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vgbe Summer School 2026 | more

After intensive preparation, the 53rd edition of the vgbe Summer School began on August 31, 2026.

„Some things are good and will always be good!” With these words we began our review of the vgbe Summer School 2025, and now, a year later, we remain true to this motto. After intensive preparation, the 53rd edition of the vgbe Summer School began on August 31, 2026. Vgbe Executive Managing Director and host of the Summer School, Dr. Oliver Then, welcomed the 23 participants from 10 universities in Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Poland and Germany to a week full of hands-on lectures, exciting excursions and valuable contacts with experts.

At the start, the focus was on the KWS Energy Knowledge eG wind energy training facility—the only one of its kind in Germany. Over the course of the week, there were presentations on topics ranging from health and safety and hydropower to AI and storage technologies. Steffanie Fidorra-Fränz, who has been organizing the program for years, was enthusiastic about the intensive exchange among the international group and the lasting connections with the European energy sector. Many networks have already emerged from the Summer School. After more than half a century of the Summer School, one repeatedly encounters people—both at events and in everyday professional life—who attended in the past and are now firmly established in the energy sector.

For this year’s participants, the excursion to the Walsum power plant was particularly impressive. The lift went up 100 meters to the boiler house of Unit 9 of the Duisburg-Walsum coal-fired power plant, offering a view of Unit 10 and the site of the planned large-scale battery storage project “Steady Green Energy“. The concluding topics/focus areas were hydrogen and CCU, with lectures from GWI and Fraunhofer.

Our thanks go to all participants as well as speakers, hosts, and everyone who has been making the Summer School possible “behind the scenes” for over 50 years. We are already looking forward to next year.

Questions about the vgbe Summer School can be answered by Steffanie Fidorra-Fränz