SmartQuart – A field test for the energy revolution
SmartQuart is the first project to be initiated by German federal minister Peter Altmaier and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy within the framework of the "field tests of energy transition". Innovative technologies are being employed on an industrial scale and within a practical frame. To meet the necessity of energy saving and efficiency that the progressive climate change necessitates, efforts have been made in the fields of the generation and distribution of electricity in particular. A holistic energy revolution yet needs to comprise all sectors such as mobility, industries and especially heat supply. The research project SmartQuart sets out to develop and to analyze the possibilities of sustainable energetic self-sufficiency in a field test of three districts. The district of Bedburg is a rural housing quarter, while Kaisersesch, furthermore comprises an industrial area and the employment of a hydrogen infrastructure. A district of the city of Essen serves as an urban quarter. These districts represent the profile of German district types to allow the projection towards other quarters of the federal republic. To elevate local energy usages and to relieve the upper-level grids, the interconnection of districts becomes necessary. This requires an infrastructure of information and communication that manages large amounts of data. The project is meant to determine the parameters of urban planning, districts and last but not least the sustainable energy supply of respective buildings. The insights of this research are used for the conceptualization of blueprints for the sustainable design of energy supply in further districts of Germany. A unique selling point of this project Is the participation of all relevant stakeholders: Citizens, communities, planners, suppliers of energy and distribution grids, and politics.
Project term:
01/2020 – 12/2024
Project partner:
-Institute of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Building E3D, RWTH Aachen
-Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate EBC, RWTH Aachen
-Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Immobilienprojektentwicklung IPE, RWTH Aachen
-innogy SE
-gridX GmbH
-Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies GmbH
-OFB Projektentwicklung GmbH
-Stadt Essen
-Stadt Bedburg
-Verbandsgemeinde Kaisersesch
-Viessmann Werke GmbH & Co. KG
Funding/Client:
BMWi, Förderkennziffer 03EWR010B