The Zittau Power Plant Laboratory was established as part of three research projects from 2011 to 2015 with the construction of three large-scale test facilities and several smaller test facilities at the Schwenninger Weg 1 and Schliebenstraße 1 sites. The large-scale test facilities are a magnetic and trapping bearing test facility (MFLP), a modern thermal energy storage facility (THERESA) and a thermochemical test field (TCV). On November 5th, 2015, the Zittau power plant laboratory was ceremonially inaugurated. In mid-2016, the THERESA test facility was successfully accepted by the approved inspection agency TÜV-Süd.
The total costs for the three research projects amounted to about 7 million EURO, of which 6.3 million EURO came from funds of the European Union and the Free State of Saxony. The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences contributed 10% of the total costs. Further financial resources amounting to approx. 1 million EURO were invested in the refurbishment of the historic machine hall. The construction of the Zittau power plant laboratory is one of the largest research investments since the founding of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences in 1992. The approval of three follow-up projects with a total financial volume of about 3.7 million EURO and the duration from 2016 to 2019 enabled a sustainable development of the Zittau Power Plant Laboratory in the coming years. Stadtwerke Zittau GmbH has supported the Zittau Power Plant Laboratory project with great commitment from the very beginning.
The projects were funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Saxon State Ministry of Economics, Labor and Transport.
