High energy prices are currently one of the biggest challenges facing the Thuringian economy.[1]The ZO.RRO joint projects support companies in implementing a secure and sustainable energy supply economically in order to reduce dependencies and save costs in the long term. To ensure that this does not stop at pilot projects, the researchers presented interim results together with industrial partners at the ZO.RRO II Conference - "Industry can be climate-neutral" on September 18, 2025 in Erfurt and enabled valuable knowledge transfer and exchange of experience.
Challenges and opportunities of the transformation for Thuringian industry
In his welcoming address, Thuringia's Energy Minister Tilo Kummer mentioned the challenges and opportunities of the transformation for Thuringian industry. His department is financing the ZO.RRO II SME project with 2.3 million euros.
"Energy costs that secure their international competitiveness are vital for Thuringia's economy. Energy efficiency and the direct use of renewable energies and storage offer an opportunity for this. We will support this challenging process with advice and funding. Many Thuringian companies have set out on this path and are already demonstrating how it can be done. They are achieving higher added value with energy-efficient and climate-friendly production, thereby securing important jobs in the region. In discussions with the federal government, we will continue to push for the use of locally generated electricity to be made easier without additional costs and for affordability to be ensured for the population and companies when restructuring the energy supply," said Energy Minister Kummer.
Practical solutions for the energy-intensive glass industry
One of the highlights of the event was the keynote speech by Thomas Günther, Plant Manager of Dyckerhoff GmbH in Deuna, who presented the project for CO2 capture in concrete and cement production. ZO.RRO project partner Fabian Hoppe, Managing Director of HM Heizkörper GmbH Heating Technology from Eichsfeld, also motivated participants to tackle decarbonization in SMEs with his practical report. The event focused on networking and exchanging ideas with around 100 guests from business, science, administration and politics.
"Technische Universität Ilmenau is leading the ZO.RRO 2 project with a focus on practical solutions for the energy-intensive glass industry. This interplay between research and application, which is typical of TU Ilmenau, is the secret of this project's success," explained Prof. Stefan Sinzinger, Vice President for Research and Young Scientists at TU Ilmenau.
As an interim result, the federal project ZO.RRO 2 for Glass Industry has produced the first successfully tested optimization models that enable an economically and ecologically optimal mode of operation for production with fluctuating supplies of renewable energies. Thanks to the digitalization that has already taken place, these can be implemented at the demonstrator sites in the glass and metal processing industry in the next step.
Objectifying energy policy discourse
The compact research contributions in the state project were also presented in an understandable way. "Our latest simulation of the Thuringia model with energy system modeling shows, for example, what effects the ratio of wind and solar energy expansion has on the overall costs and the need for other technologies. With our research, we can thus contribute to the objectification of energy policy discourse and enable evidence-based decisions," says Prof. Viktor Wesselak, Vice President for Research at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences and project manager of the ZO.RRO II KMU project.
At the interactive ZO.RRO Café in the afternoon, the researchers presented the digital tools and innovative approaches developed in the projects to support production companies. The tools were demonstrated live in parallel workshops and there was room for discussion. Exciting developments include the latest measurement technology with integrated CO2 balancing, intelligent energy management and energy-oriented production planning with a digital twin - energy consulting with AI and change management in SMEs were also discussed.
The exchange of expertise at today's conference will provide valuable impetus for further research work in both joint projects. The final results will be presented at the final conference on June 18, 2026 in Erfurt.
Further information on the ZO.RRO projects can be found at www.zorro.energy
Contact
Thuringian Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Nature Conservation
Tom Wetzling
tom.wetzling@tmuenf.thueringen.de
0361 57-3911930
ThEEN e.V.
Maria Siegl
maria.siegl@theen-ev.de
0361 663 82 286
Technische Universität Ilmenau
Prof. Dirk Westermann
dirk.westermann@tu-ilmenau.de
03677 69-2838
About ZO.RRO II SMEs - Zero Carbon Cross Energy System - Case Study Thuringia
ZO.RRO II is a Thuringian energy research project that investigates the transformation of our energy system. Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences and the Thuringian Renewable Energy Network (ThEEN) e.V. want to demonstrate the decarbonization of the energy supply in Thuringian industrial companies. A central tool for this is energy system modeling based on open source software. This was used to calculate transformation paths for the whole of Thuringia in a model, which represents an important scientific basis for the energy policy discussion in the state. A further development of the energy system modeling, the Z.ENO tool, is also used to calculate transformation paths for small and medium-sized Thuringian production companies (SMEs), taking various sectors into account. ZO.RRO II is funded by the Thuringian Ministry for the Environment, Energy, Nature Conservation and Forestry from 01.01.2022 to 01.07.2026.
About ZO.RRO 2 - Zero Carbon Cross Energy System for Glass Industry
Using the glass industry as an example, it is clear that a consideration of individual measures cannot exploit the full potential in terms of energy efficiency and decarbonization of the industry and can only be achieved through the fields of action: Transformation of core processes, transformation of sector-coupling secondary processes, adaptation of electrical distribution networks and optimized energy provision and energy services. The aim of the ZO.RRO 2 project is therefore to use the example of the Thuringian glass industry to show how a highly available, sustainable and economical electrical energy supply can be implemented. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy for the period from 01.08.2023 to 31.07.2026 (funding reference 03EI4073A-F).
[1] Source IHK 2025 - Economic report IHK district Erfurt, Link: www.ihk.de/erfurt/service/konjunktur-und-statistik/konjunkturumfragen-und-analysen/konjunkturentwicklung-im-ihk-bezirk-erfurt-5016762
