Effective July 1, 2024, Prof. Dr. Andreas Bett and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Doetsch will take over the leadership of the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance, one of the largest energy research organizations in Europe. As institute directors at their respective home institutes, they have significantly advanced and shaped energy research at Fraunhofer for many years. They will now continue along this path together.

At the general meeting of the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance on June 20, 2024 at the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology IEE in Kassel, the members unanimously expressed their confidence in the two candidates. Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Henning, who held the office for seven years, did not stand for re-election. "I am delighted that I can place the strategic development of the joint work of the member institutes in such experienced hands," Prof. Hans-Martin Henning concluded his closing speech to the meeting.

The 20 member institutes that have pooled their expertise in the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance will also benefit from this experience in the future. Together, they conduct research in the fields of digitalization of the energy world, renewable energies, energy system analyses and storage technologies as well as energy efficiency technologies and components for buildings, districts and cities. The member institutes make their wide range of research and development services available to stakeholders from business, politics and society. "The collaboration between the 20 member institutes is an opportunity for future-oriented, socially relevant energy research," says Prof. Dr.-Ing. "By making intelligent use of potential and synergies, we as the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance are achieving relevant milestones on the way to a CO₂ -neutral future," says Prof. Dr. Andreas Bett, confirming the promising collaboration.

About the people

Prof. Dr. Andreas W. Bett is Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg and holds the professorship "Solar Energy - Materials and Technologies" at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg. He received his diploma in physics and the state examination in physics and mathematics at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg in 1988 and 1989. He received his doctorate from the University of Konstanz in 1992 and has been working at Fraunhofer ISE since 1987, first as group and division manager and from 2017 as institute director. His research focuses on materials for solar cells, epitaxial growth of silicon and III-V semiconductors, development of tandem solar cells and characterization methods for advanced solar cell devices. Prof. Dr. Andreas W. Bett has received several prizes for his scientific achievements. He has also organized several international conferences and is active in numerous scientific committees. He co-founded the company Concentrix Solar in 2006 and NexWafe in 2015.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Doetsch (born 1969) holds a doctorate in chemical engineering and focuses on energy and process engineering. He specializes in cross-sector energy systems (including modelling / simulation / optimization), energy storage, power-to-X technologies such as electrolysis and chemical conversion into valuable materials and energy sources.

In 2022, Christian Doetsch took over the management of the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen together with Prof. Manfred Renner. Fraunhofer UMSICHT develops processes and materials for the institute's key topics - Circular Economy, Carbon Management, Green Hydrogen and Local Energy Systems - with a budget of more than €70 million.

In 2015, he co-founded the award-winning start-up Volterion, which develops redox flow batteries and received the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize in May 2021. He has an international network, including through the IEA (International Energy Agency). He gained longer-term experience abroad during a five-month stay at the University of British Columbia (Canada). Doetsch has held the Chair of "Cross Energy Systems" at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Ruhr University Bochum since 2014.

About the institutes  

Fraunhofer ISE

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg is the largest solar research institute in Europe. Our approximately 1,400 employees work towards a sustainable, economical, safe and socially just energy supply system based on renewable energies. We contribute to this with our research focus on energy supply, energy distribution, energy storage and energy use. Through outstanding research results, successful industrial projects, company spin-offs and global cooperation, we are shaping the sustainable transformation of the energy system.

In its market-oriented business areas of photovoltaics - materials, cells and modules, photovoltaics - production technology and transfer, solar power plants and integrated photovoltaics, power electronics and electricity grids, electrical energy storage, climate-neutral heat and buildings, hydrogen technologies and system integration, the Institute develops materials, components, systems and processes. We have an excellent laboratory infrastructure at our disposal. We also carry out analyses, studies and consultations. We also offer our customers testing and certification procedures. Fraunhofer ISE is certified according to the quality management standard DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and the standard DIN EN ISO 50001:2018 for energy management.
For more information: www.ise.fraunhofer.de

Fraunhofer UMSICHT

The Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT supports industry and society in the transfer to a climate-neutral and circular economic system. Our research focuses on Circular Economy, Green Hydrogen, Carbon Management and Local Energy Systems.
We develop materials and processes for the circular use of resources and for the electrochemical production, use and storage of green hydrogen. We also offer solutions for the sustainable use of carbon and develop energy concepts for climate-neutral residential, commercial and industrial sites. We combine expertise in process engineering, energy technology and materials development with a comprehensive view of the challenges facing large-scale industry and SMEs. We provide holistic advice, point out options for action, weigh them up and develop the best solution in each case.

For more information: www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de