3.1 Collection of data and sources
In order to gain an overview of the current status of Lusatia’s RIS and for analysing if there are observable potentials for Smart Specialisation, the following set of data was collected. For the RIS, full-time equivalent of staff in r&d as well as internal spending on research and development, start-up intensity, national patent applications via the DPMA and projects within the ZIM funding program were used. The data was collected for 2013–2017 due to data availability.
For data on research, the funding portal (Förderkatalog) of German ministries was used as a data source, here the focus was on funded projects starting in 2018. Furthermore, a collection of patent data regarding energy-related patent applications are presented.
For the economic and business potential regarding energy, number of employees with social insurance, number and size of firms according to statistical data of different sources were used. In addition, future projections on renewable energy production and employees plus a collection of data from LEAG (Lusatia Energie Kraftwerke) is presented.
For recent energy innovation trends, some well-known projects and institutes are collected by researching news of Fraunhofer, IHK and Universities websites. With the exception of the recent trends, all data are presented in tables.
3.2 Lusatia’s Regional Innovation System
The RIS is the sum of actors in the region, their cooperation relationships and innovation produced. Accordingly, indicators must represent the amount of actors and cooperation plus if there is significant output of innovation. Therefore, for a short overview of the region’s RIS following data are quite relevant.
First, we look at the employees in r&d and private internal r&d spending. Especially employees in r&d are a representative indicator for regional cooperation and knowledge spill overs, as we can assume that the greater the number of r&d employees, the greater the opportunity to find a suitable partner for cooperation and knowledge exchange (Fritsch and Slavtchev
2011, p. 910) (Tables
2 and
3).
Table 2
r&d staff in full-time equivalents
Germany | 404,767 | 436,571 | 7.86 | 1.32 | 1.36 | 3.18 |
Lusatia | 1369 | 1374 | 0.37 | 0.34 | 0.33 | −2.63 |
Bautzen | 588 | 611 | 3.94 | 0.54 | 0.55 | 1.21 |
Cottbus | 59 | 88 | 49.41 | 0.13 | 0.19 | 47.04 |
Dahme-Spreewald | 105 | 113 | 7.39 | 0.18 | 0.18 | 0.73 |
Elbe-Elster | 47 | 45 | −4.49 | 0.14 | 0.14 | −6.47 |
Görlitz | 427 | 351 | −17.79 | 0.52 | 0.42 | −19.64 |
Oberspreewald-Lausitz | 127 | 148 | 17.22 | 0.33 | 0.36 | 11.30 |
Spree-Neiße | 17 | 18 | 8.53 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 7.70 |
Table 3
Internal r&d spending per employee in €
Germany | 1415.15 | 1553.85 | 9.80 |
Lusatia | 293.51 | 235.77 | −19.67 |
Bautzen | 359.58 | 359.02 | −0.16 |
Cottbus | 47.98 | 75.81 | 57.99 |
Dahme-Spreewald | 84.19 | 78.63 | −6.61 |
Elbe-Elster | 77.98 | 64.26 | −17.60 |
Görlitz | 749.04 | 476.64 | −36.37 |
Oberspreewald-Lausitz | 101.34 | 99.53 | −1.78 |
Spree-Neiße | 34.87 | 32.86 | −5.76 |
The r&d employees as well as internal r&d spending are below German average. A study analysing German mining regions concludes that private r&d is too low in Lusatia to assume significant spill over effects (Frondel et al.
2018, p. 68). Public r&d spending however is above average. This can be seen as an attempt to compensate for the low private r&d (Frondel et al.
2018, p. 68). Between 2015 and 2017, the internal private spending fell, which indicates a loss of innovation potential. At the same time, the share of r&d employees also decreased slightly, while the total number was stable. With overall low numbers in the region, such changes can be related to a single firm or few firms, therefore we must be careful with interpreting these numbers.
A second indicator for regional spill over effects and also innovation output is the company start-up intensity. The start-up intensity indicator represents the number of new firms per 10,000 inhabitants in working age, so inhabitants between 15 and 65 years. The overall start-up intensity as well as the start-up intensity for energy and mining is shown in the Table
4.
Table 4
Start-up intensity 2014–2017
Germany | 31.37 | 0.40 |
Lusatia | 20.66 | 0.27 |
Bautzen | 19.45 | 0.14 |
Cottbus | 23.74 | 0.36 |
Dahme-Spreewald | 32.89 | 0.44 |
Elbe-Elster | 17.07 | 0.79 |
Görlitz | 19.85 | 0.03 |
Oberspreewald-Lausitz | 17.48 | 0.30 |
Spree-Neiße | 20.26 | 0.10 |
In total, the company start-ups in relation to inhabitants is significant lower than German average. This is also true for the energy and mining sector, where we can observe very few new company start-ups in general. That may be due to the fact that there are often very few, but large companies in these sectors. For a Smart Specialisation in Lusatia, these numbers should eventually rise in the near future, in particular since there is the goal to tap new value chains.
Another relevant indicator reflecting the RIS is patent applications. They represent innovation output in the region. The Table
5 shows patent applications in the years 2013–2017.
Table 5
National patent applications
Germany | 58.61 | 59.29 | 57.65 | 58.74 | 57.71 |
Lusatia | 11.71 | 9.36 | 9.87 | 8.69 | 9.50 |
Bautzen | 20.11 | 13.37 | 10.77 | 11.16 | 7.93 |
Cottbus | 11.04 | 8.04 | 14.04 | 6.97 | 19.79 |
Dahme-Spreewald | 17.41 | 24.70 | 13.98 | 10.84 | 13.75 |
Elbe-Elster | 7.54 | 5.71 | 5.73 | 7.66 | 9.67 |
Görlitz | 3.81 | 2.69 | 6.15 | 6.58 | 5.07 |
Oberspreewald-Lausitz | 13.18 | 6.20 | 14.23 | 14.29 | 17.10 |
Spree-Neiße | 2.52 | 0.00 | 5.95 | 0.86 | 0.87 |
As shown in the table, there were relatively few patent applications in Lusatia between 2013 and 2017. Admittedly, this is also the case for Brandenburg and Saxonia in general, where only 13 and 18 patent applications per 100,000 inhabitants were filed, respectively (DPMA
2018, p. 7). In comparison, in Baden-Württemberg around 132 patent applications per 100,000 inhabitants were filed (DPMA
2018, p. 7). It is remarkable that between 2015–2019, 37 patent applications in Lusatia were filed by the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg with 8 Co-Patents (DPMA
2022). The university is therefore the organisation with most patent applications in the region. At a total of 437 applications in these years (DPMA
2022), 8.47% of all applications were filed by the BTU. Similar to the r&d spending, we can assume that public research is comparably strong in Lusatia and partly compensates the lack of innovation among firms. Nevertheless, a strong RIS needs different kinds of actors and especially cooperation between public and private research.
In this regard, we can observe some positive trends in state-funded cooperative research projects in the ZIM (Zentrales Innovationsproramm Mittelstand) program. This initiative is aimed at SME and encourages projects where regional SME and research institutes or HEI (higher education institutions) conduct joint applied research. Data on ZIM funded projects are shown in the Table
6.
Table 6
ZIM projects 2015–2017
Lusatia | 35.9 | 19 | 210 | 10 | 239 |
Cottbus | 6.7 | 3 | 35 | 0 | 38 |
Dahme-Spreewald | 7.2 | 5 | 39 | 3 | 47 |
Elbe-Elster | 1.4 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 11 |
Oberspreewald-Lausitz | 6.2 | 2 | 35 | 0 | 37 |
Spree-Neiße | 0.6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Bautzen | 9.4 | 6 | 54 | 7 | 67 |
Görlitz | 4.4 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 34 |
Annual average of funding between 2015 and 2017 was around 12 million Euro, which is about 1.03 € per 100,000 inhabitants. In comparison, German average in the years 2015–2018 was around 0.65 € per 100,000 inhabitants (Berger et al.
2019, p. 209). In addition, a study evaluating the ZIM program concludes that on average, more projects were approved in Western Germany than in Eastern Germany (Kaufmann et al.
2019, p. 68). This study also finds that the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg applied for 324 projects in the evaluation period and was therefore ranked 7th place among German HEI (Kaufmann et al.
2019, p. 55). For ZIM network project funding, TH Wildau was ranked 8th place with 28 applications and BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg was ranked 10th place with 25 applications (see Kaufmann et al.
2019, p. 56). This is an indication that the universities in Lusatia fulfil an important function in the application and implementation of joint innovative research projects (Pomp and Zundel
2021, p. 17) and contribute to cooperation and regional spill over effects. We also can assume that government funding for an innovation policy does trigger cooperative research and interaction in the region.
In conclusion, Lusatia’s RIS can be described as thin, as there is a lack of critical mass of actors. In addition, the innovation inputs and outputs are below German average. The situation in this region is similar to the other German regions impacted by the phase out of coal and induced structural change. A study on these four coal mining regions reveals that all four regions suffer from lower innovation potential to a certain extent (Frondel et al.
2018). Among those four, the Rhineland region is the strongest:
“The analysis of innovation indicators shows a mixed picture, with the eastern German regions showing significantly lower values in some cases, which speaks for a lower innovation potential. […] Although the Rhineland coal region is still below the research intensity of NRW, which is relatively weak in terms of research compared to the national average, it is more than twice and three times as high as in Lusatia” (Frondel et al.
2018, pp. 200–204, translated by the author).
In terms of the RIS literature, Lusatia is a typical region with a thin RIS. In many of these regions, traditional, resource-intensive industries with low innovation rates are predominant (Trippl and Frangenheim
2018, p. 61) and beyond that the firm landscape is rather heterogeneous and fragmented. Currently, in the east German mining regions and especially Lusatia low private investments in r&d and the generally lower proximity to universities and research institutions are compensated by public r&d (Frondel et al.
2018, pp. 200–202). But that won’t be enough to trigger more innovation activities and economic growth.
Recent literature on RIS suggests that RIS reorientation, i.e. building on existing actors and institutions could enable the development of “innovative solutions to regional problems and needs that are related to grand societal challenges, such as the decarbonisation of industries” (Isaksen et al.
2022, p. 2126). In thin RIS, new RIS elements need to be created if endogenous potentials are too low. Possible policy approaches include path transplantation and path modernisation. The former includes policies aimed at attracting knowledge and resources from outside the region. Here, companies, research and educational institutions, public services or even highly qualified individuals are “lured” into the region. For path modernisation, access to knowledge, resources and other innovation impulses from outside the region also play a decisive role. Against this background, policy strategies aimed at proactively fostering relationships with partners and sources of knowledge external to the region appear particularly sensible. […] A strategy aimed at mobilising exogenous development impulses can only be successful if measures are taken that also force the anchoring and circulation of extra regional knowledge in the region and strengthen the absorption capacities of regional actors. (Trippl and Frangenheim
2018, p. 62). It would also be necessary to evaluate if the new elements have a positive regional impact in the long term and if the path transplantation and modernisation is successful. Optimally, they should contribute to an improvement of the innovative output in the region, create new jobs and generate economic growth that can be sustained after the funds have been spent.
Due to the region’s unique situation of having the structural change program, the available funds can be allocated for such a creation of RIS elements. Currently, this is actually happening in Lusatia (see 3.5). There will be new research projects and institutes, especially those who are focused on energy research. Implementing S2 strategies seems useful, as it is much easier to generate critical mass in sectors where there are endogenous potentials than to generate critical mass in all industries. However, the question arises whether endogenous potentials are high enough or the new elements have the potential not only to attract external knowledge and actors but also to increase the absorption capacity in the region.
3.3 Empirical data on energy-related research
After presenting data on the RIS in general and the status of the energy industry in Lusatia, empirical data for energy-related research and detailed patent data is presented in this chapter. Needless to say, not only the numbers of firms and employees are relevant for a supposed Smart Specialisation on energy in Lusatia, but also research and innovation. The question is whether energy is only produced in Lusatia or if we can expect innovation potential for a decarbonized energy industry.
Previous studies on the field of energy research in the region concluded that between 2005 and 2014, 2.2% of all federal funds in Brandenburg and 6.2% of all federal funds in Saxonia were spent on energy research (Diekmann
2015, p. 25) while in 2018, Brandenburg issued 0.5% and Saxony issued 10% of the state funding for the field of renewable energies (Jessen
2018, p. 4). Therefore, the overall impression is that the Energy research in Lusatia has so far not been particularly noticeable statistically (Nagel and Zundel
2021, p. 11).
In order to carry out an analysis of funded research in Lusatia, I now present my collection of data. Projects of the federal ministries were used for the evaluation as data is freely accessible. State funding of projects can be used as a proxy for research in general, especially in a region with few internal private r&d and in the field of energy with cost-intensive research. For the first part of the analysis, the number of energy-related research projects in Lusatia was compared to the total number of research projects. All projects under the numbers EA1110—EF6000 are considered energy-related, these are for example crystalline silicon module technology, fuel cells, energy-optimized building technology, advanced power plant systems, basic energy research, hydrogen production (electrolysis) and more. As a benchmark, the numbers for Lusatia are compared to Germany and Baden-Württemberg.
The numbers for total projects and amount of funding are shown in the Table
7.
Table 7
Number of projects (Förderkatalog)
Germany total | 56,394 | Germany Energy | 6440 | Share in % | 11.42% |
Baden-Württemberg total | 12,814 | Baden-Württemberg Energy | 1472 | Share in % | 11.49% |
Lusatia total | 617 | Lusatia Energy | 50 | Share in % | 8.10% |
The share of energy related projects in Lusatia was 8.10%, slightly smaller than the average for Germany and for Baden-Württemberg. Overall, among all funded projects in Germany, 1.09% of them were carried out in Lusatia, while 22.72% were carried out in Baden-Württemberg. This is no surprise, as the federal state is a much larger entity. Regarding energy-related projects in Germany, 0.78% were carried out in Lusatia and 22.86% were carried out in Baden-Württemberg (Table
7).
For the share of funding, the numbers are slightly different (Table
8). In Lusatia, there was less funding for energy-related research projects in comparison to the share of number of research projects. The German average was also slightly smaller, whereas in Baden-Württemberg the share of funding was much larger than the share of projects. Similarly, 1% of all funds for research projects were provided for Lusatia and 17.47% for Baden-Württemberg, while 0.67% of funds for energy-related research projects were provided for Lusatia and 28.72% were provided for Baden-Württemberg.
Table 8
Funds for projects (Förderkatalog)
Germany total | 42,760,352,924 | Germany Energy | 4,670,003,318 | Share in % | 10.92% |
Baden-Württemberg total | 7,468,931,892 | Baden-Württemberg Energy | 1,341,220,694 | Share in % | 17.96% |
Lusatia total | 426,531,359 | Lusatia Energy | 31,159,212 | Share in % | 7.31% |
In order to gain more insight into the relevant actors for energy research in Lusatia, it is useful to find out which organisations carried out the most projects in recent years. For organisations with at least three projects since 2010 including projects in progress, there are: BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg (36 projects or project participations), Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz (19 projects or project participations), Skeleton Technologies (6 projects or project participations), Lusatia Energie Kraftwerke (3 projects or project participations), Sachsenmilch Leppersdorf (3 projects or project participations). If we look only at projects since 2018 including projects in progress, there are: BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg (13 projects or project participations), Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz (8 projects or project participations), Skeleton Technologies (6 projects or project participations).
Two of the most active organisations are HEI in the region. The BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg alone carried 26% of all energy-related funded research projects. Furthermore, LEAG as a representative of the lignite industry has not done any projects in recent years. Sachsenmilch Leppersdorf is a dairy producing firm and did projects that try to improve energy efficiency in dairy processing, which is not really contributing to the energy region image of Lusatia. Skeleton Technologies, however, is a firm that is located in Großröhrsdorf and registered in Estonia that focuses on energy storage and is “Europe’s leading manufacturer of ultra-capacitors” (Energy Saxony e. V.
2022). They did all of their projects after 2018 and these are all projects in progress. This indicates that we can possibly expect more research and innovation from this new firm in the near future.
Another interesting set of data presented is a time-sensitive comparison. Project themes according to different programs (Leistungsplansystematik) starting between 2010–2017 and projects starting in 2018 are compared. This comparison allows to estimate if there is an observable shift from conventional energy research and nuclear energy research to renewable energy and energy efficiency research. For research projects starting between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2017, there were 72 projects or project participations in total, 11 of them focusing on conventional energy (EA1110—EA1999) and 9 focusing on nuclear energy (EC1100—EF6000). Therefore, 72.2% of the projects were focusing on renewable energy or energy efficiency. For projects starting 1st January 2018, there were 50 projects or project participations in total. Here, 4 of them were focusing on conventional energy and another 4 focusing on nuclear energy. Therefore, 84% of the projects were focusing on renewable energy or energy efficiency. Hence, the data show a slight trend towards future trends in sustainable energy production and away from conventional energy.
In addition to funded research projects, an analysis of patent data shows a specialisation in energy that is above German average. The patent application data are based on total patent applications in the years 2013–2017 and patents in the field of “Electrical machinery and apparatus, electrical energy” according to the WIPO classification (Schmoch
2008, p. 5) (Tables
9 and
10).
Table 9
Patent data total and energy-related
Germany | 239,416 | 24,844 | 10.38 |
Lusatia | 535 | 114 | 21.31 |
Table 10
Patent data per 100,000 inhabitants total and energy-related
Germany | 58.47 | 6.07 |
Lusatia | 9.19 | 1.96 |
While the share of energy-related patent applications from Lusatia is only 0.46%, the share of such patent applications within the region is as twice as high as the German average. This indicates that although the absolute innovation potential according to patent applications is not very high (see Chap. 3.2), at least it is relatively higher for energy.
3.4 The status quo of Lusatia’s energy sector
In order to analyse the regional potential for Smart Specialisation in the energy production, storage and use, there are several aspects to consider. First, industry and workforce base (Fritsch et al.
2008, p. 8) within a region are an important factor for an RIS. Second, for Smart Specialisation aimed at a certain branch of industries, there must be specific knowledge in that industries. That implies that for energy-related specialisation, there have to be comparably more employees and firms in that sector. Finding adequate data sources is difficult, as there are many different industries connected to energy production. One starting point is the data of the federal agency for work (Bundesagentur für Arbeit). Current data for the share of employees in the energy sector in general are shown in the Table
11.
Table 11
Number of employees 2018
Germany | 32,870,230 | 229,940 | 0.70 |
Lusatia | 420,550 | 4710 | 1.12 |
Bautzen | 113,110 | 440 | 0.39 |
Cottbus | 45,870 | 600 | 1.31 |
Dahme-Spreewald | 62,540 | 220 | 0.35 |
Elbe-Elster | 33,680 | 350 | 1.04 |
Görlitz | 86,860 | 1260 | 1.45 |
Oberspreewald-Lausitz | 41,440 | 260 | 0.63 |
Spree-Neiße | 37,050 | 1580 | 4.26 |
Overall, the share of employees in the energy sector is distributed unevenly across Lusatia. In Spree-Neiße the share is exceptionally high, in Görlitz and Cottbus the share is also around twice as high as the German average. In Cottbus, 1.31% of employees subjected to social insurance contributions work in the energy sector, this is almost twice as much as the German average. At the same time, the share of firms in the energy sector is only half as much as the German average, as shown in the Table
12.
Table 12
Number of firms 2018
Germany | 3,764,671 | 77,101 | 2.05 |
Lusatia | 48,811 | 555 | 1.14 |
Bautzen, Landkreis | 12,645 | 112 | 0.89 |
Cottbus | 4278 | 41 | 0.96 |
Dahme-Spreewald, Landkreis | 8205 | 85 | 1.04 |
Elbe-Elster, Landkreis | 4386 | 68 | 1.55 |
Görlitz, Landkreis | 10,460 | 121 | 1.16 |
Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Landkreis | 4164 | 68 | 1.63 |
Spree-Neiße, Landkreis | 4673 | 60 | 1.28 |
Those two data sets imply that there are presumably few firms in the region that have a large number of employees. There are complementing data on size of firms in the energy sector, at least for Brandenburg. For Saxonia, no data were available (Table
13).
Table 13
Firm branches in the energy sector 2018
Germany | 77,101 | – | – | – | – |
Lusatia | 555 | – | – | – | – |
Bautzen | 121 | – | – | – | – |
Cottbus | 41 | 34 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
Dahme-Spreewald | 85 | 79 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
Elbe-Elster | 68 | 66 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Görlitz | 112 | – | – | – | – |
Oberspreewald-Lausitz | 68 | 63 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
Spree-Neiße | 60 | 49 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
Here we can see that there are only very few firms with more than 50 employees and only three firms with over 250 employees. For example, in Cottbus there were 600 employees in 2018. With 3 firms that have over 50 employees and one firm with over 250 employees, more than 500 of the employees worked in 4 firms.
In addition to data provided by the federal and statistical offices, there are databases offered by private firms that cover information about companies. One of them is the “Markus” database, it contains information on companies with entry into the national trade register (Bureau van Dijk
2018). A database excerpt for Lusatia that was provided in 2018 lists 256 companies that are operating in the energy industry in total. The Table
14 summarises the number of companies according to the different WZ 2008 codes.
Table 14
Number of employees per WZ code
B05200 | Mining of lignite | 1 | 4837 |
D35110 | Production of electricity | 28 | 23 |
D35111 | Production of electricity without distribution | 17 | 33 |
D35140 | Trade of electricity | 5 | 198 |
D35120 | Transmission of electricity | 5 | 90 |
D35100 | Electric power generation, transmission and distribution | 3 | 109 |
D35130 | Distribution of electricity | 13 | 618 |
B09900 | Support activities for other mining and quarrying | 2 | 96 |
D35112 | Production of electricity incl. purchases from other suppliers for distribution | 54 | 2733 |
D35113 | Production of electricity excl. purchases from other suppliers for distribution | 93 | 165 |
D35210 | Manufacture of gas | 3 | 4 |
D35212 | Manufacture of gas incl. purchases from other suppliers for distribution | 3 | 111 |
D35213 | Manufacture of gas excl. purchases from other suppliers for distribution | 11 | 6 |
D35200 | Manufacture of gas; distribution of gaseous fuels through mains | 2 | 21 |
D35220 | Distribution of gaseous fuels through mains | 1 | 2 |
D35300 | Steam and air conditioning supply | 15 | 273 |
– | Total | 256 | 9319 |
These data have to be taken with a grain of salt, as they differ from the data given by the statistical offices. Not all firms are listed in the database and the criteria were not transparent when the dataset was acquired. While the Markus database has registered half as much firms in the energy sector as the records of the statistical offices, the numbers of employees are similar to those given by the federal agency for work. If lignite mining is not considered, there are 4882 employees in the energy sector according to the database. More than half of these are employed in 54 firms that operate in electricity generation subcontracted for distribution. The data presented in the Markus database thus confirm the assumption that there is a small number of firms in the region that are dominant in terms of size.
Sectoral and industry focus are often seen as the potential of a region, as they include a specialized labour pool, an industry-specific infrastructure, the proximity to upstream and downstream value-added stages and intra-industrial knowledge spill overs (Farhauer and Kröll
2014, 126). Such focal points are usually determined empirically using localization coefficients. These are defined as an industry’s share of the added value or the number of employees subjected to social security contributions in the sub-region to be examined in relation to the corresponding ratio of a reference region. If these localization coefficients are significantly greater than 1, this is taken as an indication of a corresponding specialisation and potential (Nagel and Zundel
2020, p. 4).
A study analysing the German coal and lignite regions calculated a localization coefficient of 2.34 for Lusatia in 2016 (Frondel et al.
2018, p. 78). The highest localization coefficients were found in the districts Oberspreewald-Lausitz (4.03) and Spree-Neiße (10.35) (Frondel et al.
2018, p. 78). A study by Nagel and Zundel analysed those localization coefficients for Lusatia’s cities in 2018 and found particular high coefficients for the cities of Spremberg (42.57), Senftenberg (15.69), Mittenwalde (4.25), Cottbus (2.47), Finsterwalde (2.22), Weißwasser (2.19), and Niesky (2.20). They conclude that the area between Senftenberg, Cottbus, Spremberg and Boxberg is the focus of the Lusatian energy industry. (Nagel and Zundel
2020, p. 23).
This is partly due to the locations of LEAG. The firm is currently responsible for lignite mining and generation in Lusatia. With over 7000 employees and over 3300 partner companies, it is the largest energy company in eastern Germany and one of the most important private-sector employers in Lusatia (LEAG
2022).
LEAG produces lignite energy in Jänschwalde, Schwarze Pumpe, Boxberg and Lippendorf with a total capacity of 8000 MW and they also own tow gas turbines in Thyrow und Ahrensfelde (LEAG
2022). In the 2000s, LEAG was researching and testing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, mainly in Schwarze Pumpe (LEAG
2022). This can be seen as an attempt to continue with lignite generation against the backdrop of decarbonisation of energy production. Nowadays, the company is investing in renewable energy projects in Lusatia. There are solar pv parks in Welzow and Zschornewitz, plus solar pv rooftop panels in Lübbenau in Cottbus with a total of 209.5 MW. LEAG is breaking new ground and has built a battery storage facility with a usable capacity of 53 MWh at the Schwarze Pumpe power plant and industrial site.
However, LEAG is not the only company that is involved in renewable energy projects in the region. According to a recent study by the IÖW (Institute für Ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung) that analysed the potential for renewable energy in Lusatia, in 2018 there were currently 37 firms that either produce power plants and components (4 firms) or provide services (37 firms) for wind energy, solar energy or biomass (Hirschl et al.
2022, p. 149). A total of 940 jobs was estimated for the employees at the identified companies. In relation to the total number of employees in Lusatia in 2018, this corresponds to a share of around 0.2%. Around 75% are employed by manufacturers and just under 25% by service providers in connection with the planning, installation, operation and maintenance of plants. (Hirschl et al.
2022, pp. 150–151). For the year 2040, the study projects the regional value creation by renewable energy systems at 184.5 million euros for a current-policies-scenario and 433.3 million euros for a climate-neutrality-by-2045 scenario, which corresponds to a total of 1632 employees and 3556 employees respectively (Hirschl et al.
2022, p. 162).
3.5 Recent energy innovation trends in Lusatia
In order to gain more insight into future potentials of cooperation and innovation in energy-related fields, the establishment of research institutes, projects and networks in these fields are also important. They are a starting point for more interactions in the region, a stronger cooperation between public and private research and potentially attract more firms and professionals.
The state programs for structural change in Lusatia from both Brandenburg and Saxonia that are based on the “Structural Strengthening Act for Coal Regions” (StStG) address the continuity of Lusatia as an energy region. The “Lausitzprogramm 2038” names strategic goals and mission statement for the structural development, one of them is that Lusatia shall be a “modern and sustainable energy region” (Staatskanzlei
2020, p. 12). In addition, the “Handlungsprogramm zur Umsetzung des Strukturstärkungsgesetzes Kohleregionen des Bundes in den sächsischen Braunkohlerevieren” in Saxonia formulates its own goals for Lusatia. Goal 4 is that Lusatia shall be a “modern and sustainable energy region […], making Lusatia a central part of the sustainable energy industry in Germany through new and innovative concepts for energy production and supply” (Staatsministerium für Regionalentwicklung Freistaat Sachsen
2020, p. 17) which is in accordance to Brandenburg’s goals. Saxonia’s strategic paper also names recommendations for action: (1) promotion of approaches to innovative energy generation, supply and storage, (2) promotion of knowledge and know-how transfer in the field of energy management, (3) creation and use of application clusters for innovative energy concepts, (4) projects to reuse old power plant sites for innovative energy concepts, (5) creation of infrastructure for Power-To‑X applications (Staatsministerium für Regionalentwicklung Freistaat Sachsen
2020, pp. 17–19).
As mentioned above, Lusatia’s HEI are very active in energy research. The BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg alone has planned some cooperative research projects covering different aspects of the energy transition and decarbonisation. For example, there are CHESCO (Center for Hybrid Electric Systems Cottbus), EIZ (energy innovation center), Innovationscampus Elektronik und Mikrosensorik Cottbus, ismartC, SpreeTec next, T‑CELL (Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg
2022). Moreover, there will also be new Fraunhofer institutes, for example the Fraunhofer Hydrogen Lab Görlitz, which focuses on hydrogen fuell cells and hydrogen value chains and is funded with over 42 million Euro (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
2021). “PtX-Lab Lusatia” is another institute focusing on hydrogen, it was opened in 2021 (Zukunft—Umwelt—Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH
2021). Hydrogen is supposedly a field with great potentials in Lusatia. In addition to existing networks such as Hypos, EnergySaxony and the HZwo cluster, the first local associations and networks for researching and establishing hydrogen technologies, for sector coupling and for structural change have been formed (Kratzsch et al.
2020, p. 11). The hydrogen network Lusatia “Durchatmen” was founded in 2019 and currently has more than 100 members and supporters from business, science and politics from East Saxony and southern Brandenburg (Han
2020). WALEMOBase, an initiative of Lusatian companies and research institutions, aims to establish a cluster for closely linked projects in the Zittau/Görlitz area focusing on hydrogen-based drives and autonomous driving (Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Regionalentwicklung
2021). At the Industriepark Schwarze Pumpe, there will be a new power plant called “Referenzkraftwerk Lusatia” (RefLau). The aim is to map energy supply based on renewable energy sources and hydrogen, including storage. The project partners plan to identify potential purchases for hydrogen in the region as a precautionary measure in order to be able to supply the first customers by the time the plant is commissioned in 2025 and to use synergies in the establishment of a hydrogen economy (Hydrogentle
2021).
In addition, following renewable energy projects by LEAG are currently planned and will be completed within the next years (Table
15):
Table 15
LEAG renewable energy projects
Windpark Cottbus-Ost | On-shore wind | 24 MW |
Windenergieprojekt Forst-Briesnig II | On-shore wind | 102 MW |
Floating PV Cottbusser Ostsee | Solar pv | 21 MW |
Energiepark Bohrau | Solar pv | 400 MW |
Deponie Jänschwalde I | Solar pv | 31 MW |
Solarpark Kraftwerk Boxberg | Solar pv | 24 MW |
Solarpark IAA Böhlen | Solar pv | 17 MW |
Solarpark Hirschfelde | Solar pv | 20 MW |
Solarpark Dissen-Striesow | Solar pv | 200 MW |
Solarpark Hühnerwasser und Wolkenberg | Solar pv | 300 MW |
Total | – | 1139 MW |
3.6 Energy as a focus in Lusatia in the wider Smart Specialisation context and policy implications
Besides the current and future developments in the energy sector, the S2 structure in Germany and in Lusatia is also relevant, as it is builds the strategical foundation. In Germany, S2 is implemented at the federal state level, in Berlin and Brandenburg there is a joint strategy based on innoBB (European Commission and Prognos
2020, p. 35). This also forms the overarching framework for Lusatia. The federal states pursue different strategies and also have different priorities (European Commission
2020). With regard to strategic orientation, there are some elementary differences between the federal states in terms of their overarching orientation. In addition to Berlin-Brandenburg, some federal states have a clear focus on excellence, such as Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, while the other states tend to follow a capacity-building approach (European Commission and Prognos
2020, p. 107). The RIS3 strategies that contain regionalisation approaches are those of Baden-Württemberg, Berlin-Brandenburg and Lower Saxony (European Commission and Prognos
2020, p. 109). All federal states except Saarland have energy in the narrower or broader sense (e.g. renewables, energy technology, sustainable energy, etc.) in the portfolio of their S2 priorities (European Commission and Prognos
2020, pp. 134–136).
Lusatia as an energy region would be in accordance with the “innoBB”, the joint innovation strategy of Berlin and Brandenburg, where five future trend areas were identified. These are health, energy, mobility/logistics, information technologies/media/creative industries and optics (European Commission and Prognos
2020, p. 35). Here, we can already identify an entrepreneurial discovery process. In addition, the regionalised approach of the Smart Specialisation strategy takes Brandenburg’s heterogeneity into account. The stakeholders among the different clusters develop the main topics of each cluster in a cooperative advisory process (European Commission and Prognos
2020, p. 38). Accordingly, energy was identified as one of the “hot topics” in the “Entwicklungsstrategie Lausitz 2050”, which also included the ideas and perspectives of regional stakeholders (WRL
2020). This is appealing, as it fits to Lusatia’s history—the idea of Lusatia as an energy region would be retained, but the old path dependency on lignite would be replace with new, carbon-free energy production systems. For new technologies such as hydrogen, market opportunities and new value chains could be created.