The transformation of our energy system towards 100 per cent renewable energy needs good ideas and innovations from science in order to become more and more efficient and ensure a reliable supply. More than 180 researchers at 15 universities, universities of applied sciences and non-university research institutions in Lower Saxony, as well as partners from other federal states, are conducting research into solutions for the energy system of the future as part of the ‘Transformation of the Energy System in Lower Saxony’ (TEN.efzn) programme. The activities are coordinated by the Energy Research Centre of Lower Saxony (EFZN), a joint scientific centre of the universities of Braunschweig, Clausthal, Göttingen, Hannover and Oldenburg.

Structured into six closely interlinked research platforms, TEN.efzn combines the essential strengths of energy research in Lower Saxony and also opens up new innovative fields of research. A unique feature is that the technical and scientific energy research is interlinked with the social science transformation research, thus creating a broad perspective for practical implementation. The aim of the programme is a strategic further development and re-profiling of the energy research in Lower Saxony by 2030.

OFFIS is coordinating the research platform Trustworthy Digitalisation of Safety-Critical Energy Systems as part of the overall project. Together with DLR-VE, the universities of Oldenburg, Hannover, Braunschweig and Clausthal, and the Institute of Sociology at the University of Göttingen, the platform is investigating how the trust of end users in an increasingly decentralised, automated and digitally controlled energy system can be maintained and strengthened. To this end, a trust model is being developed that combines technical and sociological perspectives and is to be used as a theoretical basis for building trustworthy neighbourhood energy systems. This trust model will be continuously reflected upon and improved through practical testing and implementation in a real-world laboratory. By simultaneously considering the individual interaction between people and technologies, as well as the social embedding of technology developments and applications as a collective phenomenon, a technical and social basis for an autonomous, highly scalable and resilient energy system is to be created.

TEN.efzn is funded with around 58.2 million euros from Zukunft.niedersachsen, the joint science funding programme of the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture and the Volkswagen Foundation.