Press / Newsroom

The Fraunhofer Center Digital Energy is adding battery systems to it's portfolio. Prof. Weihan Li, from the Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) at RWTH Aachen University, is joining the center to build a new group focusing on AI and digitalization of battery systems.

AI.grids is developing an AI foundation model for energy system operations. The project brings together system operators, researchers, and industry partners to create and validate AI applications in the energy domain using data from European grids and training ressources from integrated AI Factories.

The three-year project »BEAUTIFUL« successfully concluded with a final meeting on March 19–20, 2026, in Hamburg. The project yielded key findings regarding the human-centric design of workstations in network control centers for critical infrastructure. The primary focus was on cognitive workload, innovative assistance systems, and the ergonomic optimization of shift work.

The project officially started on 1 March 2026, with the kick-off meeting held on 10–11 March 2026 in Aachen. With CloudEnerChain, the consortium aims to develop a transferable blueprint for the secure digitalization of energy networks. In doing so, the partners intend to contribute to a resilient, open, and future-ready energy system.

At the recent Handelsblatt Energy Summit in Berlin, Prof. Antonello Monti highlighted the transformative power of AI in the energy sector. Key discussions centered on the OpenEnergyTwin project and the AI.Grid initiative. Supported by the European Commission, AI.Grid is building a "Coalition of the Willing" to develop an open Foundation Model for the European electrical network.

The final review of the EU-project marked the summit of the over three years long collaborative journey to accelerate interoperability in the energy transition. During the review meeting all key results of the project such as EMINENT, IntMAS and the IntPPC were presented.

While current models for wind energy forecasting are often tailored to individual wind turbines (WTs), excluding smaller or planned installations, the new application follows a unified and scalable approach. Using a machine learning model, forecasts are generated for all European WTs according to the same principle, regardless of whether real production data are available or parameters have been custom-defined. This enables, for the first time, a flexible and cross-turbine assessment of wind energy potential.

This year’s DACH+ Energy Informatics Conference 2025 took place from September 17–19 in Aachen and once again offered a diverse program featuring inspiring keynotes, scientific presentations, and interactive workshops. Researchers and industry representatives exchanged ideas on current developments in the fields of artificial intelligence, forecasting, optimization, as well as heating, cooling, and grid technologies, and discussed ways to jointly advance the energy transition.

A new study by Fraunhofer FIT and RWTH Aachen’s IAEW, commissioned by Regionetz GmbH, shows how the heat transition will reshape gas network infrastructure across the region. While overall gas demand is expected to decline, most pipelines will remain essential to serve decentralized customers until 2045. Coordinated decommissioning, the study concludes, is key to achieving a cost-efficient and sustainable heat transition.

On June 29, an IEC 61850 training session was held as part of the IEEE PowerTech 2025 conference in Kiel. Led by Fraunhofer FIT, the tutorial welcomed around 15 participants from industry and academia. It offered an introduction to IEC 61850 standards with a strong focus on hands-on configuration and practical exercises, enabling participants to apply interoperability concepts directly to modern substation automation.