The 2026 EnFoSaar Annual Conference Presents the Latest Research Findings on Climate-Friendly Energy Supply, Digitalization, and New Technologies
How can industrial heating systems be intelligently controlled, energy efficiently stored, and future hydrogen networks safely operated? Researchers in the EnFoSaar project—Energy Research for the Saarland—are addressing these and other questions.
With a project budget of approximately 23 million euros, EnFoSaar is one of the key research initiatives in the state’s Transformation Fund. The project brings together the expertise of the Saarland University of Applied Sciences (htw saar), Saarland University (UdS), the Saarland Center for Energy Materials (SAARENE), the Institute for Future Energy and Material Flow Systems (IZES), and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI).
The researchers presented their latest findings on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, as part of the EnFoSaar annual conference on the Rotenbühl campus of htw saar. Twelve technical presentations and an accompanying poster exhibition featuring 20 additional contributions provided insights into research aimed at developing a climate-friendly, secure, and economically viable energy system.
“With EnFoSaar, we are developing solutions for the energy supply of tomorrow. The annual conference demonstrates the diversity of our research and how closely we collaborate with the industry. Direct exchange with businesses, policymakers, and society is particularly important to us,” says Professor Dr.-Ing. Georg Frey, scientific director of EnFoSaar.
For the Saarland, the transformation of the energy system is of particular importance. Energy-intensive industries are facing profound changes. At the same time, the close ties between academia, business, policymakers, and society provide a solid foundation for collaborative developments. EnFoSaar addresses these challenges by linking research into new technologies with concrete applications in industry and the energy sector.
A key focus of the annual conference was the question of how energy facilities can be operated more efficiently, proactively, and cost-effectively. Digital twins play an important role in this context. They create virtual representations of technical facilities and help analyze and optimize their operation. Among other things, the researchers are investigating the intelligent control of industrial infrared heating systems, transformers in the distribution grid, and the use of battery storage systems.
New materials and storage technologies are also crucial for a climate-neutral energy system. Among other things, the researchers are developing thermochemical heat storage systems that can store heat over extended periods with virtually no loss. Other research focuses on sustainable battery materials and the direct capture of CO₂ from the ambient air.
As digitalization advances, the importance of data, artificial intelligence, and agent-based systems is growing. EnFoSaar is investigating how these technologies can be used for energy forecasting and electricity trading.
In addition to technical developments, the project also focuses on the economic and societal consequences of the energy system’s transformation. Using a residential neighborhood in Saarbrücken from the 1980s as a case study, the researchers are examining the opportunities and challenges associated with supplying energy to existing residential areas. The acceptance of new solutions plays a key role in this context. Other research projects address the safety of future hydrogen infrastructures.
The accompanying poster exhibition also demonstrated how closely energy research is linked to the regional economy. There, the researchers presented additional recent findings. Some of these are the result of direct collaboration with Saarland-based companies such as Dillinger Hütte and Saarbahn.