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Centre for innovations for the energy transition: the Future Energy Lab is being set up in Berlin

If companies are to test digital technologies for the energy sector, they need to be able to network easily and effectively with one another. The Future Energy Lab piloting and networking laboratory already provides a virtual platform for this. It is now obtaining an analogue address too.

At a site where industrial history was written, the energy world of the future is now being studied. In a few months’ time, the premises of Berlin’s oldest industrial historic monument, the Royal Porcelain Factory (KPM), will be host to a site of innovation dedicated to the energy transition. The Future Energy Lab will feature a co-working area and a digital workshop. The Economic Affairs Ministry has entrusted the German Energy Agency (dena) with the management of the project.

In the digital sphere, the Future Energy Lab has already seen the launch of several pilot projects over the past few months. Using the lab as a network, some fifty companies are exploring digital solutions based on technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence with a view to creating a climate-friendly energy sector.

This includes the Blockchain Machine Identity Ledger – a digital, distributed index of equipment identities. Using blockchain technology, it makes it possible to connect and control millions of distributed generating installations via smart meter gateways, forming the basis for numerous additional digital services. Another pilot project focuses on the central role of urban areas for the energy transition. If carbon emissions are to cut efficiently, it is important to know how much CO2 is produced by the various sectors, where the greatest cuts can be made, and where this is most easily achieved.

A “CO2 demonstrator” will measure, display and compare the sources and concentrations of CO2 in several German towns and cities. This can show us clearly how much need there is for climate change mitigation in these urban areas. An initial analysis of the findings is to be published in July 2021.

State Secretary Andreas Feicht said: “The Future Energy Lab places a focus on the future. If we are to investigate the specific opportunities digitalisation offers for the energy transition and to catalyse innovative ideas, a suitable location is called for. Such a location is to be set up right here in Berlin and it should be open to all those wishing to contribute to the digital implementation of the energy transition. In our view, it is precisely the interface between the digital economy and the energy industry, between young and long-standing companies, that offers considerable potential for innovation. The Future Energy Lab provides an important impetus to develop this potential in a targeted way.”

At the start of the detailed planning for the conversion of the KPM site, dena director Andreas Kuhlmann stressed just how important a rapid market penetration of digital energy and climate technologies is for the energy transition: “We have seen in recent months how integrating the digital economy and the energy sector leads to promising solutions for the energy transition,” he said.

The inauguration of the Future Energy Lab is scheduled for the autumn of 2021. Companies interested in becoming members of the Future Energy Lab are free to contact dena. Further information and a contact form can be found at www.future-energy-lab.de.