We do not wait for progress to happen, but instead look to shape it ourselves.
We do not want our research to simply accompany the transition and progress of society, but instead we seek to catalyse and enable it as a pioneer – be this in the understanding and treatment of widespread neurological disorders, the development of future data processing machines, or the understanding of the brain and thus of humankind itself, as well as the sustainable use of the Earth’s resources. An example of this approach can be seen with the Energiewende: we contribute to its successful implementation not only through research but also by acting as an open “living lab” in which new energy technologies are put to the test to secure the energy supply on campus. We serve as a model neighbourhood using methods from the simulation and data sciences for decentralized energy systems of the future.
What action is being taken on campus to protect the climate?
Forschungszentrum Jülich aims to significantly reduce its own CO2 emissions. Back in 2016, a detailed climate protection plan was presented, outlining specific measures and identifying where there is the potential to reduce CO2 emissions. This plan is being continuously developed further as part of the Urban Development Master Plan and acts as a guideline for our actions. A key component in the climate-friendly design of our infrastructure is the operation of our own thermal energy centre.
What is a Thermal Energy Centre?
The thermal energy centre (WVVZ) has been officially in operation since 1 April 2023. At the heart of the 50-metre-long facility on the Süd-Ring road are three combined heat and power units with a total output of 13,000 kilowatts for heat and the same for electricity. About 1.5 million cubic metres of natural gas are burned here per month. The WVVZ can be used to generate heat, electricity, and cooling in a reliable and secure manner. The plan is to cover about 90 % of the campus’ electricity demand, which means up to 90 gigawatt hours annually. The WVVZ can help to ensure a much more sustainable heat supply on the Jülich campus. Compared to district heating, CO2 emissions can probably be reduced by approximately 15 % per year. To become even more climate-friendly, it will also be possible to feed in processed biogas in future. Together with Jülich’s energy researchers, a team led by Matthias Papra (T-MZ), head of the WVVZ, is also testing how hydrogen produced at Forschungszentrum Jülich can be added. They aim to further reduce natural gas consumption on the Jülich campus.
“ExaHeat” Project
The future exascale supercomputer JUPITER on our campus will reach entirely new performance levels. The term “exa-” describes the ability to perform one quintillion floating-point operations per second. To do so, however, the computer requires roughly 18 MW of electrical power. Putting the supercomputer into operation will significantly increase Forschungszentrum Jülich’s energy consumption. At the same time, the supercomputer will produce a correspondingly high amount of waste heat, which it is possible to use.
To utilize the waste heat from the exascale computer on the Jülich campus, the “ExaHeat” project was launched in 2023. The project aims to set up a central waste heat station that will initially allow 20 % (3.6 MWp) of the waste heat to be utilized. The installation of innovative industrial heat pumps will increase the temperature from approx. 43 °C to approx. 100 °C. “This will reduce CO2 emissions in the heating sector by up to 15 %”, says project manager Marcel Sommer (TB-X). The entire system will be built to enable the utilization of waste heat to be initially expanded to 50 % in future.
Jülich's Living Lab for Future Energy Systems
The Living Lab Energy Campus (LLEC) was founded in 2018 and serves as a platform for the development of innovative energy supply systems. This involves testing intelligent control strategies for thermal, electrical and chemical energy flows. To this end, various energy demonstrators – such as hydrogen technologies, lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic systems – are being installed on the campus and networked with each other via an intelligent control platform. This creates a "real-life" laboratory where the various components and their interaction can be tested under true-to-life conditions.
“Our common goal is to develop an intelligent energy system that integrates the issues of sustainability, economic efficiency, and user comfort in equal measure. More than ten different institutes and organizational units are cooperating closely in a new, interdisciplinary way to achieve this, and are making a significant contribution to tackling the societal challenges associated with future energy systems,” says Dr. Stefan Kasselmann, LLEC project manager and head of the Intelligent Campus (TB-X) department.
Energy-Efficient Supercomputing
Since 2025, Forschungszentrum Jülich has operated Europe's first exascale-class supercomputer, JUPITER, at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC). JUPITER will significantly advance research into key sustainability-related topics. These include developing sustainable energy systems, such as optimizing power grids, simulating innovative energy storage materials and modelling future hydrogen technologies. JUPITER is equipped with highly energy-efficient processors and is powered by green electricity. With more than 60 billion computing operations per watt, it is the most energy-efficient of the five fastest supercomputers worldwide, according to the TOP500 list. JUPITER and the associated infrastructure are designed to use the waste heat generated during operation to heat buildings and, in the medium term, cover a substantial proportion of the Jülich campus's heating requirements.
“Energy consumption, in this case green electricity, and possible waste heat recovery were important issues for JUPITER even during the procurement phase. The JUPITER hardware offers various options for energy optimization,” says Benedikt von St. Vieth, Head of the “HPC, Cloud, Data Systems and Services” department, which is responsible for setting up and operating JUPITER at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC).
Electricity Generation from Renewable Energies
For several months now, around 3,000 solar panels have been generating green electricity on the Jülich campus. The 8,500-square-metre photovoltaic (PV) system with an installed capacity of 1.1 megawatts is part of the Living Lab Energy Campus (LLEC) project at Forschungszentrum Jülich. The project aims to develop solutions for future energy systems and test them under real-world conditions. Jülich’s largest PV system went into operation in 2024 as part of Jülich’s living lab. Several smaller PV systems have been installed as part of the project to date, primarily rooftop systems but also systems integrated into building facades or skylights, in addition to solar walkways. The new PV system is installed on an area of open space that once housed reactors. “With a current annual yield of around 800 MWh, this and other PV systems are helping to save approximately 200 tonnes of CO₂ per year”, says Dr. Andreas Gerber (IMD-3), team manager in the LLEC project. As a result, this system is helping Jülich to achieve its climate targets and supporting the transition to sustainable energy systems.
