15 years of RLI – 15 years of impactful research for the energy transition
February 8, 2025 | On February 8, 2010, the Reiner Lemoine Foundation founded the Reiner Lemoine Institute. An independent research institute working scientifically on a future with 100 percent renewable energy. And the researchers at RLI have been doing this for 15 years with great success.
“In 15 years, we have achieved two things: we have made the energy transition easier and faster in all sectors, for example with our studies and self-developed tools. And secondly, with the RLI we have created a place where joint research work is fun,” says Kathrin Goldammer, Managing Director of the RLI for nine years.
Anja Lemoine, Managing Director of the Reiner Lemoine Foundation, emphasizes the strengths of the RLI: “We are very pleased that the RLI has been successfully researching relevant topics of the energy transition for 15 years and are impressed by how the institute’s employees are also committed to transparency, access to data and research work and good cooperation in addition to these topics.”
Diverse: RLI scientists are working on the energy transition in three research units. They are experts in data and databases, visualizations, hydrogen, power grids, energy system analyses, sector coupling, alternative drive concepts for buses and trains, charging infrastructure for electromobility, mini-grids, GIS analyses, socio-economic field studies, development cooperation and market potential studies.
Innovative and open: Whether application-oriented research, data analyses, visualizations, feasibility studies or planning of energy systems: At RLI, we are experts in the technical aspects of the energy transition. You can see that in our tools: Our more than 50 software programs, platforms and applications, most of which we have developed ourselves, make working in energy research easier. And because we are convinced that collaboration brings the most progress, we follow the principles of open source and open science and make our results openly available to everyone.
Parity: The RLI has grown. From six employees when it was founded in 2010 to over 80 employees in 2025. And most importantly, we have achieved gender parity at all levels – and at management level, the proportion of women is 75 percent, higher than at any other energy research institute. The institute is currently led by two female engineers, Kathrin Goldammer and Christine Kühnel.
Community: Good teamwork is important at RLI. That’s why the employees have drawn up a charter for their values. In it: Ten points on how we want to treat ourselves and our environment responsibly.
Worldwide: RLI’s electrification and transportation concepts are developed and implemented in and for Germany, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Well trained: In 15 years of renewable energy research at RLI, our employees have also continued to develop. In addition to dozens of theses, 22 people have completed or are currently completing their PhDs as part of their work at RLI. The Reiner Lemoine Kolleg of the Reiner Lemoine Foundation has also been affiliated with RLI for five years.
Practical implementation: Since it was founded in 2010, scientists at RLI have conducted research on renewable projects in over 350 projects. 15 examples show how the RLI is advancing the energy transition.
Five examples of RLI’s work on the transformation of the energy system:
1. Enabling more citizen participation in the energy transition.
In the EmPowerPlan project, RLI scientists are developing and testing instruments for citizen participation and collaborative processes. More about the project…
2. Using more space for energy from wind and sun.
The publicly accessible PV and wind area calculator interactively shows areas in Germany that are suitable as wind potential areas or for the installation of photovoltaic systems. More about the project…
3. Find optimal locations for renewable energy plants.
In the EiBeLePo project, RLI scientists use calculations of future power grids to find optimal connection options to the power grid for wind and solar parks as well as energy storage systems. More about the project…
4. Improving sector coupling.
In the Sedos project, RLI is researching how the networking of different sectors from the energy sector and industry can be better mapped and optimized. More about the project…
5. Using open data to create a basis for forward-looking heat planning in Berlin.
In this project, RLI scientists and project partners are developing a standardized procedure for the collection, recording, storage, presentation and use of data for heat planning in the state of Berlin. In the project to create a heat cadastre, a digital platform is being developed that will provide the (data) basis for heat planning for Berlin. More about the project…
Five examples of RLI’s work that show how the transport transition can succeed:
1. Developing intelligent charging strategies for e-mobility and electricity grids.
The Netz_eLOG research project is investigating how the flexibility options of electromobility, which result from various charging strategies, can be used intelligently. More about the project…
2. Planning charging infrastructure for e-mobility locally in Germany.
For the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, the RLI will forecast the number of e-vehicles and their charging current requirements up to 2030 and derive the requirements for the necessary charging infrastructure (LIS) from this. More about the project…
3. Promoting hydrogen technologies in the mobility and heating sector.
At HyExpert Chemnitz, the RLI is working on a hydrogen strategy for the Chemnitz model region, with a focus on the mobility and heating sector. More about the project…
4. Decarbonizing bus transport.
E-Bus 2030+ is about the development of software for the complete decarbonization of Berlin’s public bus transport by 2030 and beyond – especially through optimized charging strategies. More about the project…
5. Finding alternatives to the operation of diesel trains.
Here, the RLI is investigating the possible switch to electrically powered battery and hydrogen trains and their requirements for the rail infrastructure. More about the project…
Five examples of RLI’s work that show how the energy transition is progressing worldwide:
1. Empowering communities in Nigeria to supply themselves with renewable energy.
CP-Nigeria aims to enable various communities in rural Nigeria to independently plan and implement projects for the supply of decentralized renewable energies. More about the project…
2. Overcoming barriers to the use of integrated water, energy, food and environmental system models.
In this research project, we are developing software tools that help to better plan sustainable infrastructure solutions. More about the project…
3. Building hydrogen partnerships with and between non-EU countries.
To achieve this goal, RLI scientists are analyzing the opportunities and risks of potential hydrogen partnerships between the regions of North Africa, West Africa, Central Asia and Germany in order to derive recommendations for action. More about the project…
4. Supporting decision-makers in their planning for a more sustainable and climate-friendly future.
In this project in the Aral Sea region, RLI organizes workshops for political, public and private decision-makers in which they learn how to use certain tools to plan in a more sustainable and climate-friendly way. More about the project…
5. Strengthening energy systems in Southeast Asia with green hydrogen.
In the Green H2Islands project, RLI researchers are investigating how the integration of a hydrogen system into the existing renewable energy system cooperatively operated by the island community on the Thai island of Koh Jik can enable a secure and reliable energy supply from 100 percent renewable energy. The results are intended to serve as a model for implementing similar solutions on other islands in Southeast Asia. More about the project…
More information about the Berlin engineer and entrepreneur Reiner Lemoine, pioneer of the energy transition, can be found here.
