At the end of November, interested guests from politics, business and science were able to find out about Saxon innovations in the field of energy technologies at the Saxon State Representation in Berlin. Nine Saxon companies and research institutions presented their new products and processes during a breakfast discussion on the topic of "Energy technologies for the global market - Saxony as a champion of the energy transition".

"Innovative ideas and marketable products are needed, especially with regard to shaping the energy transition in Germany. Even if we cannot do without conventional energy generation as a guarantor of a secure energy supply in the coming years, we must actively shape the transformation of the energy generation, distribution and storage system. There are solutions from Saxony for all of this," affirmed Minister of State Martin Dulig. The Free State of Saxony has been supporting energy research in companies, universities and research institutions for years, including with funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The breakfast discussion was also attended by many high-ranking international representatives, such as: Embassy representatives from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine, Poland, Austria and the Taipei Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany.

"I am very pleased that many foreign representatives also accepted our invitation. With around 12,200 employees in around 700 companies, environmental and energy technology in Saxony is an important economic factor, and not just for the domestic market. Our ideas and solutions should also be used abroad," continued Dulig.

The Institute for Process Engineering, Process Automation and Measurement Technology (IPM) was one of the scientific representatives invited. This opportunity was used to present the research portfolio of our university with an information stand. In a short lecture, Prof. Kratzsch presented relevant projects from the field of storage research in the Zittau power plant laboratory.

In order to be able to reliably shape the further expansion of energy generation from alternative energy sources, flexible generation capacities that compensate for load fluctuations due to volatile feed-in from photovoltaic and wind energy plants are essential to ensure secure power generation in the future. It was shown that energy research at the IPM is highly committed to precisely this challenge and is currently the only partner working on a large-scale solution to make the energy supply more flexible. The projects within the Zittau power plant laboratory clearly demonstrated that the flexibilization of thermal power plants plays a key role on the complex path to the successful implementation of the energy transition.

The discussion helped to draw the attention of representatives from politics and industry to the scientific and technical challenges involved in restructuring the energy supply structure and to gain their support in submitting applications for further research projects.

The event was initiated by Energy Saxony e.V., which sees itself as a lobbyist for the promotion of innovation in Saxon energy research in companies and scientific institutions in the Free State.