From August 26 to 30, 2024, the 51st vgbe Summer School took place. Once again, the vgbe RESEARCH FOUNDATION financed the Summer School to provide academic talents with an in-depth insight into the energy sector. vgbe welcomed 18 students from both Germany and abroad, offering an exciting and impressive programme.
On the first day of this year’s Summer School, where students only had to arrange their travel to and from Essen, the schedule began with a meeting at the Energy Campus Deilbachtal. After a brief introduction to the goals, tasks, and activities of vgbe, Dr Oliver Then, vgbe Executive Managing Director, gave a presentation on the topic “Value of dispatchable generation”. He explained the necessity of controllable energy for the success of the energy transition, with a focus on supply security and grid stability. Following this, the students had the opportunity to tour the KWS Energy Knowledge eG, also located on the Energy Campus, and explore the wind turbine training facility. The day concluded with an online lecture by Professor Nikolaus Elze, chair of the vgbe Steering Forum “Future Energy System” and Dr Jörg Egbers, Head of Offshore Wind and Maritime Technology at EnBW, on the topic “Technology status offshore wind EnBW”.
The second day was dedicated to hydrogen, a key issue of the energy transition. Experts from vgbe’s Competence Centre “Future Energy System” delivered presentations on topics such as H2 fundamentals and perspectives, sector coupling, electrolysers, H2-readiness and storage. Afterwards, the students had the chance to discuss these subjects at expert level. The day continued with a visit to the Fuel Cell Research Centre GmbH in Duisburg, where over 100 scientists work on hydrogen, electrolysers and related topics. Ongoing projects and research were presented and discussed in detail.
The following three days featured a high-quality programme of site visits. In addition to the Steag power plant in Walsum, the MAN turbine manufacturing facility in Oberhausen, the CWD in Aachen and the Garzweiler open-cast mine, the visit to RWE’s hydropower plant on Lake Baldeney in Essen, as well as the fish lift of the Ruhrverband, left a special impression on the students, thanks to the scenic surroundings in the heart of the Ruhr area.
During these visits, high-profile lectures were given at each site: Steag power plant manager Jörg Kolibabka presented on “Power plants – from coal to natural gas to H2”, Jörg Freckmann, Business Development Manager at MAN Energy Solutions, explained “Turbine manufacturing – downstream – new energy storage solutions” and at the CWD in Aachen, Professor Ralf Schelenz, Head of Plant and Park Development, delivered the presentation “4 MW system test bench for wind power drives/Prospects of wind energy in Germany and Europe”. The students were given ample opportunity to ask questions and engage in in-depth discussions with the speakers, which was positively received by both parties. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the speakers and their institutions for their hospitality and valuable time, which greatly enriched the vgbe Summer School once again this year.
Despite the packed schedule and tight programme, the students also had enough time for personal networking and enjoyed several exciting days in Essen. Staying in a central location in downtown Essen, the students were able to explore the nightlife in Essen-Rüttenscheid as well as the sights of the former European Capital of Culture.
This year’s Summer School was once again a great success, leaving a lasting impression on all participants. “We had a very interested and motivated group, making it truly enjoyable to carry out the programme. The Summer School is always a great opportunity for us to give future engineers insight into practical work and the challenges of the energy transition. We need creative minds, forward-thinking ideas and a strong network if we are to make the energy transition a success. Events like the vgbe Summer School can contribute to this by presenting the upcoming tasks firsthand to academic talent and providing impressions with our partners that theory alone cannot offer. We look forward to the next Summer School, where students nominated by the vgbe Scientific Advisory Board and vgbe member companies from the research sector can once again participate. For us at vgbe, the exchange with the next generation is always a special enrichment”, explained Dr Oliver Then, concluding this year’s vgbe Summer School.
