turretdraaibanken

Turretdraaibanken is a contemporary urban infrastructure concept that integrates sustainable energy storage systems into the facades and towers of civic buildings. The term combines the German words “Turret” (tower) and “Draaiban” (derived from the name of the engineer who first described the system, Lars Draaiban), and it has been adopted in various European cities as a shorthand for the practice of embedding microgrid hubs within historic and modern towers.

The origins of the Turretdraaibanken concept trace back to 2013, when Dr. Draaiban presented a prototype at the International Conference on Renewable Energy Systems in Stuttgart. The prototype consisted of a modular bank of lithium‑ion cells, thermal storage units, and a photovoltaic façade array that could be retrofitted onto the outer walls of 10‑to‑20‑meter high towers. The goal was to create a self‑sustaining microgrid that would reduce electrical reliance on the national grid and provide backup power during outages. By 2017, the first operational Turretdraaibanken system was installed on the historic Water Tower in Fürth, Germany, and it has since been replicated in Zurich, Vienna, and Lisbon.

Architecturally, a Turretdraaibanken installation typically requires a span of 3.5 to 4.0 meters of wall surface area to house 20–30 kWh of storage capacity. The systems are sealed to prevent corrosion and are equipped with monitoring software that feeds real‑time consumption data into a citywide demand‑response platform. They also serve as educational sites, demonstrating renewable energy technologies to the public.

The Turretdraaibanken model has been praised for its capacity to lower a building’s carbon footprint by up to 40%, while also boosting local resilience in the event of grid failure. Critics raise questions about the visual impact on historic skylines and the high initial installation cost, which can exceed €200,000 per tower. Nonetheless, several municipalities have integrated Turretdraaibanken into their sustainability guidelines, and the concept is projected to expand to more than 50 European cities by 2030.