The aim of the NRW state government is to make North Rhine-Westphalia the number one state for innovation. Clusters play a special role here, as, thanks to the physical and thematic focussing of know-how and experience, they bring innovations to the market faster.
Solar thermal trial and demonstration power plant
EnergyIndustry.NRW - In Jülich, a trial and demonstration solar thermal power plant is being constructed - the first of its kind in the world. The solar tower power plant has an electrical output of 1.5 MW and is due to go into operation in November 2008. The plant is operated by the City Works Jülich.
Mechanical Engineering Competence in North Rhine-Westphalia – Top Rank in 2020
ProductionNRW - Which megatrends will influence mechanical engineering and plant construction by 2020? How will companies position themselves successfully? Which criteria will successful companies take into account? What requirements will arise from the political and social context? These questions and many others are considered by the study “Mechanical Engineering Competence in North Rhine-Westphalia – Top Rank in 2020”. The state cluster ProductionNRW commissioned the Machine Tool Laboratory (WZL) of the RWTH Aachen University to carry out the study.
Powitec earns Innovation Award for Climate and Environment
EcoTechnologies.NRW - On 11 February 2010 in Berlin, German companies and research institutes were honoured for the first time with the Innovation Award for Climate and Environment (IKU). The German Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federation of German Industries (BDI) joined in recognising innovations which unite cost-effectiveness with both climate and environmental protection in an exemplary manner. A high-calibre ten-member jury chaired by Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer (former German Federal Minister for the Environment and former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme) selected the winners. The Fraunhofer Institute for System and Innovation Research (ISI) in Karlsruhe performed the scientific assessment.
New Steel Body
AutoCluster.NRW, Production.NRW - The NSB project is a conceptual study for vehicle bodywork and has been realised to provide automobile manufacturers with new opportunities for exploiting the potentials of lightweight steel construction. The NSB combines the advantages of profile construction with elements of classic shell construction and the use of modern multiphase steels.
New standards for decentralised energy supply
CEF.NRW - The advantages of a decentralised energy supply are obvious: proximity to the end user enables short transmission paths, thereby minimising losses. Regenerative energies can also be used in decentralised power grids. The SMEDEA research project at Dortmund University of Technology is now developing means and standards, such as for the data measured by new electronic meters that also have to be offered to end customers starting from 2010 (the so-called ‘smart meters’), which can be used for the control and economical operation of networked, decentralised energy producers.
