Citizens' energy meeting on 06.11. on the topic of innovative energy storage systems
Energy13, an innovative technology for storing renewable energy in a closed-loop process, is the topic of the next BürgerEnergie-Treff. The city administration of Jena and BürgerEnergie Jena eG cordially invite all interested parties to join them on Thursday, November 6, 2025 from 7.30 pm in the plenary hall of the historic Jena town hall. Admission is free, registration is not necessary. There will be plenty of time for discussion.
The speakers will be André Sack, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Energie Jena-Pößneck GmbH, as well as Dr. Norbert Windhab and Carsten Dentler, co-founders of Energy13 GmbH.
Aluminum as an energy source
Energy13 was jointly founded in 2022 by scientists and engineers from the fields of chemistry and biophysics, with significant support from Stadtwerke Jena-Pößneck and private investors. The company is based in Jena and works as part of an international scientific network involving the Friedrich Schiller University.
Since its foundation, the initial technology, which uses aluminum as an energy source, has been continuously developed. In a chemical reaction, aluminium is oxidized to aluminium oxide using water vapour and carbon dioxide, producing heat and hydrogen that can be used in Jena and other locations with heat and hydrogen requirements in the future.
Possible use in Jena
In Jena specifically, this could be used to meet the needs of large industrial consumers and to secure the heat supply at peak load times. As renewable energy sources from wind and solar power are available to varying degrees depending on the weather, innovative energy storage processes are of the utmost importance for the sustainable implementation of the energy transition.
Why aluminum
Due to its special properties, aluminum can serve as an energy storage medium that can be used to safely transport and generate heat and hydrogen on site as required. The first reactors for the application of the process have been realized. Work is currently underway to scale them up to industrially usable prototypes. The material cycle is closed by using renewable energies to produce aluminum, which can be recycled and reduced to aluminum again after being converted into heat and hydrogen. The associated energy-intensive process can take place in regions of the world with a high energy surplus. There are abundant deposits of aluminum worldwide in the form of aluminum minerals such as bauxite, as well as existing recycling processes and infrastructures.
Stadtwerke Energie Jena-Pößneck has acquired a ten percent stake in the company Energy13.