Quick profile
In 2018, the FH Westküste University of Applied Sciences in Heide brought together its competence in the field of energy policy transition in the Institute for the Transformation of the Energy System (ITE), where in particular interdisciplinary tasks can be handled appropriately. The fields of Sector Integration, Building Services Engineering, Grid Integration, Energy Transition Law and Business and Society are represented by six professorships. The development of the Institute and a Technology Park is being promoted by the State Government, with 3.2 million euros from the European Fund for Regional Development being deployed, as “Campus100”. The University of Applied Sciences furthermore offers two courses of study which are specifically geared to the energy transition: a Bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Building System Technology and a Master’s degree in Green Energy.
Activities in the real-world laboratory
The Institute for the Transformation of the Energy System (ITE) is focused, in the project, on the overall system integration and the socio-economic questions. Overall system integration means that various industrial enterprises now collaborate in a recycling system beyond the classic production chain (supply chain), and, in the process need to ensure that the material and energy flows are aligned with one another, and with market requirements. This poses new technical and business management requirements on resource planning and on the forms of co-operation at management level. The focus of the ITE here will be to assist in developing the scaling concept and – as a neutral entity – balanced business models.
The socio-economic questions concern the processing of technical, social and political processes, in the transformation of the energy system, in the medium and long term, as well as the legal, economic and educational measures to be derived from the latter.
“Replacing fossil fuels by fossil-free and renewable energy careers is one of the biggest and most important challenges of the 21st century. This transformation will not only change the economy but also society. To accompany this change and provide solutions for the challenges along the way is why we engage in the real-world laboratory WESTKÜSTE100.”
Long-term vision
The “WESTKÜSTE100” project is one of the approaches to the further development of the German industrial society with regard to climate change and energy transition. That means that in addition to science, industry, crafts, training and education also always need to form a framework in which the visions can be implemented. The Institute for the Transformation of the Energy System is the scientific core around which a Campus100 is to emerge as a hydrogen-focused industrial park with a manufacturing site, SMEs, vocational and academic training and education, and a start-up community in the vicinity of the refinery. The prerequisites for that at the site are ideal.