Fraunhofer Institute

The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Karlsruhe is one of 72 institutes that form the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. Fraunhofer ISI analyses the scientific, economic, social and political origins and market potentials of innovative technological developments and their impacts on the economy, state and society. The inter-disciplinary research teams focus on emerging technologies, industrial and service innovations, energy policy and energy systems, sustainability and infrastructure systems, innovation and technology management and foresight, policy and regions as well as regulation. Scientists of the institute process around 280 research and consultancy projects per year, some in close cooperation with other research institutions inside and outside the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. The budget of Fraunhofer ISI amounts at present to € 16 million per annum. ISI’s most important client is the public sector, for instance several German federal ministries and ministries of the federal states with a contract volume of ca. 50%, as well as the European Union with a share of about 23%. Further important clients are industrial enterprises and industrial associations with a share of ca. 24%. Approx. 3% of the budget comes from research promotion funds (DFG and other sources).

The Competence Center Energy Policy and Energy Markets of Fraunhofer ISI counts on a broad expertise in managing and collaborating in EU-funded projects, e.g. AURES, RES-FINANCING, RE-SHAPING, EMPLOYRES, FORRES 2020, OPTRES, Futures-e, DIA-CORE or Towards2030-Dialogue. Several key persons from the team have a long-standing experience in providing policy analysis in the field of renewable energy at international and national level for the European Commission, the German federal government, the European Parliament, the World Bank and other national governments and companies. For instance, Fraunhofer ISI contributed substantially to official communications of the European Commission by developing an indicator set which measures the effectiveness and the efficiency of the national policy supportJust like administratively set support, auction-allocated su... schemes. In addition, the team has considerable experience with the analysis of competitive bidding procedures for renewable energy supportJust like administratively set support, auction-allocated su..., advising e.g. the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, the European Commission and Agora Energiewende, a think tank dealing with challenges of the German energy transition.