“We are right on schedule”

You can see how much progress is being made on the construction site of the new Energy Center in Zeulenroda: Cranes are moving, structures are growing – and every step makes the project’s significance clearer. Many employees are following the build with huge interest. David Eichhorn, Head of Infrastructure and Facility Management, is providing an insight into the current state of play and the next steps. 

How is progress at the moment and what key milestones have you already reached?

“We are right on schedule so we’re feeling very positive about having a working system next year. One milestone was pouring the floor slab. The hall now has a firm foundation. But there need to be comprehensive modifications to link the Energy Center to the existing buildings.” 

What’s next?

“Next, we’re establishing the media line which connects the Energy Center and the existing buildings to hot and cold water pipes. We’ll also implement initial construction measures in the existing buildings. At the same time, we’re working on the interior fittings in the Energy Center. It supplies the site with two central media. On the one hand, this includes new transformer systems to expand the site’s power supply. And on the other hand, we’re integrating modern heat pump technology that allows us to use synergies when generating cold and hot water. This technology offers a significant savings potential in gas consumption and makes us a little less dependent on fossil energy sources.”

What are the biggest challenges during construction of the Energy Center?

“Construction among existing buildings is always the biggest challenge, despite excellent preparation: How detailed are the documents that are describing the existing buildings? Were previous modifications documented? When drilling down into specifics during the planning stage, you may even discover that a planned construction measure cannot be implemented. In that case, you have to work out alternatives, and that’s a huge challenge. When planning to connect existing buildings, we come across minor obstacles every now and then, e.g. differing information about statics in the plans so we have to find new ways to make it feasible.”

Are there specific technical or sustainable aspects concerning the Energy Center that should be highlighted?

“A particularly sustainable aspect is that we’re actually using the cooling capacity we need across the entire site for computing and manufacturing efficiently rather than just venting hot air outside. Creating cold generates heat as a waste product. At the moment, we’re dissipating it into the air. But with the new technology, we’ll introduce that heat to water. Thanks to enhanced storage technology and higher volume flow in the pipes, we can efficiently use this heat on site. Using modern AI technology, we can also predict more accurately how much energy we’ll need on which days and at what time. Then we can improve efficiency.”