Annual report on research funding in the renewable energies sector
According to the annual report on research funding published today by the Federal Environment Ministry, more than 118 new research projects with a total volume of more than 98 million euro were approved in the renewable energies sector last year.
"With this targeted and consistent research funding we are strengthening the international leading position of German companies and research institutes in the renewable energies sector. This market is growing rapidly worldwide. Funding research is therefore an important aspect of our ecological industrial policy. Not only are renewable energies climate-friendly, they are also unlimited. By making use of renewable energies we can significantly reduce our dependency on energy imports. To this end we have to continue to reduce costs and to provide and use renewable energies on an industrial scale. The conditions are favourable: renewable energies still have a vast potential for innovation which we should tap. We have therefore significantly increased the funding of research in recent years and will continue to do so in future" said Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel.
33% of the newly approved funding was allocated to photovoltaics, 24% to geothermal energy and approximately 16% to wind power. In addition, projects were approved in the areas of solar thermal power stations (7%) and low temperature solar thermal heating (5%).
Examples for outstanding projects are:
A cooperation of Q-Cells AG, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (FhG-ISE) and the Institute for Solar Energy Research Hameln (ISFH) developed a cell design with back surface contacts with an efficiency of 21%. It is planned to start pilot production of this internationally pioneering technology before the end of the year.
The Fraunhofer-Center für Windenergie und Meerestechnik (CWMT, centre for wind energy and maritime engineering) is establishing the "Kompetenzzentrum Rotorblatt" (rotor blade centre of excellence) in Bremerhaven. The aim of the centre is to replace costly tests with original rotor blades with tests on models and computer simulations. This will strengthen the competitiveness of the German wind power plant industry.
The companies Herrenknecht Vertical and Anger and the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ), Germany's National Research Centre for Geosciences, succeeded in jointly developing a new rig for deep geothermal drilling. The drilling rig is made up of modules, works in a very cost-efficient way and meets high safety and environmental standards. The low noise emissions are a special advantage as geothermal drilling often takes place in the vicinity of residential areas.