The recent inauguration of the Windpark Curslack at the end of October provides new possibilities for the researchers engaged in the projects surrounding NEW 4.0: It is the first wind farm to collaborate with a university research centre. This means that a wind farm is available to the Technology Centre Energy Campus of the Competence Centre for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency (CC4E) of HAW Hamburg, one kilometre away, enabling it to run joint wind energy research projects together with companies during real-time operations.

The five wind turbines have a total output of 12.6 MW and a capacity of 35 GWh per year.This means they can supply up to 15,000 households with electricity. Among other things, the researchers will be investigating plant operation, effective grid integration and energy storage as well as the potential for improving the efficiency and the life span of the wind turbines. But the coupling of sectors is what is of critical importance for a successful energy transition in the North of Germany. This is why, at the location of Hamburg-Curslack, the use of wind power for purposes of transport and heat supply as well as hydrogen production is being investigated.

One of the other research projects within the scope of NEW 4.0 focusses on the possibilities to stabilize the electricity grid in times of increasing shares of fluctuating renewable energies by ancillary services like fast primary reserve as well as reactive power: A lithium-ion storage unit was connected to the wind farm to create a virtual power plant. Its bank of batteries with a capacity of 792 kWh and 720 kW electrical power is to even out grid fluctuations in future through the provision of standby power. The research on the "storage power plant Curslack", funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), will provide more valuable information about energy supply with renewable energies - and help to make the energy transition in the German north a successful endeavour.