Cluster Energy and Environment
Where is one of the leading energy regions in Europe? Where does highly efficient power station technology come from? Where is the global center for high performance electronics?
Nuremberg occupies a front-line position amongst the European energy regions according to a study conducted by the Fraunhofer Society for Research. Energy technology – broadly defined – is the most important branch of industry in Central Franconia with around 50,000 employees in several hundred firms. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the Bavarian technology clusters for energy technology and sensor and high performance electronics are based in the Metropolitan Region. More than 700 companies with around 8,000 employees operate in the forward-looking sector of environmental protection.
Major areas of activity are: turbine and power station construction, equipment for electricity distribution and control units, high performance electronics, building technology, renewable sources of energy, technology for air and water purification, for product and product-integrated environmental protection, as well as for the water sector and environmentally orientated financial services.
The strong point of the energy region lies in the combination of energy technology and high performance electronics – together they represent a value added chain of great dynamic force. This is based on considerable regional competence in the fields of research and development and the performance of the local energy industry.
Seven professorial chairs at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and the Center for High Performance Electronics are engaged in research into energy technology and high performance electronics. The College of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg offers budding academics a broad spectrum of studies in the area of energy and environmental technology. Colleges of Applied Sciences offer outstanding courses like "energy and environmental system technology" in Ansbach or "safeguarding the environment" in Weihenstephan/Triesdorf, thus rounding off the picture of a comprehensive university landscape in the Metropolitan Region.
The Nuremberg Region also picks up points in applied research with its two Fraunhofer Institutes, the Center for Reseach and Development of Special Technology in Schwabach, the Center for Applied Energy Technology in Würzburg and intensive research activity in various companies. An important success factor is the Center for Innovation and Company Establishment in Energy Technology, etz, in South Nuremberg. 23 firms have set up shop there in the last few years and carry out energy technology projects. The Competence Initiative Nuremberg Energy Region provides impetus for the dynamic development of the region as a location for energy technology, recognized throughout Europe. The Energy Region brings companies and research institutes together in a regional network and initiates innovative projects in the field of energy technology.
Other networks in the energy sector exist in the Metropolitan Region apart from the Nuremberg Energy Region, for example the European Center for Power Electronics, the Network for Energy Consulting in Central Franconia, the Network for Renewable Energy in Western Central Franconia, the energy agencies of the rural districts, as well as the ATZ Development Center in Amberg- Sulzbach.
