Pent-up demand for green heat - EnviaM plans investments

After expanding renewable energies in the electricity sector, the eastern German energy supplier EnviaM now also wants to push ahead with the heating transition. The transition is clearly lagging behind there. According to the company, renewables now account for more than half (55 percent) of EnviaM's electricity generation, but only 19 percent of its heat generation.

The aim is to make the company's own heat supply greener, said CEO Patrick Kather. To this end, at least eight conventional district heating plants are to be converted to renewable fuels - such as the Vetschau heating plant in southern Brandenburg. In future, wood chips are to replace pulverized lignite as a fuel. The conversion will reportedly begin this year. There are also plans to use waste heat from data centers, for example in Taucha (district of North Saxony).

Investments of more than 50 million euros are planned for the expansion in the coming years. One sticking point is that green heat from new plants is currently more expensive than heat generated from gas or oil, said Kather.

EnviaM with lower turnover and profit

EnviaM supplies households and companies with electricity, gas, heat and high-speed internet. Its territory covers parts of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Brandenburg. The number of customers fell from 1.2 to 1.1 million last year. Turnover fell to 3.09 billion euros (2023: 3.49 billion). Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were reported at 353.3 million euros (2023: 453.5 million euros). No information was provided on net profit.

Chief Executive Officer Stephan Lowis nevertheless spoke of a very successful year. The previous year had been a special year with major one-off effects. "We are now back to the level of normal years."

No commitment to the development of electricity prices

Lowis and Kather did not want to commit to the development of electricity prices for customers. The pure procurement prices have stabilized, said Kather. "We have to look at how grid fees and levies develop."

The expansion of the electricity grid is to be driven forward. Investments of 565 million euros are planned for this this year, including the construction of new substations. In 2024, 950 kilometers of the electricity grid will be newly built or modernized. The background to this is the ongoing boom in wind turbines and solar installations. Last year alone, the installed capacity in the grid area increased by almost 1 gigawatt. That is about as much as a nuclear power plant, explained Lowis. More electricity is already being generated from renewable sources in the grid area than the total amount of electricity consumed.

Recently, there had been complaints about long waiting times for new connections of solar systems. Lowis acknowledged the problems, but was unable to give any exact figures. This is sometimes due to necessary meter changes, but also to software problems.