for Li-S Batteries

Li-S battery has been considered as a competitive candidate for the next-generation batteries due to its high theoretical capacity and low cost. However, it suffers from a poor cycling stability caused by the “shuttle effects” of lithium polysulfides. In our study, functional metal oxide/sulfide/nitride nanoparticles have been explored as sulfur host for Li-S batteries with significantly improved performance.

Antonio Conejo (The Ohio State University): Rethinking Electricity Market Design: Lessons Learned and Future Needs

Considering the changes in the structure of electric energy systems over the last three decades, we re-evaluate electricity market design assumptions. We highlight important design challenges brought about by changes in system structure, suggest some important principles that could underlie future reforms, and raise design questions that require further research and examination.

Robert Cox (University of North Carolina in Charlotte): Planning the Net Zero Grid of 2050 

Filings at the end of 2022 projected that load on the US power grid would be 2.8% higher by 2027; by 2024, that projection had increased to 15.8%.  Data centers and new manufacturing plants fuel this rapid growth, which will be challenging to satisfy from both a supply and operations perspective.  This presentation will explore this incredible challenge and the role of universities in meeting it.

Giovanni De Carne (KIT): Power Hardware in the Loop: How Experiments can Accelerate the Energy Transition

To achieve the Energiewende, the industry is introducing at fast pace many novel energy solutions. This fast evolution, however, reduce testing times endangering to assess their impact on the energy systems. This talk will introduce the Power Hardware In the Loop concept as a way to accelerate the market introduction of energy technologies, enabling their realistic testing in safe lab environment.

Institute for Technical Physics (ITEP) - Superconductivity

Guided tour of our laboratories featuring cutting-edge research: compact wind generators, high-performance cables and conductors, production of superconductors, and innovative magnets.

Hydrogen Test Center HYKA

Studies on the behavior of hydrogen in accident scenarios. The investigations focus on hydrogen release, mixing, ignition, combustion, and their effects, including complex environments and on industry-relevant scales. HYKA comprises multiple large experimental chambers and test cells, equipped with advanced measurement technologies.

Energy Lab - Honeycomb & 3P-Methanation

Experimental facilities for the production, liquefaction, and storage of synthetic, renewable methane derived from hydrogen and CO₂ - an essential component of the energy transition.

Battery Technology Center (BATEC) - Pilot Line

A pilot line for the industrial scaling of battery cell production, featuring state-of-the-art equipment for slurry mixing, coating & drying, calendaring, and cell assembly.

Battery Technology Center (BATEC) - Sythesis of Battery Materials

Flexible pilot plants for the synthesis of battery materials (up to 10kg) for battery cell production.

X-SPEC Beamline at the KIT Light Source

The X-SPEC beamline is a high-flux X-ray spectroscopy facility with a globally unique energy range, spanning both soft and hard X-rays. This exceptional instrument enables detailed investigations into the electronic and chemical structures of advanced material systems, offering unparalleled insights for applied research.

Insttute of Technology and Management in Construction - Test Hall

Showcasing current projects on the deconstruction and decommissioning of conventional and nuclear buildings.

Building Prototype RoofKIT

Winner of the Solar Decathlon Europe 2022 - a groundbreaking prototype for 100% circular construction and CO₂-neutral energy supply. It integrates innovative technologies such as PVT collectors, geothermal energy, and a heat pump for sustainable energy solutions.

Energy Lab - Overview

Europe´s largest research infrastructure for renewable energy focuses on exploring the intelligent integration of eco-friendly energy generators and storage solutions. Future energy systems are simulated and tested using real consumer data. The facility´s interconnected system integrates electrical. thermal, and chemical energy flows with cutting-edge information and communication technologies.

Microwave Plasma Laboratory

The laboratory develops plasma reactors for the chemical storage of surplus electrical energy and optimizes the associated processes. The primary focus is on the decomposition of CO₂ int CO, which serves as a key component in the production of synthetic fuels.

HEPHAISTOS Experimental Center (HEC)

HEPHAISTOS revolutionizes energy-efficient industrial microwave processes with its modular chamber systems. Designed for material treatment, they archieve exceptional field uniformity at 2,45 GHz, solving a long-standing challenge in industrial microwave technology.

KIT FULGOR Gyrotron Test Facility

Gyrotrons are high-power microwave sources used for microwave plasma heating in fusion experiments and future fusion power plants. KIT operates the world´s most advanced and powerful test facility for gyrotrons, capable of handling input powers of up to 10 megawatts and frequencies up to 240 GHz.

Karlsruhe Research Factory for AI-Integrated Production

KIT has developed an agile battery cell manufacturing process to enable greater flexibility in future production. By leveraging highly flexible, robot-based automation, a level of adaptability has been archieved that was previously only possible in manual cell manufacturing.

Heidi Heinrichs (FZJ): Material Bottlenecks of the Energy Transition – Exemplary Case Studies from a Systems Perspective

The energy transformation requires substantial changes in our energy systems. Parts of the required energy technologies show a challenging material footprint. This could result in increasing prices or even in full material bottlenecks delaying the energy transformation. Within this presentation exemplary case studies will be shown from a systems perspective.

Karl Gerald van den Boogaart (HZDR): The Role of Information and Energy for Closing Material Cycles

Entropy limits our ability to recover materials from end of life products. But there is not only chemical entropy. Shannon entropy, representing our lack of information, works in the same way and is typically generated much earlier in the cycle. This talk shows how the right information could help to avoid such seamingly unavoidable losses using flexible processing capabilities.

Christoph Brabec (FZJ): A hybrid workflow to discover optimized materials and processes for the energy transition

The discovery of emerging energy materials poses a multi-objective optimization problem in a large multi-dimensional parameter space. Massive progress was achieved in developing methods to accelerate solving such complex optimization tasks. We have recently demonstrated for various semiconductors that the combination of Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) and Bayesian Optimization (BO) are most efficient in predicting new materials, identifying optimized processing conditions or even inventing alternative material concepts. First results will be presented that demonstrate that material spaces with millions of molecules can be autonomously searched within few hundreds of experiments.

Wolf Fichtner (KIT): Flexibility in the Electricity System – Surplus or Bottleneck? 

The presentation starts with the definition of flexibility that has been used for the underlying research. Subsequently, the current situation and future challenges with regard to flexibility in the German electricity system are presented. Finally, the need for future research will be discussed.

Sara Beck (Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS gGmbH)) Technical Safty Aspects of Small Modular Reactors and New Reactor Designs: Global Development and Challenges

Jens Dietrich (Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co KG): Innovating Tomorrow! Focus on Industrial Solutions for the Energy Transition

Innovation is a key enabler for a balanced energy system that prioritizes affordability, reliability, and sustainability. Siemens Energy demonstrates its commitment to the energy transition through a strategic organizational setup and partnerships, showcasing initiatives that drive progress and foster a sustainable energy future.

Energy Lab - Overview                                                                    
Europe's largest research infrastructure for renewable energy focuses on exploring the intelligent integration of eco-friendly energy generators and storage solutions. Future energy systems are simulated and tested using real consumer data. The facility's interconnected system integrates electrical, thermal, and chemical energy flows with cutting-edge information and communication technologies.

Microwave Plasma Laboratory
The laboratory develops plasma reactors for the chemical storage of surplus electrical energy and optimizes the associated processes. The primary focus is on the decomposition of CO₂ into CO, which serves as a key component in the production of synthetic fuels.

HEPHAISTOS Experimental Center (HEC)
HEPHAISTOS revolutionizes energy-efficient industrial microwave processes with its modular chamber systems. Designed for material treatment, they achieve exceptional field uniformity at 2.45 GHz, solving a long-standing challenge in industrial microwave technology.

KIT FULGOR Gyrotron Test Facility
Gyrotrons are high-power microwave sources used for microwave plasma heating in fusion experiments and future fusion power plants. KIT operates the world's most advanced and powerful test facility for gyrotrons, capable of handling input powers of up to 10 megawatts and frequencies up to 240 GHz.

Karlsruhe Liquid Metal Laboratory (KALLA)
Research on the use of liquid metals in technical processes. Their unique properties make them outstanding heat transfer fluids, but they also come with specific challenges. Our facilities range from laboratory-scale setups to one of the largest liquid metal loops in Europe, where we are developing experiments for industrial high-temperature heat storage systems.

Institute for Applied Materials – Electrochemical Technologies (IAM-ET) - Laboratories
Research on energy and resource conversion as well as energy storage. Analysis and optimization of a wide range of electrochemical technologies, including batteries, fuel cells, electrolysis, and electrosynthesis. The institute features state-of-the-art laboratories for fuel cells and electrolysis, equipped with test stands for high- and low-temperature cells, as well as facilities for the electrosynthesis of chemicals and fuels, and advanced battery research.

Engler-Bunte Institute – Fuel Technology - Laboratories and Pilot Plants
Experimental and pilot-scale facilities for the conversion of renewable chemical energy carriers, including hydrogen, synthetic methane, methanol, and fuels.

Karlsruhe Research Factory for AI-Integrated Production
KIT has developed an agile battery cell manufacturing process to enable greater flexibility in future production. By leveraging highly flexible, robot-based automation, a level of adaptability has been achieved that was previously only possible in manual cell manufacturing.

In this workshop, we aim to discover the fundamentals of good team leadership. Our interactive session will reflect on your experiences and explore steps to build trust, communicate clearly, and lead a team successfully. We will work in both individual and group settings to develop practical skills and integrate diverse perspectives.

In this brief workshop, you will reflect on your current stage in your PhD or postdoc journey, gain insight into possible career paths, and explore your next career steps.

Discover the art of clear communication in our practice-oriented workshop for young researchers! Get to know communication types, apply Schulz von Thun's theories and sharpen your perception. In this workshop, you will learn how to avoid misunderstandings and convey your message clearly and unambiguously. Practical exercises and role-playing games will help you to consolidate the techniques you have learned.

How can you deliberately develop novel ideas? This workshop introduces tactics for facilitating greater originality in closing knowledge gaps, e.g.:

• Careful problem analysis
• Adopting different perspectives
• Modifying existing solutions

In this brief workshop, you will evaluate your current network, reflect on its strengths and gaps, and explore strategies to expand and enhance your professional connections.

This workshop is aimed at young researchers who want to improve their networking skills and make valuable professional connections. Whether you are at the beginning of your career or have already gained some experience - this is the right place for you!

Learn proven strategies and tips on how to build valuable professional networks. Put what you have learned directly into practice and practise networking in a supportive environment. Meet like-minded people and build a strong network of young researchers.

Using generative AI as a professional tool in academia. This workshop introduces potential use cases of ChatGPT in researchers’ daily business, e.g. for

• Ideation: developing ideas for problem-solving
• Synthesis: analysing documents and information
• Communication: drafting and editing documents

In the workshop, we want to reflect on previous leadership experiences and place them in the context of an opening, appreciative attitude for good cooperation. Short inputs on positive leadership and Benedictine leadership practice will alternate with individual and group work phases.