Generating electricity without nuclear power, coal and gas - can it work? With the current power grid? At the 9th graduate reunion of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, the participants experienced an energy-rich double lecture on the energy transition. And the message was clear: the engineers trained at Fachhochschule Dortmund are urgently needed for this mammoth task, and not just since the current energy crisis.
After being canceled due to the pandemic, the reunion took place again on 18 November 2022 at Sonnenstraße - to the delight of Prof. Dr. Georg Harnischmacher, the faculty's alumni representative. More than 100 former students accepted the invitation. Due to this great interest, the lectures at the alumni meeting were moved to the largest lecture hall on campus.
Challenges of the energy transition
Dr. Hans-Christoph Funke(Opens in a new tab) , honorary professor at the faculty, outlined the challenges of expanding renewable energies. In order to cover the demand for electricity, Germany would have to install three times as many photovoltaic systems, twice as many onshore wind turbines and four times as many offshore wind turbines than in the best years of the expansion of green energy sources. "If we want to make two percent of the land area available for wind power, that doesn't sound like much at first - but it can't be achieved without conflict," says Prof. Funke. Social change is therefore also needed. At the same time, compromises on nature conservation or distances from residential areas are just one of many challenges. "In Germany alone, we currently need 13 percent of the global production capacity of wind turbines per year," he explained to the graduates. "But we are not the only interested parties."
Fluctuation, base load, grid bottlenecks
Prof. Dr. Georg Harnischmacher(Opens in a new tab) then turned his attention to the electricity grid. He showed graphs on fluctuations in generation, base load and grid bottlenecks. For many of the audience members, these challenges are part of their everyday business; they work for grid operators and electricity producers.
Prof. Harnischmacher emphasized that grid expansion is not sufficiently taken into account in the targets for the expansion of renewable energies. "Of the current plans for grid expansion, we are currently only realizing four percent per year," said the researcher. "And these plans are not even based on the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy." According to the two lecturers, it is not enough to simply provide more money in order to completely move away from fossil fuels. Technical innovations are needed, as the current power supply is not possible without a minimum proportion of conventional generation. The faculty's graduates will certainly make a contribution to this.
Exchange and discussions
After the hour-long power lecture, there was still enough time for the participants to engage in intensive discussions - and not just about the energy transition. The Studierendenwerk had set up a large buffet in the intermediate wing of House A, which was sponsored by the VDE Rhein Ruhr District Association. And at the bar tables, former students and numerous lecturers from the faculty got talking.
