Exkursion nach Wien
From 02. to 06. December 2019 an excursion from the LENA chair took place. At first the coal power plant "Schwarze Pumpe" was visited. This is one of the most efficient of its kind and is considered by some employees to be the finest coal-fired power plant in Europe. The functioning of the opencast mine in Lusatia as well as the corresponding renaturation measures were explained via a digital guided tour. With the former shift manager Weber, it went up to the top at various stages within the power plant. At a height of 150 m, you had an excellent view over Lusatia and the power plant area.
The following day, the "Gläserne Manufaktur" of VW was visited in Dresden. The tour showed the entire assembly process of the E-Golf. Concepts were also presented to make the factory more effective. These include autonomously moving vehicles within the assembly line, which deliver the necessary materials fully automated to the corresponding cars. Furthermore, the students got an insight into the future concepts of VW.
After finishing the tour, the group drove via Prague to Vienna, where a visit to the Christmas market completed the day. On the third day of the excursion, the most exciting tour took place. With the visit of the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant a unique industrial monument was visited. The NPP Zwentendorf never went to the grid, because prior to commissioning a referendum prohibited the civilian use of nuclear energy. Thus, it was possible to stand in the middle of the reactor while explaining to students how a nuclear power plant works. After visiting the NPP, there was a historic city tour in icy wind in Vienna. This led over the St. Stephen's Cathedral and the promenade of the Habsburgs to the Hofburg, today's seat of government of Austria.
On the penultimate day of the excursion, the network control room of the Austrian transmission system operator (TSO) APG was visited. After a lecture about the tasks of an TSO, as well as the challenges caused by the energy turnaround, it was possible to take a look into the modern control room. Interactive screens created the possibility to control the network control room in a simplified way and to react to problems and inquiries and to keep the network stable.
Special thanks go to the organizer of the excursion Christian Ziegler as well as to the deanary of the Faculty of Electrical and Information Technology, the VDE and the IEEE for financial support.
