Energie Partner // Westfälische Hochschule // Westphalian Energy Institute

Westphalian Energy Institute

The Westphalian Energy Institute (WEI) is a central scientific institution of the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences and concentrates the university’s energy technology competences across locations and faculties.

The WEI is organised in different groups, each dedicated to the one of our core areas: renewable energies, energy conversion and distribution, energy use, energy industry and energy policy. The institute employs 20 professors, as well as research assistants and doctoral candidates and since its foundation it has not only worked in cooperation with other scientific institutions in many fields, but has also positioned itself as a research and development partner for the industry. The interdisciplinary work of the institute’s research teams encourage innovative approaches to research and development. The WEI carries out research in the fields of process simulation and process control technology, electromobility, and battery and hydrogen technology. In cooperation with partners from the industry, our research teams have applied for several patents in recent years, thus embodying the applied character of research at the Westphalian Energy Institute. Projects such as the development of a PEM fuel cell-based self-sustaining power supply for sensor systems in boreholes clearly show how creative cooperation between rurhvalley universities is already producing innovative solutions.

Our core competencies

Energy industry and energy policy: The energy industry is oriented towards the “energy policy triangle”. The three elements of the triangle are energy-supply security, environmental sustainability, and energy efficiency, which is not to be confused with a maximum profitability for energy producers. The intervention of the state in the energy industry is determined by energy policy, which defines the institutional conditions (the state vs. the market) and puts in place the structure of the energy industry. Energy policy is sectoral structural policy and thus a part of economic policy with interdependent connections to environmental and climate policy as well as transport policy.
Energy use: In the core area “energy use”, the institute studies energy flows in combination with the use of building infrastructure. The objective is to achieve the most efficient possible energy conversion of the so-called final energy, into the form needed by the final user (light, heat, mechanical work, etc.).
Renewable energy: Forward-looking energy conversion in combination with resource-efficient energy use are the focus of the research core area “renewable energy”.
Energy conversion and energy distribution: WEI researchers in the field of energy conversion and energy distribution mainly study topics related to energy systems technology.

Further information