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Energy Systems of the Future (ESYS)

Foto: acatech/Esteve Franquesa 2016

Background and aims

The energy transition poses huge economic, technological and policy challenges for Germany. The “Energy Systems of the Future” (ESYS) initiative was launched by acatech, Leopoldina and the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities in 2013 in order to support this transformation of our energy supply. On completion of the project’s initial three-year phase, in 2016 acatech took over as the lead institution for the next stage of this joint project of the German academies of sciences. The project has been awarded funding by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) up to February 2020.

ESYS provides input for the debate on the challenges and opportunities of the German energy transition. More than 100 experts from science and research collaborate in interdisciplinary working groups to develop policy options for the implementation of a secure, affordable and sustainable energy supply. In order to ensure that different perspectives are included in the scientific analysis, the project members engage in a dialogue with actors from government, industry and civil society through a variety of discussion formats and technical meetings.

Structure

Project members drawn from the university, non-university and industrial research communities draft position papers that are subsequently approved by the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees is composed of representatives of the academies and the German scientific community and is responsible for determining the project’s strategic direction. Chaired by Dirk Uwe Sauer (RWTH Aachen University), the six-member Board of Directors manages the project work and represents ESYS externally. A project office supports the work of the Board of Trustees, Board of Directors and project members.

 

ESYS structure (acatech, February 2018)

Members of the Board of Trustees

  • Prof. Dr. Reinhard F. Hüttl
    acatech – National Academy of Science and Egineering
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Spath
    acatech – National Academy of Science and Egineering
  • Prof. (ETHZ) Dr. Gerald Haug
    Leopoldina German National Academy of Science
  • Prof Dr. Dr. Hanns Hatt
    Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
  • Prof. Dr. Bärbel Friedrich
    Leopoldina German National Academy of Science
  • Prof. Dr. Martin Grötschel
    Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
    Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
  • Prof. Dr. Robert Schlögl
    Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
  • Prof. Dr. Andreas Löschel
    University of Münster
    Expert commission on the “Energy of the future” monitoring process
  • Oda Keppler (Guest)
    Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
  • Undersecretary Dr.-Ing. Rodoula Tryfonidou (Guest)
    Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)

Members of the Board of Directors

  • Prof. Dr. Dirk Uwe Sauer
    RWTH Aachen University
  • Prof. Dr. Christoph M. Schmidt
    RWI – Leibniz-Institute for Economic Research
  • Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Henning
    Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
  • Prof. Dr. Karen Pittel
    ifo Institute – Leibnitz Institute for Economic Research / LMU Munich
  • Prof. Dr. Jürgen Renn
    Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
  • Prof. Dr. Indra Spiecker genannt Döhmann
    Goethe University Frankfurt/Main

Working groups

The project members address specific energy-related questions in interdisciplinary working groups (WGs). Additional experts are brought in as required. Workshops, trialogues and technical discussions provide an opportunity for experts from academia to exchange information with actors from government, industry and civil society organisations.

Current working groups

Resilience of digitalized energy systems

Without information and communication technologies, energy supply has become inconceivable. They enable the flow of information between energy providers, consumers, transformer stations and other subsystems, monitor the grid and sound the alarm in the event of problems. At the same time, digitalization involves risks such as manipulation, cyber attacks and defective applications. Energy supply is a critical infrastructure (KRITIS). A blackout would therefore have far-reaching consequences for society. The claim is: Digital energy infrastructures must be both secure and safeguarding. This means that they must be able to defend themselves against attacks and failures and at the same time keep the entire system functional. What opportunities and what challenges however could arise? Who are the main players and what is their responsibility? What needs to be done at regulatory level and in practice? The ESYS working group “Resilience of Digitalized Energy Systems” develops scientific based policy options to deal with these questions.

Working group chairs

  • Dr. Christoph Mayer
    OFFIS – Institute for Information Technology
    Energy Division
    Director
  • Prof. Dr. Gert Brunekreeft
    Jacobs University Bremen
    Professor for Energy Economics

Completed Working Groups

Electricity market design

The regulatory issues in the electricity market today are different from the issues that characterised the liberalisation phase at the turn of the millennium and strongly influenced the German energy market’s current design. Consequently, this market design now needs to be adapted to the new conditions. In view of the likely future challenges, it is necessary to fundamentally rethink the market design’s ongoing development in the light of past experience. An optimised market design can deliver climate protection targets more efficiently and effectively, improve the integration of renewable energy and contribute to security of supply. The working group is formulating proposals and identifying policy options for restructuring the electricity market in order to enable decarbonisation of the energy system by the 2030 deadline. To this end, it is examining the European emissions trading scheme, the promotion of renewable energy and the interactions between the electricity industry and the transport and heating sectors.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr. Felix Müsgens
    Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Energy Systems, Chais for Energy Economics, Chairholder
  • Prof. Dr. Hartmut Weyer
    Clausthal University of Technology, Institute of German and International Mining and Energy Law, Director

Centralised vs. decentralised power supply

As a result of the growth in renewable energy, electricity is now produced in smaller generating units as well as in large power plants. More and more private individuals, companies and municipalities are feeding power into the grid from their own wind or photovoltaic installations. While many people regard this development as an opportunity to play an active part in the energy transition, it remains unclear how the trend towards a decentralised energy supply will affect the overall system. Will a viable new system architecture emerge, or will the energy system become fragmented, resulting in more and more problems? The Working Group aims to demonstrate how centralised and decentralised components can be integrated to create a stable supply system. To this end, it is investigating the technical options, the regulatory framework and the economic, social and policy issues.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr. Peter Dabrock
    Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Department of Theology
    Chair of Systematic Theology II (Ethics), Chairholder
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jutta Hanson
    Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institute for Electric Power Systems
    Department of Electrical Power Systems with Integration of Renewable Energies, Head
  • Prof. Dr. Christoph Weber
    Universität Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics
    Chair for Managment Science and Energy Economics, Chairholder

Governance for a European Energy Union

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement establish the goals of limiting global warming to well below 2°C and achieving global greenhouse gas neutrality by the second half of the century. In order to meet this challenge, it will be necessary to reorganise Europe’s energy supply into a common European system. The Working Group is studying the regulatory, policy and economic framework of European energy policy, particularly in terms of existing barriers to the establishment of a European energy union. Based on its findings, it is developing governance guidelines for a sustainable, secure and affordable energy union geared towards achieving complete carbon neutrality. The Working Group aims to identify the best way of managing this process, as well as how to distribute the relevant tasks fairly and efficiently among the EU’s members and how to involve civil society and the private sector.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr. Sabine Schlacke
    WWU University of Münster, Faculty of Law, Institute for Environmental and Planning Law
    Managing Director
  • Prof. Dr. Michèle Knodt
    Technische Universität Darmstadt, Department of History and Social Sciences
    Institute for Political Science, Jean Monnet Professor
  • Prof. Dr. Christoph Böhringer
    Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics
    Chair of Economic Policy, Chairholder

Bioenergy

Bioenergy has several advantages. Being easy to store, it can compensate for fluctuations in wind and solar power and can also generate heat. As well as being used to produce fuel, biomass can be combined with CCS technology to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Climate models suggest that this will be necessary within the next few decades. However, there are also a number of drawbacks. Unless sustainability criteria are enforced, the cultivation of energy crops will produce greenhouse gases, have a negative impact on biodiversity and soil quality, and cause water pollution. The Working Group aims to identify the best options for the sustainable, climate-friendly use of bioenergy as part of our energy supply.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniela Thrän
    Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
    Department of Bioenergy, Head
    Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum DBFZ
  • Prof. Dr. Gernot Klepper
    Kiel Institute for the World Economy (ifw), Research Area “The Environment and Natural Resources”, Sustainable Land Use, Team Leader

Coupling different energy

If the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 to 95 percent is to be met, switching electricity generation to renewable sources will not be enough on its own – it will also be necessary to ensure more climate-friendly energy production for the heating and transport sectors. This will require technologies such as Power-to-X, which uses electricity to produce heat, synthetic gas and fuels. It will also be necessary to adapt the markets, regulatory framework and infrastructure. Chaired by Eberhard Umbach, this Working Group analyses development paths for closer coupling of the electricity, heating and transport sectors.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr. Eberhard Umbach
    Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), former President
  • Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Henning
    Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Director

Path dependencies in the transport sector

The decisions we take today will have a major influence on the development of our future energy system. In the transport sector, for example, although the existing service station network could also sell biofuels and synthetic petrol, electric cars and fuel cell vehicles will need a completely new infrastructure to supply them with electricity or hydrogen. A system geared towards just one of these technologies would create path dependencies that could be difficult to overcome at a later date. Against this backdrop, the Working Group is drafting a position paper that will outline strategies for tackling these difficult decisions in order to help the relevant actors to address path dependencies and shape the future of the transport sector.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Fischedick
    Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Vice-President
  • Prof. Dr. Armin Grunwald
    Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
    Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Head

Risk and resilience

A collapse of the energy supply system would threaten both the economy and society as a whole. The energy system should therefore be as robust as possible, ideally even “learning” from disruption so that it is better prepared to cope with future incidents. How can we ensure a secure energy supply even when several unforeseen events occur simultaneously? And how does the energy transition affect the robustness of the system? A study produced by the Working Group describes a number of illustrative “threat scenarios”. The resulting position paper contains measures for a resilient energy system of the future.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn
    Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Scientific Director

Consumer policy

It will not be possible to achieve an overall reduction in energy consumption unless private consumers start using less energy. However, high electricity bills very rarely induce people to actively change their energy consumption patterns. Drawing on findings from the field of behavioural science, this Working Group has studied a range of issues including the incentives that could be successfully deployed to encourage private households to save energy.

Working group chair

  • Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn
    Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Scientific Director

Resources

The energy transition is affecting demand for raw materials. With coal, oil and gas consumption expected to fall in the long term, bioenergy can help to offset the fluctuating supply of wind and solar power. However, the expansion of our renewable energy plants, storage systems and grids is causing a rise in demand for metals. This Working Group studied ways of reducing Germany’s dependence on raw material imports, along with measures to help secure our long-term energy supply.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr. Peter Herzig
    GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Executive Director
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Friedrich-Wilhelm Wellmer
    Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), former President

Energy scenarios

Since energy scenarios frequently inform policymaking, it is particularly important that their results should be transparent and verifiable. However, many of the organisations tasked with producing energy scenarios do not disclose their simulation models. Moreover, it can sometimes be hard to determine whether conditions stipulated by the commissioning organisation have affected the results. In order to promote greater transparency, this Working Group developed a series of guidelines for working with energy scenarios.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr. Armin Grunwald
    Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
    Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Head

Flexibility concepts

The power generated by wind and photovoltaic plants fluctuates depending on the weather. In order to compensate for these fluctuations, it is necessary to develop technologies that support flexibility – we need flexible dispatchable power plants, storage systems, and demand-side management that achieves a balance between supply and demand. The challenge is to identify technologies that combine stability with sustainability, cost-effectiveness and social acceptability. This Working Group compared around 130 system configurations using its own simulation model.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Elsner
    Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT, Institute Director
  • Prof. Dr. Dirk Uwe Sauer
    RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA)
    Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, Chairholder
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Fischedick
    Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Vice-President

Incorporating the German Energiewende into a comprehensive European approach

In order to mitigate global warming, it is vital that as many countries as possible should make their energy supply systems more sustainable. Closer coordination of Germany’s energy transition measures and European energy and climate policy can contribute to this goal. This Working Group identified the requirements for an internationally compatible European model, focusing in particular on the European emissions trading system, the promotion of renewable energy and the EU’s internal electricity market.

Working group chairs

  • Prof. Dr. Christoph M. Schmidt
    RWI – Leibniz-Institute for Economic Research, President

Publications

ESYS publishes the results of all its projects. The position papers contain policy options for the transformation of the energy system and are published as part of the joint academy project’s Series on Science-Based Policy Advice”. Additional analyses and materials are published in the project’s own “Energy Systems of the Future” series.

All publications are available on the ESYS project web site and at the bottom of this page.

ESYS in dialogue

ESYS facilitates a dialogue between the different energy transition stakeholders through a variety of discussion formats. The project members engage with actors from government, industry and civil society so that they can feed their respective views into the scientific analysis.

Energie.System.Wende.

Every year, the joint academy project ESYS holds its annual conference Energie.System.Wende. (Energy.System.Transition, link to German web site) in Berlin. Panel discussions and workshops provide an opportunity to present the project’s ideas and results and discuss them with interested parties from different industries and disciplines.

Energiewende Research Forum

The Energiewende Research Forum (link to German web site) is a transdisciplinary dialogue platform. Its plenary brings together actors from government, academia, industry and civil society to discuss policy options in the field of energy research and policy. The plenary meetings are organised by the management committee (Leitungskollegium).

Trialogues on the energy transition

The joint academy project “Energy Systems of the Future” (ESYS) is a partner of the HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform. In the Trialogues on the energy transition (link to German web site), ESYS experts engage in discussions with actors from government, industry and civil society organisations. These one-day meetings serve to explore different perspectives on the topics addressed by ESYS and to highlight the social dimension of the relevant issues.

Expert discussions

The ESYS Working Groups organise workshops and expert discussions (link to German web site) in order to draw on the practical expertise of energy policy actors. The WGs invite between 10 and 15 experts from academia, government, industry and civil society organisations to discuss their interim results.

ESYS conference

ESYS KonferenzApproximately once a year, the project members come together at the Harnack House in Berlin for the ESYS conference (link to German web site), where they discuss the ongoing development of the project’s themes and priorities. The current working groups also present their interim results to the conference.

Further information

Website Energy Systems of the Future
Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften
Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften
HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform: Trialogs on the energy transition

  • Project duration

    03/2013 — 02/2022

  • Chair of the Board of Directors

    Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dirk Uwe Sauer
    RWTH Aachen

    Coordination

    Dr. Ulrich Glotzbach
    acatech Geschäftsstelle
    Tel.: +49 30 2063096-21
    glotzbach@acatech.de

    Communication

    Christoph Uhlhaas
    acatech Geschäftsstelle
    Tel.: +49 89 520309-60
    uhlhaas@acatech.de

  • Partners

    • Leopoldina
    • Akademienunion
  • Funding

  • Topic

    Energy & Resources

News

Berlin, 28. January 2020

Climate-friendly but less and less profitable: ESYS experts on the future of nuclear power

Berlin, 28. February 2019

Academies of science identify strategies for the sustainable use of bioenergy

Berlin, 20. February 2019

Energy transition studies: now is the time to create a long-term framework and technology-neutral incentives

Berlin, 14. December 2018

Academies of science call for measures to support a climate-friendly energy supply in the EU

All News

Publications

Cover CO2 Emissions in a Nutshell

Why are Germany’s CO2 Emissions only falling slowly despite the major expansion in renewable energy sources?...

Published: 30. November 2020

Centralized and decentralized components in the energy system. The right mix for ensuring a stable and sustainable...

Published: 01 April 2020

What is the Significance of Nuclear Energy to the Future of Global Power Generation?

Published: 28 January 2020

Biomass: striking a balance between energy and climate policies. Strategies for sustainable bioenergy use

Published: 27 May 2019

All Publications

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