Kassel consortium led by Klaus Vajen receives Hessian State Prize

They received the award on Tuesday evening (November 20) in Kassel in the energy efficiency category. Under the name "E3", the three winners have been pooling their specific expertise as a consortium since 2009 and working together to develop solutions that can increase efficiency in the German natural gas supply network and reduce^{CO2 emissions}. "The Hessian State Prize is a valuable recognition of our work, the success of which is the result of a very good combination of science and industry," emphasizes solar expert Prof. Dr. Klaus Vajen, Head of the Department of Solar and Plant Technology at the University of Kassel. The award also highlights the importance of the Hessian research funding program LOEWE, which supported the team's research activities in the early years.

50 percent^{CO2 reduction}

"With the 'E3 recipe', we have succeeded in reducing^{CO2 emissions} by at least 50 percent in the EAM gas pressure regulating stations we have examined so far," reports Roland Heinzen, Managing Director of Enertracting. Gas pressure regulating stations are important interfaces in the natural gas network, in which the pressure of the highly compressed gas from the long-distance gas pipeline (up to 100 bar) is reduced to a few millibars for transmission to the end customer. A lot of heat energy is required for this pressure reduction. Heinzen: "There are 5,000 plants of this type in Germany alone, and on average they each require as much heat as a small village with 300 inhabitants. There is an enormous potential for savings, which we can realize through an intelligent mix of energy saving, solar thermal energy, heat pumps, combined heat and power generation and other elements adapted to each system."

"Heat transition" with citizen participation

The E3 team has already successfully demonstrated its modular system at three large EAM control systems, where it has replaced most of the heat demand with renewable heat generators. "For our largest project to date at a plant in Ostheim/Malsfeld, we implemented the financing together with Bürger Energie Kassel & Söhre eG," emphasizes EAM Managing Director Thomas Weber. "In this way, the citizens of North Hesse are participating in the heating transition and also benefiting financially from it."

The three partners from North Hesse are now being commissioned by natural gas network operators from all over Germany to plan and implement energy solutions for gas pressure regulating stations.

In addition to the "E3" consortium, other winners were also honored. All of them will receive prize money of 5,000 euros,  in the special categories of pupils and students 2,500 euros each.

Further information: https://www.hessischer-staatspreis-energie.de/aktuelles/detail/hessischer-staatspreis-fuer-innovative-energieloesungen-erstmals-vergeben-2018-11-20/