Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind will be represented at Hannover Messe 2026 in the week from April 20 to April 24, 2026 as part of the TEN.efzn research program. The focus of the presentation is the dialog with stakeholders from science, business, politics and civil society on the central challenges of accelerated offshore wind expansion.

On Monday, living lab spokesperson Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Torsten Schlurmann discussed at the Expert Stage in Hall 12 in the panel discussion “TEN.efzn: Energy Research from Lower Saxony – Rethinking the Energy Transition” together with Prof. Dr. Klaus Fichter, Prof. Dr. Sebastian Lehnhoff and Julia Zilles, how the energy transition in Lower Saxony and beyond can be actively shaped by research in an interdisciplinary way. The range of perspectives represented – from energy informatics and interdisciplinary wind energy research to social science transformation issues – reflected the integrated approach of TEN.efzn.

Following the panel discussion, Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science and Culture, Falko Mohrs, and the Minister for Europe and Regional Development, Melanie Walter, visited the efzn stand. Both visits offered the opportunity to discuss the objectives and research work of the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind in more detail and to discuss current issues relating to offshore wind expansion with the political level.

Until Friday, April 24, 2026, you can find out more about the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind and TEN.efzn’s contributions to the future of energy supply at the efzn stand at the “Lower Saxony Innovation and Research” joint stand of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (Hall 11, Stand B56). The living lab team will be available there for discussions, questions and background information.

The trade fair appearance will focus on the presentation of our ongoing and completed measurement campaigns as part of the living lab. You can find all the information here: https://reallabor.offshore.uol.de/messkampagnen/

In January 2026, the Helmholtz Center Hereon published the study “Cumulative hydrodynamic impacts of offshore wind farms on North Sea currents and surface temperatures”.

It presented a simulation of the long-term consequences of wind and tidal wakes caused by wind turbines in the North Sea, taking into account the strong expansion of offshore wind energy by 2050. In addition to these model simulations, initial scenarios and approaches were also presented in order to influence these changes from a technical and planning perspective.

In an NDR report on this study, Living Lab spokesperson Torsten Schlurmann categorized the results from the perspective of ongoing research in the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind. He emphasized that this early questioning and simulation can be helpful and groundbreaking. The results of the study represent an important aspect under which future research in the field and in the laboratory must investigate and validate the diverse changes and adaptations in marine physical and biological processes.

You can listen to the entire report here: NDR Wissen – Offshore wind farms change air and ocean currents

At the BWO Skilled Workers Summit North Sea on February 17, 2026 at the Bremen Chamber of Commerce, representatives from business, politics, administration and science discussed key issues of securing skilled workers in the course of offshore expansion. The event was organized by the German Offshore Wind Energy Association (BWO), which has established the summit as a platform for discussing training requirements, labour market development and regional value creation.

Expertise was also contributed from the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind. Dr. Klaus-Peter Buss from the Sociological Research Institute Göttingen (SOFI) presented the first preliminary findings from the innovation area “Social and economic issues of the expansion of offshore wind energy” of the Living Lab, which is being carried out as part of the TEN.efzn project network.

The implementation of offshore expansion targets has social prerequisites on land. These include port, transport and energy infrastructures as well as production and maintenance sites, the supply of skilled workers and social infrastructures. At the same time, offshore expansion opens up new opportunities for regional development – if the appropriate framework conditions are created: In coastal regions, there are high expectations to link the energy transition and regional development more closely. However, the link with the expansion of wind energy has so far only been achieved in isolated cases.

This is precisely where the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind comes in: through expert interviews with stakeholders from industry, politics, administration and civil society as well as planned workshops to discuss initial findings. The aim is to provide concrete knowledge for industry, politics and administration – so that offshore expansion not only succeeds technically, but is also anchored in society.

Photo copyright: BWO – Bundesverband Windenergie Offshore e.V.

The German Marine Research Alliance (DAM) and the German Marine Research Consortium (KDM) have completed their merger and will continue their work together under the name German Marine Research Alliance.

Torsten Schlurmann, spokesperson for the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind and active in Innovation Area V – Marine Impact Limits and Cumulative Ecological Consequences, was elected to the five-member board of the new DAM.

The close connection to German marine research is of particular importance for the work in the living lab: the scientifically sound expansion of offshore wind energy in the North Sea requires inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation across technical-physical, ecological, marine-biological, social-scientific and economic issues. We would like to congratulate them and look forward to continuing the exchange with the combined marine research community.

Photo copyright: DAM / Jörg Modrow

On February 16, 2026, the researchers from the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind met for the first quarterly meeting of 2026 in the WindLab on the Wechloy campus of the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg.

The meeting served as an important platform for exchange and networking between the various sub-projects and innovation areas. The focus was on a well-founded exchange on the ongoing technological, sociological and physical research within the project. Individual research highlights from the laboratories and open-field measurement campaigns were presented and discussed.

In the afternoon, the current status of the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research questions of the living lab was discussed and the course was set for the next steps. After more than a year of work in the projecty, internal networking and collaboration are very advanced and the time could be used to identify the next challenges and to focus even more strongly than before on networking and involving external stakeholders.

The young researchers in the project used the in-person event to deepen their PhD network and actively contribute their specific topics to the dialog.

You can find an insight into current research in the living lab in the first factsheets of the various innovation areas:

Innovation area III Life-cycle management of offshore wind turbines and wind farms
Innovation area IV System integration and aerodynamics of offshore wind turbines and wind farms
Innovation area V Marine load limits and cumulative ecological impacts

As one of the research platforms of the TEN.efzn – Transformation of Lower Saxony’s Energy System program, the living lab 70 GW Offshore Wind was represented at this year’s annual conference in Hanover’s Old Town Hall. Around 160 researchers from all sub-projects came together to evaluate the results of the first year of the project and develop joint perspectives for the next four years.

As part of an interdisciplinary pitch format, the research platforms – including the living lab – received a wide range of input from the other areas of the program. The contributions illustrated how closely research on the technical and social aspects of the transformation of the energy system must be interlinked in the future in order to effectively advance the goals of the energy transition in Lower Saxony. The collected topic proposals were then structured by the coordination teams and prepared for further exchange.

The second day of the event focused on in-depth dialog between the platforms. Specific options for joint research priorities and coordinated work processes were discussed – both for the further development of existing issues and for the development of new, integrative research approaches.

The conference clearly showed how, after just one year, viable connections and thematic interfaces are already emerging within TEN.efzn, which can make a significant contribution to developing sustainable solutions for the transformation of the energy system.

Living lab contribution to the panel “Wind theft – The industry’s big wake-up call”

Living lab researcher Martin Dörenkämper from the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems was invited as a panel speaker at the Recharge Wind Power Summit 2025 in Hamburg.

Together with other international experts, he discussed the topic “‘Wind theft’ – The industry’s big wake-up call” on how research findings on turbulent wake of wind farms and wind farm clusters raise new questions and challenges for existing and planned projects in the offshore sector and what role wind energy research can play in optimizing these phenomena.

The Recharge Wind Power Summit 2025 is supported by the WindEnergy Hamburg trade fair and brings together international experts from industry, research, politics and civil society on the topic of wind energy. This year’s topics included international cooperation, the increasingly important role of wind energy in the global energy transition and new innovations and technologies in the areas of manufacturing, operation and maintenance.

These effects also play a major role in the expansion of offshore wind energy in the German North Sea. In the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind, several sub-projects are working to analyze the issues from different perspectives, but also to carry out a systemic analysis on an interdisciplinary basis.

Wind energy research as a central component of the Energy Model Region Northern Germany

A strong stage for Lower Saxony’s energy research in the German capital: On November 10, 2025, the Living Lab 70 GW Offshore Wind was part of the presentation of the TEN.efzn (Transformation of the Energy System of Lower Saxony) research program at the annual meeting of the North German Conference of Science Ministers (NWMK) in Berlin.

Under the title “Northern Germany – model region for the transformation of the energy system”, representatives from science, politics and business discussed how the north can become a pioneer of a climate-neutral energy supply. In her keynote speech, Prof. Dr. Kerstin Avila, spokesperson for the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind at TEN.efzn, looked at the challenges and opportunities of wind energy research in the transformation of the energy system. The event impressively demonstrated how closely research, innovation and social change interact in northern Germany.

Wind energy as the key to transformation

As part of the conference, the TEN.efzn research program was presented as an important component of the North German energy model region – an interdisciplinary research program that brings together technology, system analysis and social perspectives. A central research platform in this program is the Living Lab 70 GW Offshore Wind, in which several research institutions are investigating how the expansion of offshore wind energy can succeed from an ecological, technological and social perspective.

In her presentation, speaker Kerstin Avila focused in particular on the role of research in this transformation process: “Wind energy, especially the expansion of offshore wind energy, is a key to the transformation of the energy system in northern Germany. In many contributions and discussions today, we were able to highlight the opportunities and challenges for wind energy research in this context. With the living lab, we have found an interdisciplinary approach within the framework of TEN.efzn that focuses equally on technological innovations, ecological effects and social requirements,” said Avila in retrospect.

Exchange and new impulses

There was great interest in the living lab and the research program. Many participants from science, business and politics sought to exchange ideas with the team in order to discuss new approaches and collaborations. Dr. Stephan Barth, Managing Director of ForWind – Centre for Wind Energy Research and coordinator of the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind, was also on site and underlined the great importance that energy research will continue to have in the region in the coming years: “Energy research is a team effort and requires cooperation between science, business, politics and society. The living lab, which is part of the TEN.efzn project, pursues precisely this approach and was therefore naturally also present at the presentation of the energy research of the North German states on November 10 in Berlin.”

In addition to TEN.efzn and the Living Lab 70 GW Offshore Wind, other northern German initiatives presented their work – from hydrogen technologies and heat research to digitally networked energy systems. Together, they paint a strong picture of northern German energy research – committed, networked and with a clear vision for the transformation.

Dialogs between research, industry and politics

On November 4, 2025, the first stakeholder workshop of the Living Lab 70 GW Offshore Wind took place at the ForWind WindLab. Representatives from research, industry and politics jointly discussed future topics of offshore energy: optimization of the service life of future wind turbines as well as opportunities and challenges of multiple use in offshore wind farms. The discussions were based on the results of the cross-cutting topics from the real-world laboratory working groups and the numerous practice-oriented keynote speeches by invited guest speakers from the industry.

Current research findings were presented in two thematic sessions – including on structural monitoring, life cycle management, nature-inclusive design, co-use scenarios such as aquaculture and offshore electrolysis. In subsequent discussions, the participants discussed perspectives and requirements from practice and planning and which new impulses and questions arise from this for research in the living lab. The scientists from the living lab also passed on questions to the guests present, including the impulse to rethink how value and added value can be defined in the wind energy sector.

In this way, the workshop promoted professional exchange and strengthened networking between science and industry. It provided valuable impetus for the further work of the living lab and future transfer activities.

We would like to thank the speakers from the industry at the stakeholder workshop for their exciting insights into the challenges and issues currently being discussed in the practice of offshore wind energy expansion:

Jannis Tautz-Weinert, Rambøll
Aleksandra Kot, RWE
Michael Berges, Northsea Hydrogen
Jens Gengenbach, Ørsted

Annual meeting of the Living Lab 70 GW Offshore Wind: status, planning and next steps

On November 3, 2025, the annual meeting of the Living Lab 70 GW Offshore Wind took place at the ForWind WindLab of the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. Representatives from all innovation areas came together to discuss key project statuses and plan the next steps for the coming six months.

The focus was on progress in the five areas of innovation, current measurement campaigns, data provision and the exchange of information on publications and transfer activities. Interdisciplinary issues in particular were discussed in several sessions and further joint research activities beyond the individual departments and institutions were planned.

There was also a focus on stakeholder involvement: potential partners from politics, business and civil society were identified in breakout groups, planned formats were discussed and a roadmap for the further involvement of external stakeholders was developed.