We're thrilled to announce a new project with Google looking at 24/7 carbon-free Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Traditional PPAs for renewable energy have seen rapid growth in recent years, but they only match supply and demand on average over a longer period such as a year. There is increasing interest from corporations such as Google to match their demand with clean energy supply on a truly 24/7 basis, whether that is using variable renewables paired with storage, or using dispatchable clean sources such as geothermal power. In 2020 Google committed to operating entirely on 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE) at all of its data centres and campuses worldwide by 2030. In this project we will explore different designs for a 24/7 carbon-free PPA, and how their deployment affects the rest of the energy system.

More information here:

• Google’s 24/7 CFE concept
• Google’s 24/7 CFE metrics and methodology
• UN’s 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact

We welcome to the department six new research assistants.

Dr. Fabian Neumann and Lisa Zeyen joined the group in September 2021 from Prof. Brown's previous group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Philipp Glaum joined us in December 2021 after studying for his masters at RWTH Aachen.

Dr. Fabian Hofmann from the Frankfurt Institute of Advanced Studies (FIAS) and Christoph Tries from the Boston Consulting Group (previously MIT and TU Darmstadt) joined us in January 2022 to work on our new project on hydrogen and carbon management with Breakthrough Energy Sciences.

Iegor Riepin joined us from BTU Cottbus in March 2022 to work on 24/7 Carbon-Free Power Purchase Agreements in a project for Google.

We're pleased to announce a new collaboration with Breakthough Energy Sciences with the goal is to improve the representation of hydrogen and carbon management in highly-resolved energy system models for the United States and Europe. This will allow us to carry out research into the future role of clean hydrogen and carbon capture in deep decarbonization scenarios. All code and research data will be made freely available with open source licences.

The project starts in January 2022 and will run initially for 2 years.

Further information:

• Breakthrough Energy Sciences US power model
• European sector-coupled model PyPSA-Eur-Sec

More information will be available soon!

We welcome Tom Brown to our department of Energy Systems!

Since the beginning of April 2021, Prof. Dr. Tom Brown is the new head of the department. With him and his professorship "Digital Transformation in Energy Systems", we, the department of energy systems, will undergo a transition ourselves. Hence, we have many new faces and fresh minds in our team. Have a look at who is new, too.

This summer semester we offer these lectures and interactive seminars. Check out "Studium and Lehre" for more information.

The Department of Energy Systems is a major partner in the European collaborative project "MAESHA - DeMonstration of smArt and flExible solutions for a decarboniSed energy future in Mayotte and otHer European islAnds", which investigates the decarbonisation of energy systems of geographical islands by fostering the large deployment of RES through the installation of tailored innovative flexibility services based on a close study and modelling of local energy systems and community structures.

Curious? Click here for more information.

WindNODE - Das Schaufentster für intelligente Energie aus dem Nordosten Deutschlands

Our department was heavily involved in the local keen and versatile project WindNODE. Over 70 partner worked on 50 particular inerconnected projects. All these labour aimed to transform the Northeastern part of Germany a model region for smart energy systems supplied by 100 % renewable energy sources.

In November 2020 we finalised our contribution, which you can check out here.

Since October 2020 we have a new team member: Kathrin Greilmeier.

She speaks three languages fluently. After a grand tour to Paris and London, where she finalisied her masters in "Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment", we are glad, she decided to come back to Berlin and join the team. She supervises the course "Economics for Engineers"and is a main force in the upcoming MAESHA project.

Since October 2020 we have a new team member: Kathrin Greilmeier.

She speaks four languages fluently. After a grand tour to London and Paris, where she finished her master in International Management, we are glad, she decided to come back to Berlin and join the team. She supervises the course "Economics for Engineers"and is a main force in the upcoming MAESHA project.

This events page is only available in German.