Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology

The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU is an innovation driver in production technology. We tap potentials for competitive production in important branches of industry. The focus is on components, processes, methods and the associated complex machine systems and their interaction with people - the entire factory.

IWU has been working in the field of energy and resource efficiency for more than 15 years. We develop solutions to reduce the energy consumption of components, machines, plants and entire factories and to make them more flexible. Especially in connection with factory planning and production planning/control, this makes us the leading institute for resource-efficient production. Starting with the integration of electrical energy storage into production systems, we began working with DC technology in 2012. Currently, we are continuing to work on storage integration in our ESiP project (Energy Storage in Production) and are building a DC grid at our test facility in Chemnitz. This is part of infrastructure, which serves as a testbed for future-oriented renewable energy supply and energy storage also using hydrogen. The aim is to develop strategies to switch the entire energy supply and consumption in factories to DC.