Christoph Kost

Dr. Christoph Kost serves as Head of Department Energy System Analysis within the Division Power Solutions at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg, Germany. With over 15 years of experience at Fraunhofer ISE, he has progressed from researcher to leadership positions, currently overseeing significant energy system analysis work focused on Germany's energy transition.

His research interests span energy system modeling, energy economics, renewable energy integration, and climate neutrality pathways. Kost specializes in transformation paths for local and national energy systems, cost analysis of energy technologies, and energy policy implementation. His work particularly emphasizes sector coupling and the integration challenges of high renewable energy shares in power systems.

Kost's recent publications (2024-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on Germany's pathway to climate neutrality by 2045, with particular attention to industrial decarbonization, building sector transformation, and system flexibility requirements. His research combines detailed energy system modeling with economic analysis, producing influential studies on levelized costs of renewable energy, sector coupling opportunities, and policy instruments for accelerating the energy transition.

As principal investigator, Kost leads major projects including Kopernikus-Ariadne2 (evidence-based assessment of Germany's energy transformation), LCOE study (levelized cost of electricity for renewable technologies), and IND-E (decarbonization and electrification potentials of German industry). His team's work provides critical analytical foundation for German energy policy decisions.

His research methodology combines detailed techno-economic modeling with scenario analysis, often employing the REMod energy system model. Kost frequently collaborates with other Fraunhofer institutes, universities, and government agencies to produce comprehensive analyses of Germany's energy transition pathways under various technological and policy assumptions.