VNG subsidiary BALANCE Erneuerbare Energien acquires two GASAG AG biogas facilities in Brandenburg
The wholly owned VNG subsidiary BALANCE Erneuerbare Energien GmbH (BALANCE) has acquired GASAG Bio-Erdgas Schwedt GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of GASAG AG. The related Schwedt I and Schwedt II facilities are in Schwedt/Oder in north-eastern Brandenburg (district of Uckermark) and have total rated thermal input of about twelve megawatts (MWFWL).
Leipzig-based BALANCE has reached agreement with the previous shareholder to take over the facilities and on-site operating personnel. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. With this acquisition, BALANCE now has a portfolio of 32 facilities in northern and eastern Germany with total output of about 118 MWFWL. This makes the company one of the leading biogas producers in Germany.
“I am very pleased that BALANCE has taken a further step along its ambitious growth path. With the acquisition of the Schwedt facility location we have a real flagship in our biogas portfolio,” says Hans-Joachim Polk, member of the Executive Board of VNG. “The location in Brandenburg will be one of the biggest in the BALANCE portfolio and hence will make a significant contribution to achieving our growth strategy in terms of green gases.”
GASAG board member Matthias Trunk explains: “We decided to proceed with the sale due to changed economic and legal conditions on the biogas market. We are happy that our facilities are in the hands of a company specialised in the production of biogas and will work together with BALANCE into the future as a partner in the purchase of biogas. When building our renewable capacity we will focus on the development of wind farms and open space photovoltaic units.”
Schwedt I is a biogas upgrading facility with capacity of 700 standard cubic metres per hour (Nm³/h). Schwedt II is a power plant that is compliant with the German Renewable Energy Act, with total installed capacity of 2,760 kilowatts electric (kWel). With this acquisition, the VNG Group is underlining the ambitions set out in its ‘VNG 2030+’ strategy to take on a key role in the value chain for climate-neutral gases. “As part of our growth in recent months, I want to stress how important regional added value is, in addition to facility operation. BALANCE does not only invest in facility concepts, it also develops these further in each regional context through constant optimisation processes,” explains BALANCE Managing Director Thomas Fritsch.
BALANCE was founded in 2006 and is currently one of the leading biogas plant operators in Germany with 39 plants in northern and eastern Germany. The company, which currently has around 160 employees, supplies people throughout Germany with regionally produced, safe and CO2-neutral energy in the form of biogas, heat and electricity. In addition, BALANCE develops innovative products along its value chain and is committed to giving biogas more prominence in a sustainable energy economy.
With an ambitious growth strategy, BALANCE has quintupled its plant portfolio since 2018 and today generates renewable energy with a firing thermal capacity of over 166 MWFWL. This means that BALANCE mathematically supplies around 51,000 households with renewable electricity and up to 53,000 households with green gas every year. As a wholly owned subsidiary of VNG AG, BALANCE combines the activities of the parent company in the field of renewable energy production. More at www.balance-vng.de.
Press picture
BALANCE Erneuerbare Energien GmbH (BALANCE) has acquired GASAG Bio-Erdgas Schwedt GmbH / Copyright: GASAG
