German energy turnaround are to combine forces: the wind turbine manufacturer,
ENERCON (Aurich), and energy services provider, EWE (Oldenburg), intend to
work together in future on new business concepts in the areas of renewable
energies and smart grids. As both companies announced in Aurich on Friday, they
are planning a cooperation within the framework of a joint venture, which has yet to
be founded. Olaf Lies, Lower Saxony’s Minister for Economic Affairs, was in
attendance at the announcement. The first stage of the collaboration will focus on
Aurich, where the intention is to supply the district as completely and securely as
possible with locally generated renewable energy. In a second stage, the two
partners want to use the technical solutions that are required for this to develop
standardised and transferable elements of a building-block system for the energy
turnaround, which can be quickly put together to form individual system solutions
within other projects. The operation of the energy networks in the Aurich district
shall not be part of the collaboration.
“EWE and ENERCON share the vision of decentralised energy supply systems that
are largely based on renewable energies. Through a joint effort, this vision should
become reality in the Aurich district and lead to innovative network system
solutions that can then be successfully provided in other areas of Germany as well
as in selected foreign markets,” said Matthias Brückmann, CEO of EWE AG,
explaining the partnership. “For decades, both companies have been working
intensively on issues surrounding the realisation of such building blocks, meaning
that the combination of the individual skills is more than sensible. Furthermore,
ENERCON and EWE have already been cooperating very successfully on the
ENERA project.”
“ENERCON is committed to its home region and is looking forward to working on a
100% renewable and decentralised energy supply in the electricity and gas
network here in the Aurich district, which should serve as a model for other regions.
By way of the innovative model of cooperation with the experienced network
operator, EWE, ENERCON shall have every opportunity to demonstrate the energy
turnaround ‘building blocks’ in a real energy network and to test them in day-to-day
network operations,” explained Hans-Dieter Kettwig, Managing Director of
ENERCON GmbH. “Bidding for network concessions in the district of Aurich will
thereby become a thing of the past, and ENERCON can concentrate fully on
providing innovative technologies and systems components.”
Lower Saxony’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Olaf Lies, said: “The announcement
of a strategic partnership between ENERCON and EWE is very good news both for
the region as well as for the entire state of Lower Saxony. When one of the global
market leaders in the construction of wind turbines and one of the leading German
energy suppliers decide to work together as closely as this, it is very good for the
economy of Lower Saxony. As Minister for Economic Affairs, I am particularly
pleased that EWE and ENERCON want to further advance the German energy
turnaround through the development of new business concepts – this secures jobs
and signifies growth. Together with the ENERA project, we will bring forward the
required next step in the energy turnaround – its digitalisation. This means that
Lower Saxony and northern Germany, in particular, will not just develop further as
a centre for energy in the future, but also as an industrial centre. And it shows once
again that Lower Saxony is the state with energy, in particular thanks to its
innovative companies and their employees. One thing is clear in any case: the
intelligent energy future starts with us here in the north.”
“When the two largest utility companies in the region want to work hand in hand
right here on our doorstep to develop new solutions for an intelligent energy future
and thereby further increase the proportion of renewable energies, then that is
good news for the district of Aurich, its municipalities and citizens,” said Harm-Uwe
Weber, District Administrator of Aurich and, in this role, also a representative of an
EWE shareholder. “Our position as a core region for the energy turnaround will be
strengthened further by this.”
As German market leader in the area of wind power facilities, ENERCON is
contributing its skills regarding the electrical properties of wind turbines, power
electronics and project planning to the collaboration. As the fifth largest German
energy services provider, EWE is providing its expertise in the area of grid
construction, network operation and control technology, smart grids and
telecommunications. The planned partnership remains subject to approval that may
be required from the competition authorities.
Alongside the specialist knowledge in various energy sectors, both companies are
also united by their having roots in the region. ENERCON started out in the region
and has grown out of East Frisia to become a global player in the wind power
business. For 85 years now, EWE has been a municipally owned company with a
remit to securely provide the region with energy in an environmentally friendly
manner. The strategic partnership being pursued by the two most important utility
companies in northwest Germany is focused not just on the benefit for the
companies, but therefore also on the benefit for the region and its citizens.
