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ofClaudia Kabel
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shut down
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The “Reallabor Delta” project, which is unique in Hesse, is intended to sound out how climate targets can be achieved. The City of Darmstadt, TU, University, Merck, Entega, Heag and EAD work together.
How to get the climate crisis under control and to achieve the energy turnaround is to be researched and tested in practice in Darmstadt over the next five years. For this purpose, a consortium of 25 companies, facilities and institutions from industry, education and the city has come together in Darmstadt to form the “Reallabor Delta”. The project was selected by the federal government from among 90 applicants and is one of 20 real-world laboratories for the energy transition. It is the only one of its kind in Hessen. According to Andreas Feicht, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, all real-world laboratories should “serve as blueprints for other regions”.
The project manager and vice president of the Technical University (TU) Darmstadt, Jens Schneider, even sees Delta as “the key to the energy transition”, as he said on Tuesday during the opening event. There is a lot of talk about renewable energies, said Schneider. However, little attention is paid to the increase in efficiency, i.e. the use of available energy, which is currently simply fizzling out.
The project
Delta is one of the 20 winners of the ideas competition for real laboratories of the energy transition from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. It is the only real laboratory in Hessen.
Reallabore implement pioneering projects on an industrial scale. They should advance the energy transition. The aim is to develop the concepts under real conditions to such an extent that they can be transferred to other districts and cities.
First results should be available in one to two years. All trials should be implemented and tested by 2026.
14 500 tons of CO2 should be saved annually by Delta. This corresponds to the CO2 footprint of 1,600 people in Darmstadt. cka
Info under: www.delta-darmstadt.de
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With the aim of reducing CO2, not only new technologies for saving but also synergy effects should be tested under real conditions. For example, could the waste heat from supermarkets be used to heat residential areas? Could photovoltaic systems be installed in parking garages that charge the parked e-cars straight away using an energy storage device and gas pumps?
As part of the research project at the waste-to-energy plant in Darmstadt, the infrastructure for the production and use of hydrogen is to be set up. The aim is to convert the vehicle fleet of the municipal waste disposal company EAD to hydrogen; surpluses could be fed into the gas network of the energy supplier Entega. The pharmaceutical company Merck wants to explore on its premises how excess heat can be used and new sources of waste heat can be integrated. The building association, which, like Merck, Entega and EAD, belongs to the consortium, is hoping to find solutions to renovate its existing buildings in a climate-friendly manner. And in the new Ludwigshöhviertel quarter, the optimal use of conventional building materials and the use of central building technology systems are to be tested. At Delta, start-ups with smart ideas should also have a chance: For example, the company Smart-Klima: “We will equip model apartments of the building association with our modular system and prove that you can save 60 percent energy in old buildings with very simple means” said managing director Georg Meyer. The aim is to reduce insulation losses by reducing moisture in parts of the building.
The Delta project idea was developed in the TU’s ETA laboratory factory, founded in 2016 on the Lichtwiese campus. According to Nicole Saenger, Vice President of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, which is also involved, a central component is to be the establishment of an energy academy that brings together the actors in the project. In addition, work will be carried out on various topics at temporary locations, such as mobility or consumption. Because the project should involve the entire urban society and work on all levels.
The project volume is 110 million euros, 40 million euros subsidy would come from the federal government, said Mayor Jochen Partsch (Greens). He was pleased that the real laboratory could be brought into town. Darmstadt, which has already been recognized five times as a city of the future, has already developed “into something like the secret capital of the energy transition”. The city and politicians will support the project with all their might.
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