At the Weidmüller Academy’s DC Innovation Hub, the minister met with representatives from TH OWL and the electrical engineering company Weidmüller to learn about current developments in direct current (DC) technologies. These are considered key technologies for industrial transformation and a sustainable energy supply.
The visit focused on the DCI4CHARGE innovation project, which Weidmüller successfully completed in collaboration with the (TH) OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts and a consortium. This research project focused on the integration of charging infrastructure and bidirectional charging into industrial DC grids.
The goal of the ongoing cooperation is to develop new technologies and components and to transfer research results into industrial applications at an early stage.
Mona Neubaur, Deputy Minister-President and Minister of Economic Affairs: “Small and medium-sized enterprises are not only the much-vaunted backbone of our economy—they are the ones putting change into practice. What I see today in Emsdetten, Herzebrock-Clarholz, and Detmold demonstrates that regional innovation and strong university partnerships foster international competitiveness. This is how we secure employment, value creation, and progress in our regions, and this is precisely why we, as the state government, are creating the framework conditions.”
“Together with TH OWL, we have been further developing solutions for DC power grids for many years,” emphasized Dr. Sebastian Durst, CEO of the Weidmüller Group. “Close collaboration between industry and academia is crucial for rapidly bringing innovations into application and scaling them up.”
The importance of collaboration was also highlighted by the academic community: “DC networks enable new energy-efficient, highly available, adaptable, and thus future-proof concepts for a smart energy supply in industry. In OWL, we are very successfully bringing innovation and application together,” said Professor Dr. Stefan Witte, Vice-President for Research and Transfer at TH OWL.
During a joint tour of the relevant research and development facilities at the DC Innovation Hub, the minister gained insights into specific application examples and ongoing projects. With the DC Innovation Hub, Weidmüller is creating a central platform where all stakeholders involved in DC networks come together—from research, training, maintenance, and development to practical application at the customer site.
The focus is on the planning, design, and implementation of holistic DC networks. The goal is to provide users and customers with sound guidance for DC applications. In addition, the DC Transfer Center at TH OWL provides an infrastructure for testing hardware components, conducting training sessions and workshops, and integrating these activities into teaching through experiments and internships. This enables knowledge transfer not only for the next generation of engineers at TH OWL but also for the entire industry in OWL and beyond.
The visit was complemented by an intensive exchange with project participants from industry and academia. The visit underscores the importance of regional innovation networks for the future viability of industry in North Rhine-Westphalia. The close integration of business and science is a key success factor in rapidly transforming technological developments into marketable solutions.
