Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology

The Fraunhofer IEE in Kassel researches for the national and international transformation of energy systems.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology IEE and its partners in the SyLas-KI research project have therefore developed an AI-supported tool that can be used to create high-resolution synthetic load time series for numerous different consumers. 

Heat pumps are considered an important building block for the heating system of a decarbonized future, as they heat and cool efficiently with electricity. They are particularly useful in an energy system based on renewable energies, as their consumption is easy to plan and the heat can be stored. 

Germany is essentially sitting on a huge treasure trove of unused capacity when it comes to the grid connection of renewable power plants. This is shown by the study on the joint use of grid connection points carried out by the German Renewable Energy Federation BEE together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology IEE.

pandapower is an easy-to-use tool for modelling, analyzing and optimizing power grids with a high degree of automation. It was developed at both the University of Kassel and the Fraunhofer IEE in Kassel. Thanks to its international use and integration into various processes, the software has already achieved 500,000 (partly automated) downloads since its release in 2016.  

Together with its partners, Fraunhofer IEE is paving the way for the establishment of large-scale production of green hydrogen and its downstream products in Chile. The project’s research focuses on the production potential of hydrogen and liquid fuels from solar energy. In addition to technical issues, researchers are investigating the economic, logistical, and socio-economic aspects of scaling up, through which they will also support the installation of a pilot plant.

Digital technologies are expected to improve the efficiency and system integration of additional renewable sources, as well as making the entire energy system reliable, smarter, and more efficient. Future digital applications may allow district energy systems to fully optimize the operation of their plant and network assets while realizing immediate and feasible decarbonization of urban heat supply: With data to optimize district heating systems and new business opportunities.

Within the Research Project “PV-MoVe”, Researchers at the Fraunhofer IEE investigated how to use active switching loss reduction networks for power semiconductors to enable smaller, more lightweight, and more cost-efficient photovoltaic converters.