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In the North Sea, dense installations of offshore wind farms are planned in several regions. The resulting wake effects of large offshore wind farm clusters are of great importance for the calculation of energy yields. Current models often only allow for an inaccurate representation of these effects. In the tri-national joint research project EuroWindWakes, the partners from Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark aim to significantly increase the accuracy of forecasts to enable optimized maritime spatial planning and allow reliable forecasting of power production. For this, Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES has joined forces with its partners Technical University of Denmark, Delft University of Technology, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Pondera Consult, EMD International, DHI and the associated partners RWE, BP, EnBW and TotalEnergies. The research project started in late 2024 and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) in Germany, Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme (EUDP) in Denmark and The Netherlands Enterprise Agency RVO as part of the EU initiative Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP).

The demand of the power grid in Europe is undergoing profound changes: An increasing number of decentralized feed-in points and the fluctuating supply from renewable energies are making the interactions between power grid components more complex, posing a challenge for preserving the system stability. That is why in the TenSyGrid project, Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), eRoots Analytics, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW), and University of Malta (UM), are developing a toolbox for direct stability assessment using multilinear models to capture the complex dynamics of power grid components. The objective is to support grid operators in assessing large power grids mainly powered by renewable energy. The toolbox should be compatible with existing commercial software packages to facilitate integration into existing workflows. The project started in December 2024 and is funded by BMWK Germany, MICIU, AEI, CDTI Spain and XJENZA Malta as part of the EU initiative Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP).

A consortium of eight European partners announces the launch of DELYCIOUS (Diagnostic tools for ELectrolYsers: Cost-efficient, Innovative, Open, Universal and Safe) research project on 1 January, 2025 – aimed at developing advanced diagnostic and monitoring tools for water electrolysers. The project, coordinated by Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES (Fraunhofer IWES), brings together leading research institutions and industry players from five EU member states.

How accurate are wind measurements from dual-Doppler scanning lidar systems? And what is their potential for offshore wind energy? Fraunhofer IWES is investigating these questions together with Oldbaum Services Ltd and TotalEnergies through two concurrent measurement campaigns in Great Britain and Japan. With dual-Doppler scanning lidar technology, two measuring devices are operated synchronously at different onshore locations. They are aligned in such a way that the laser beams cross at a point up to 10 kilometers off the coast – at a typical wind turbine hub height – returning, potentially, highly accurate information on wind conditions. To prove this, two measurement campaigns started to compare these data to offshore met mast measurements in order to evaluate the technology´s performance. As well as wind speed accuracy, the comparison of the measurement methods could even reveal advantages in the area of turbulence measurement.

Fraunhofer IWES, together with its partner companies Tetra Tech RPS Energy Limited and Geowynd Limited, was commissioned by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) to further develop the 565 km² Doordewind Wind Farm Zone (DDWWFZ). The contract, lasting ap-proximately two years includes the planning of upcoming offshore geotechnical site investigations in DDWWFZ, the development of a fully Integrated Ground model (IGM) for the entire Investigation Area and the preparation of a comprehensive Geotechnical Interpretative Report (GIR). The aim of the project is to prepare, interpret and integrate marine exploration data in order to enable potential investors to assess the cable, layout and foundation conditions within the DDWWFZ and assist their preparation and submission of bids within the Wind Farm Zone.

Setting sail for more sustainable, climate-friendly shipping - this was the motto of Windship Day 2024, which was held on Wednesday, 4 September 2024, on board the four-masted barque ‘Peking’ in Hamburg's Hansa Harbour. The event was organised by the Fraunhofer Working Group for Sustainable Maritime Mobility (under the joint leadership of Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences and the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES), MARIKO GmbH, the GreenShipping Lower Saxony Competence Centre, the International Windship Association and the German Harbour Museum, which is home to the ‘Peking’ at its exhibition site.

Three Fraunhofer Institutes and the Korean Institute of Energy Research (KIER) want to intensify their exchange on hydrogen, photovoltaics and wind energy topics. To this end, a cooperation agreement was signed today in Halle (Saale). The Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS, the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM, Dresden Branch and the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES are involved. The collaboration is intended to support the faster establishment of a hydrogen economy and sustainable energy supply in South Korea and Germany.

The year 2024 is characterized by a substantial reduction in federal funding for project research. Energy research is particularly affected by this. A 30% reduction in available funding for new projects is looming, compared to the previous year. Against this backdrop, the Fraunhofer-Group »Energy Technologies and Climate Protection« is warning of a massive decline in German industry's ability to innovate in technologies for the energy transition. Nine institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are organized in the group, which play a key role in driving forward application-oriented energy research.