28th Zittau Energy Seminar

This year’s Zittau Energy Seminar was held in collaboration with our partner, Stadtwerke Görlitz AG (SWG), from November 26 to 27, 2018. The event was organized by Prof. Dr. Schütte. The main theme was “Decentralized Energy Supply for Buildings.”

The first day of the event featured presentations on topics such as tenant-generated electricity, current developments in energy law, and application scenarios for electrical energy storage systems.

A presentation by Mr. Gerber (Digital Energy Solution) addressed the technical requirements for building systems and possible circuit configurations when using energy storage systems to increase the share of self-consumption. Mr. Wehmhörner (Thüga Smart Service GmbH) presented possible billing systems, including a metering concept for tenant-generated electricity business models. Ms. Hartung (OEWA Wasser und Abwasser GmbH) spoke about the legal specifics. Mr. Loeper (Solarwatt GmbH) and Mr. Makitta (FENECON GmbH) further outlined the wide range of applications for electrical storage systems and their integration into control systems using smart software and sensor technology. The topic was rounded out by a presentation from Mr. Hempel (University of Applied Sciences Zwickau) on implementation experience in neighborhoods. Mr. Hummel (Wärmeversorgungsgesellschaft Olbersdorf GmbH) provided information on the use of district heating in rural areas, using the example of a planned network expansion in Olbersdorf.

Information booths run by the companies Rehau, Use My Energy, as well as NWFG Erdwärme (HSZG), IPM (HSZG), and Zwickau University of Applied Sciences facilitated a lively professional exchange among conference participants during the breaks between presentation sessions.

Following the technical presentations, an excursion to SWG’s Energy Efficiency Quarter 1 (EEQ₁) was organized for interested attendees. The excursion participants were given an on-site guided tour of the energy center, which includes a combined heat and power plant, pellet and gas boilers, and an emergency power generator.

The evening event at the Destille restaurant offered conference participants the opportunity to round out the first day of the event with informal conversations in a relaxed atmosphere accompanied by good food.

The second day of the 28th Zittau Energy Seminar focused on the use of near-surface geothermal energy for heating and cooling buildings. On this topic, Dr. Sabel (German Heat Pump Association) spoke about the current state of ground-coupled heat pump technology, Prof. Dr. Koenigsdorff (Biberach University of Applied Sciences) on combined heating and cooling concepts using shallow geothermal energy, and Dr. Schulte (Technical University of Darmstadt) on underground heat storage using geothermal probes. Mr. Gerschel (HSZG), who also used his presentation to explain the influence of geological site factors on the design of shallow geothermal systems, took the opportunity, as a representative of the Young Researchers’ Group on Geothermal Energy, to present the current geothermal research at HSZG.

A highlight of this year’s energy seminar was the presentation of the Dr. Tyczka Energy Prize to Mr. Kapff for his work on individual decision-making behavior in CO2 emissions trading. This award, endowed with 5,000 euros, is presented by the Tyczka Energy Foundation in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich and the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG).