Five days, one mission: Strengthening German-Colombian cooperation for sustainable energy systems

Focus and objectives 

The five-day workshop focused on topics such as energy system optimisation, digitalisation, control, cyber security, hydrogen technologies and the socio-economic aspects of the energy transition. The participants identified common research interests, discussed country-specific challenges and explored avenues for future projects - from joint research proposals to exchange programmes.

Highlights of the workshop days

• Day 1: Presentation of the research priorities of both universities, focus on optimisation of energy systems and environmental impact.
• Day 2: Digitalisation and control of energy systems, including microgrid management and power electronics.
• Day 3: Energy storage, green hydrogen and photovoltaic optimisation; discussion of the political framework conditions of the energy transition.
• Day 4: Excursions to Synhelion and Forschungszentrum Jülich - insights into synthetic fuels, hydrogen technologies and supercomputing.
• Day 5: Presentation of current funding opportunities from the DFG and concrete plans for future collaboration.

Results and outlook 

The event revealed strong synergies in the areas of energy storage, hydrogen, digitalisation and socio-economic research. Both universities agreed to initiate joint research projects, establish exchange programmes for students and early career researchers and further strengthen the institutional partnership.

The following scientists were involved:

• From the University of Antioquia
  • Prof. Franklin Jaramillo, (CIDEMAT)
  • Prof. Natalia Gaviria Gomez, (Director SIU, University Research Centre)
  • Prof. Edwin Chica, (GEA)
  • Prof. Diana Orozco, (CIDEMAT)
  • Prof. Nicolás Muñoz, (GIMEL)
  • Prof. Juan Felipe Botero, (GITA)
  • Prof. Juan Camilo Villegas, (Research Group in Applied Ecology)
     
• From the H-BRS
  • Prof. Dr Stefanie Meilinger, International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE)
  • Prof. Dr Tanja Clees, Institute for Technology, Resource and Energy Efficiency (TREE)
  • Prof. Dr Alejandro Valenzuela, (TREE)
  • Prof. Dr Katja Bender, (IZNE)
  • Prof. Katja Bender, (IZNE)
  • Prof. Dr Marco Jung, (TREE)
  • Prof. Dr Fabian Sommer, (Department of Engineering and Communication)
  • Dr Maria Fernanda Lozano, (IZNE)
  • Dr Matthias Günther, (Lecturer)