Enercity

Enercity AG, styled enercity, is a municipal energy supply and energy-services company headquartered in Hanover, Germany. Its business combines the traditional functions of a Stadtwerk—electricity, gas, district heating and drinking-water supply—with newer activities in renewable generation, photovoltaic systems, electric-vehicle charging, broadband infrastructure, contracting and other energy services. The company supplies more than 700,000 people in Hanover and the surrounding region and also operates or participates in projects elsewhere in Germany. Enercity’s roots extend across several nineteenth-century municipal infrastructure systems. Hanover’s water supply was expanded through new groundwater works beginning with Ricklingen in 1875. Gas infrastructure developed from the city’s earlier gas-lighting arrangements, while electricity generation and distribution were established during the late nineteenth century. In 1922, the municipal gas, water and electricity operations were consolidated as the Städtische Betriebswerke. The organisation was renamed Stadtwerke Hannover in 1952 and was converted into a joint-stock company in 1970 under the municipal holding company Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft Hannover mbH, which also owned the city’s transport interests. The company’s modern brand identity emerged during the liberalisation of Germany’s energy market. Stadtwerke Hannover adopted the Enercity name in 1996, and in 2018 the legal company name was changed from Stadtwerke Hannover Aktiengesellschaft to enercity Aktiengesellschaft. The ownership structure remains municipal-led: VVG holds 76% and Thüga AG holds 24%. Enercity is therefore not a publicly traded company, although it participates in the wider Thüga network and holds stakes in a number of energy businesses. Enercity has progressively shifted its generation portfolio away from fossil fuels. Biomass and renewable-energy development became more prominent from the 1990s onward, including the company’s investment in Danpower in 2006. In 2019 it acquired Gamesa Energie Deutschland, a wind-project developer, from Siemens Gamesa. It subsequently expanded its wind portfolio through the acquisition of 166 turbines from the Norderland Group, completed in January 2023. The group also develops and operates photovoltaic projects and supplies residential and commercial customers with installed solar systems, monitoring, maintenance and related services. Electricity, heat and the energy transition remain central to the business. Enercity has supplied its private customers nationwide with electricity marketed as fully renewable since 2018. District heating is produced through combined heat and power and is being redesigned around waste heat, biomass, waste utilisation, sewage-sludge treatment, geothermal resources and large heat pumps. The company and the City of Hanover have set a target of climate-neutral electricity and heat supply by 2035. The coal-fired Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Hannover in Stöcken is planned for progressive retirement from the mid-2020s and no later than 2030, subject to the city’s transition planning. Other growth areas include electromobility, fibre-optic communications and decentralised heating. Enercity has developed public and semi-public charging infrastructure in and around Hanover, opened its 1,000th charging point in 2020 and launched the easygo charging application in 2023. Its fibre business aims to connect 150,000 households by 2030. Subsidiaries such as Danpower, Enercity Contracting, Enercity Netz, Enercity Erneuerbare and Enercity Solution extend the group’s activities into municipal contracting, network operation, renewable generation and solar installation. Since August 2023, the corporate headquarters has been located at the Glocksee site in Hanover.

Enercity’s history is rooted in Hanover’s municipal water, gas and electricity infrastructure. A groundwater plant at Ricklingen began operating in 1878 after the city decided in 1875 that its traditional wells could no longer support a population exceeding 100,000. Additional waterworks were later developed at Laatzen-Grasdorf and Fuhrberg. Gas lighting infrastructure had been established earlier under an agreement with the Imperial Continental Gas Association, and electricity generation followed with an electrical plant in the 1880s and a grid connection in Osterstraße in 1891. In 1922, Hanover merged its separate water, gas and electricity works into the Städtische Betriebswerke. The organisation was controlled by the authorities during the Nazi period; its wartime history also includes the documented use of at least 123 forced labourers. After 1945, reconstruction, network expansion and post-war economic growth drove the development of new facilities. The organisation became Stadtwerke Hannover in 1952. The heating plant at Linden, commissioned in 1962, provided the basis for the city’s district-heating system. The growth of the 1950s and 1960s led Hanover’s city council to approve conversion into a joint-stock company in 1970. Stadtwerke Hannover AG became part of the municipal Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft Hannover holding structure, allowing the city to coordinate its utility and transport interests. Natural gas became increasingly important from the 1970s, while the Empelde cavern-storage facility entered service in 1982. The Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Hannover at Stöcken began operating in 1989 and supplied electricity and heat to the city and nearby industrial customers. Energy-market liberalisation prompted the adoption of the Enercity brand in 1996. The group began exploring biomass and other renewable resources during the 1990s, and it acquired a stake in the decentralised heating and biomass specialist Danpower in 2006, becoming its sole shareholder in 2018. In 2009, Enercity created Enercity Contracting to develop and operate decentralised energy facilities for customers. During the 2010s, the company increasingly oriented its strategy toward renewable generation and decarbonisation. Susanna Zapreva led the company from 2015 to 2023. Enercity acquired Gamesa Energie Deutschland in 2019 and later expanded its wind holdings through the Norderland transaction. Solar installation, heat pumps, district-heating expansion, charging infrastructure and fibre optics became important complementary businesses. Enercity changed its legal name to enercity AG in 2018. In 2022, the company reported renewable shares of approximately 51% in electricity and 21% in heat generation. Its long-term plan is to reach an 85% renewable share by 2030 and to work with Hanover toward climate-neutral electricity and heat by 2035. The planned retirement of coal generation at Stöcken is a major element of this transition. The corporate headquarters moved from Ihme-Zentrum to the Glocksee site in August 2023.

• 2023

  Norderland transaction is completed

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  Enercity completed its acquisition of 166 wind turbines and moved its headquarters to Glocksee.

• 2019

  Wind-development capabilities expand

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  Enercity acquired Gamesa Energie Deutschland from Siemens Gamesa.

• 2018

  Legal renaming to enercity AG

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  The brand became the company’s official legal name.

• 2006

  Enercity invests in Danpower

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  The group entered the decentralised heating, combined-heat-and-power and biomass specialist Danpower.

• 1996

  Enercity brand is introduced

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  Stadtwerke Hannover adopted the Enercity brand during German energy-market liberalisation.

• 1989

  Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Hannover begins operation

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  The Stöcken joint power plant began supplying electricity and heat to the region.

• 1982

  Empelde cavern storage begins operation

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  The first cavern-storage facility at Empelde strengthened the region’s natural-gas infrastructure.

• 1970

  Conversion into a joint-stock company

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  Stadtwerke Hannover AG was placed under the municipal VVG holding structure.

• 1952

  The organisation becomes Stadtwerke Hannover

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  The municipal utility adopted the Stadtwerke Hannover name.

• 1922

  Municipal works are consolidated

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  The city merged its water, gas and electricity operations into the Städtische Betriebswerke.

• 1891

  Osterstraße electricity plant is connected

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  Hanover’s early electricity infrastructure was connected to the grid.

• 1878

  Ricklingen waterworks begins operation

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  The facility became a major foundation of Hanover’s modern municipal water supply.

• 1875

  Hanover decides to build the Ricklingen waterworks

  [1]Enercityen.wikipedia.org

  The city approved a new groundwater facility because its historic wells could no longer meet growing demand.

A municipally anchored, integrated German utility combining regional public-service infrastructure with nationwide renewable-energy, electrification and energy-transition services.

• Electricity supply · 2018

  Renewable electricity

  Enercity supplies electricity to private and commercial customers, with private-customer electricity marketed as 100% renewable since 2018. Its generation and procurement mix includes wind, solar, biomass and hydropower, alongside electricity produced through the group’s wider generation portfolio.

• Heat supply · 1962

  District heating

  District heating is supplied through combined heat and power and other central facilities. Enercity is expanding the network and plans to increase the contribution of waste heat, biomass, waste utilisation, sewage sludge, geothermal resources and large heat pumps as part of the heat transition.

• Solar energy services

  Solar photovoltaic systems

  Through Enercity Solution, the group offers photovoltaic systems for German residential and commercial customers, including equipment, installation, monitoring, maintenance and insurance-related services. It also develops larger rooftop systems and works with public-sector partners on installations for public buildings.

• Renewable generation

  Wind energy

  Enercity develops, acquires and operates onshore wind assets. Its portfolio grew through the acquisition of Gamesa Energie Deutschland and the later purchase of 166 turbines from the Norderland Group; by 2023 the company reported ownership of 83 wind farms and 348 turbines.

• Electromobility · 2010

  Electric-vehicle charging

  Enercity operates public and semi-public charging infrastructure for electric cars, e-bikes and electric scooters in Hanover and nearby areas. It also provides home and business charging installations, collaborates with Üstra on fast charging and supports charging-point discovery and use through the easygo app.

• Water utility

  Drinking water

  Enercity operates or supplies from waterworks at Elze-Berkhof, Fuhrberg and Grasdorf. The system serves more than 700,000 people in Hanover and surrounding areas and delivers approximately 42 million cubic metres of water into the network annually.

• Telecommunications infrastructure

  Fibre-optic connectivity

  Enercity provides fibre-optic connections to residential and commercial customers. The business had tens of thousands of users in the early 2020s and has a stated objective of connecting 150,000 households by 2030.

• 2023easygo charging app launch

  Germany

  Enercity introduced easygo to help users locate and access electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.

  Outcome. The app expanded the group’s customer-facing electromobility offering.

  Source
• 1998proKlima climate-protection fund

  Hanover region

  Enercity joined the cities of Hanover, Hemmingen, Laatzen, Langenhagen, Ronnenberg and Seelze in financing the proKlima fund, which supports energy efficiency, emissions reduction and innovative climate-protection measures.

  Outcome. By 2023, the fund had approved about €52 million for approximately 38,500 measures, according to the referenced material.

  Source

• 2022

  Accelerate the renewable and coal-exit strategyStrategy

  Background

  Enercity’s transition plan responds to climate policy and the need to replace fossil generation while maintaining electricity and heat supply.

  Action taken

  The group set an objective of reaching an 85% renewable share by 2030 and planned to retire coal generation at Stöcken by 2030 at the latest, while developing waste-heat, biomass, geothermal and heat-pump alternatives.

  Aftermath

  Enercity and Hanover also established a target of climate-neutral electricity and heat by 2035.

  Source

• 2022

  Acquire the Norderland wind portfolioM&A

  Background

  Enercity aimed to scale its renewable-generation assets and expand its onshore-wind presence.

  Action taken

  The group agreed to acquire 166 wind turbines from the Norderland Group; completion occurred in January 2023.

  Aftermath

  The transaction contributed to a reported 2023 portfolio of 83 wind farms and 348 turbines.

  Source

• 2019

  Acquire Gamesa Energie DeutschlandM&A

  Background

  Enercity sought to strengthen its onshore-wind development and renewable-generation capabilities.

  Action taken

  It acquired Gamesa Energie Deutschland from Siemens Gamesa.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition supported subsequent expansion of Enercity’s wind portfolio.

  Source

• 2018

  Make Enercity the legal company nameStrategy

  Background

  The Enercity brand had been used since 1996 while the legal entity remained Stadtwerke Hannover Aktiengesellschaft.

  Action taken

  The company renamed itself enercity Aktiengesellschaft.

  Aftermath

  The brand and legal identity were aligned while municipal ownership remained unchanged.

  Source

1. 1Enercityen.wikipedia.org