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Sunset at the North Campus © Roland Baege​/​TU Dortmund
Important Questions for the Future

7th Future Dialog Focuses on the Challenges of the Energy Transition

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The picture shows Dr. Hendrik Neumann in a black jaquette with a white shirt. He is holding his hands pressed flat together at the height of his chest. The head of a person can be seen blurred at the bottom left of the picture. © Oliver Schaper​/​TU Dortmund
Dr. Hendrik Neumann, CTO at Amprion GmbH, spoke about shaping a climate-neutral energy system.
On 29 January, Dr. Hendrik Neumann, alumnus of TU Dortmund University and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) at Amprion GmbH, one of the four transmission system operators in Germany, was a guest at his alma mater. He spoke about the challenges of the energy transition and how Amprion wants to prepare the electricity grid for a climate-neutral energy system. The Future Dialog offers companies from the region the opportunity to illuminate current issues from their perspective and in the context of the university that are important for the future as well as exchange thoughts and ideas with students, researchers and staff of TU Dortmund University. The Center for Entrepreneurship & Transfer (CET) is responsible for organizing the event series.

Amprion GmbH has its headquarters in Dortmund and operates around 11,000 kilometers of power lines that transport high-voltage electricity over an area extending from the North Sea to the Alps as part of the German and European interconnected grid. Dr. Hendrik Neumann described vividly how the energy system is changing along the way to climate neutrality: “By 2045, electricity consumption will more than double from its current level of around 510 terawatt hours. At the same time, we have more and more feed-in from renewable energy sources, while the number of conventional power plants is declining. In this scenario, weather-dependent fluctuations pose major challenges for the electricity grid as far as maintaining system stability is concerned.” There is also the issue of longer distances, he added, as electricity is not produced locally where it is needed, but where there is a lot of sunshine or strong winds.

Cross-sector task

To meet the requirements associated with the transformation of the energy system, Amprion plans to invest around 27.5 billion euros over the next five years in expanding and upgrading the grid both on land and at sea with an additional 6,800 kilometers of power lines. “An energy system based on renewable sources calls for significant expansion in terms of infrastructure. Because feed-in is weather-dependent, the installed capacity from renewable energies must be significantly higher than in conventional power generation,” explained Dr. Neumann, who completed his doctoral degree at the Chair for Energy Systems and Energy Economics at TU Dortmund University in 2007.

To be able to react flexibly to weather-related shortfalls and use surpluses efficiently, increasing large and small battery capacities and expanding the production of hydrogen as an energy carrier play an important role. For example, electrolyzers could convert surplus electricity that would otherwise remain unused or cannot be transported: Seasonal hydrogen storage could, for example, compensate for losses from photovoltaic systems in winter, which in turn produce a surplus in summer. That is why Dr. Hendrick Neumann advocated looking at the energy system across all sectors rather than the electricity grid in isolation.

Innovation potential from the scientific community 

The picture shows four male figures standing behind a waist-high TU logo. A green and white TU Dortmund University stand can be seen in the background. © Oliver Schaper​/​TU Dortmund
Chancellor Markus Neuhaus, Vice President Finance Prof. Gerhard Schembecker and CET Managing Director Dr. Ronald Kriedel (from left to right) welcomed Dr. Hendrik Neumann (second from right) at the Future Dialog hosted by the CET.

Dr. Neumann said that the investments of around 600 billion euros required to adequately expand just the transmission and distribution grid constitute a major challenge, adding that there are too few incentives for investors under the current regulatory framework to invest in the grid. The regulatory system also needs to be adjusted, he said, to the high and dynamic growth currently taking place.

In addition, increasingly complex technology makes it necessary to build up new expertise, said Dr. Neumann, which is why he also reported at the Future Dialog on how Amprion wants to develop and scale up innovative solutions in collaboration with the scientific community. By using drones, for example, the company can reach power systems far more easily that are located in areas difficult to access otherwise and identify weak points in overhead lines by means of thermal imaging. From 2018 to 2021, the Institute for Energy Systems, Energy Efficiency and Energy Economics (ie3), together with Amprion and other partners in the collaborative research project “InnoSys 2030”, examined how to increase grid utilization with the help of new system management strategies. “Another topic we would like to explore together with the scientific community is the use of AI in our processes,” said Dr. Neumann, who has also been a member of the University Council of TU Dortmund University since 2023.

Following his talk, many guests took the opportunity to ask questions and participate in the discussion. The event and a get-together over snacks and drinks afterwards took place at the CET’s new premises in Pavilion 2a on South Campus. Interested guests were also able to find out more about what’s on offer in the CET’s prototyping workshop, “MakerSpace”. The next Future Dialog is scheduled for 23 April 2025.

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