Coordination of research
Collaborative research is the best way to to meet new challenges by combining the specific know-how and financial resources of manufacturers and operators of plants for the generation and storage of electricity and heat, universities, research institutes and the public sector.
We are organising research in the following areas
vgbe offers a neutral platform for cooperation for the joint research of its member companies. All research activities are controlled by the experts of the member companies organised in the vgbe committees. The committees formulate the need for research in the respective fields of work or review external research proposals with regard to their practical relevance and short- and medium-term practicability in plant operation. Project processing and the transfer of results are monitored by the committees.
The projects are mainly financed by levies from member companies. In addition to project-related levies on individual member companies, a general research levy is charged to the ordinary member companies, the use of which is decided by the vgbe Executive Board on a project-related basis. However, public funds also contribute significantly to the financing.
Community research projects are mostly funded through the vgbe RESEARCH FOUNDATION. The research activities for nuclear power plants are contract research closely linked to plant operation and decommissioning.
vgbe RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Foundation purpose
The vgbe RESEARCH FOUNDATION was founded in 1970 for the joint research of power and heat generators. It is a foundation under private law and pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes. Since then, about 450 research projects with a total volume of over 275 million have been carried out within the framework of vgbe’s research programme.
Organisation
The Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees are the organs of the foundation. The chairman of vgbe, currently Dr Georgios Stamatelopoulos, is also chairman of the foundation’s board. The board of trustees consists of ten members:
- the chairman of vgbe,
- the first vice-chairman of vgbe,
- the second vice-chairman of vgbe,
- the chairman of the Technical Advisory Board of vgbe, the chairman of the Technical Advisory Board of vgbe,
- the chairperson of the vgbe Scientific Advisory Board,
- two representatives of the manufacturing industry,
- three representatives of science.
The vgbe office administers the foundation. The Executive Managing Director of vgbe, currently Dr Oliver Then, is also responsible for the management of the foundation.
vgbe Innovation Award
The vgbe RESEARCH FOUNDATION annually honours outstanding achievements of young university graduates from all fields of power and heat generation and storage with the vgbe Innovation Award.
vgbe Research Projects
WeSt Welding strategies for nickel-austenite weldments, expansion static aging of dissimailar joints
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
426 | 2019-2025 |
GreenDEALCO2
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
439 | 2021-2024 | EU – RFCS (Research Fund for Coal & Steel) |
Creep fatigue deformation interaction
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
446 | 2021-2024 | BMWK – IGF project via Research Foundation |
Component behaviour 2038 (Follow up 389)
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
448 | 2021-2024 | Special Contribution from vgbe members |
SOPWICO (Icing III, Follow-up 401)
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
451 | 2022-2025 | Research levy |
Salts under coatings II
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
452 | 2022-2024 | Research levy |
ETIP Hydropower
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
453 | 2022-2025 | EU – Horizon (Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply) |
Scatter band analysis P91
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
454 | 2022-2025 | BMWK – IGF project via Research Foundation |
REliable REinforcement Learning for sustainable energY systems - RELY
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
456 | 2023-2025 | BMK Österreich |
Salts under coatings IV
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
457 | 2023-2027 | Research levy |
HyPower
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
458 | 2023-2026 | BMWK – 7th Energy Research Program + Special Contributions |
RL4Flexibility
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
459 | 2024-2025 | Research Foundation |
Verbesserung pneumatischer Förderung
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
460 | 2024-2026 | BMWK – IGF project via Research Foundation |
ReHydro
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
461 | 2024-2028 | EU – Horizon (Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply) |
Realistic performance criteria for Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
462 | 2024 | Research levy |
CORAL
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
463 | 2024-2028 | EU – RFCS (Research Fund for Coal & Steel) |
Energy systems design in terms of CRM
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
464 | 2024-2025 | Research Foundation |
STOR-HY
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
465 | 2024-2028 | EU – Horizon (Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply) |
PV in recultivated coal mines
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
466 | 2024 | GIZ |
Small Modular Reactors
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
467 | 2025-2027 | Research levy |
Offshore wind energy in Germany
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
468 | 2025-2026 | Research levy |
LIFE24-ENV-LV-LIFE RiverFlow
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
469 | 2025-2029 | EU – Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) |
Highway
No | Duration of projects | Funding |
|---|---|---|
470 | 2025-2029 | EU – RFCS (Research Fund for Coal & Steel) |
(Last update 05/2025)
