Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christof Wittwer is the Director of the Business Area "System Integration" at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) in Freiburg, Germany. Since 2014, he has also held an honorary professorship at the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Freiburg.
In 2003, Wittwer established the "Operation Management and System Control" working group at Fraunhofer ISE, taking on responsibilities for personnel and finances. The unit expanded rapidly and evolved into a department focused on distributed energy systems and grid integration by 2010. In 2019, he became the Director of the Business Division "Power Electronics, Grids and Smart Systems" within the Division of Energy Technology and Systems. In 2023, he assumed leadership of the Business Area "System Integration," where he is responsible for overarching program management.
Smart Grids – Digitalisation of the Energy System
In his presentation, Christof Wittwer examines the digital transformation of the energy system as a key to decarbonisation. The focus is on smart grids—intelligent networks that connect millions of producers, storage units, and consumers, enabling their flexible control through modern communication technologies.
Using current practical examples from research, he demonstrates how energy supply systems can be operated intelligently and how data centres can be smartly integrated into the energy system.