diff --git a/Jenkinsfile b/Jenkinsfile
index ce9a8d9..638bd17 100644
--- a/Jenkinsfile
+++ b/Jenkinsfile
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def mavenCentralSignKeyId = "a1357827-1516-4fa2-ab8e-72cdea07a692"
 //// define and setjava version ////
 //// requires the java version to be set in the internal jenkins java version management
 //// use identifier accordingly
-def javaVersionId = 'jdk-8'
+def javaVersionId = 'jdk-17'
 
 //// set java version method (needs node{} for execution)
 def setJavaVersion(javaVersionId) {
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 008ebbb..61ddfc5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ If you want to provide this future feel free to hand in an issue or a pull reque
 ### Requirements
 * Unix based OS
 * [ecCodes](https://confluence.ecmwf.int//display/ECC/Releases) installed
-* JRE 1.8 installed
+* JRE 17 installed
 * access to a postgresql database
 * internet access
 * write permission on download directory
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 57672d7..26f9c3a 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ ext {
 	hibernateVersion = '5.3.3.Final'
 	log4jVersion = '2.17.1'
 	picoliVersion = '4.6.1'
-	javaVersion = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+	javaVersion = JavaVersion.VERSION_17
 
 	scriptsLocation = 'gradle' + File.separator + 'scripts' + File.separator //location of script plugins
 	mainClass = 'edu.ie3.tools.Main'
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d24465a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Workaround to make spotless work with java 17 -
+# see https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/tree/main/plugin-gradle#google-java-format and
+# https://github.com/ie3-institute/DWDWeatherTools/issues/124 for details
+org.gradle.jvmargs=\
+  --add-exports jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.api=ALL-UNNAMED \
+  --add-exports jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.file=ALL-UNNAMED \
+  --add-exports jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.parser=ALL-UNNAMED \
+  --add-exports jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree=ALL-UNNAMED \
+  --add-exports jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.util=ALL-UNNAMED
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index 549d844..aa991fc 100644
--- a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-6.9-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-7.4.2-bin.zip
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/ie3/tools/Converter.java b/src/main/java/edu/ie3/tools/Converter.java
index ed63067..c8545bf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/ie3/tools/Converter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/ie3/tools/Converter.java
@@ -310,8 +310,7 @@ public void convertTimeStep(ZonedDateTime modelRun, int timeStep, String folderP
     }
 
     // update the entities with the extraction results
-    entities
-        .parallelStream()
+    entities.parallelStream()
         .forEach(
             entity ->
                 // get each parameter from the extraction results and update the entity accordingly