7,300 sustainability-packed days! The figures from EnviTec Biogas AG for 2002 to 2022 speak for themselves: more than 700 biogas and gas upgrading plants constructed in a total of 17 countries, more than 550 employees and revenue of EUR 262.4 million in 2021. On the occasion of reaching this 20-year milestone, Olaf von Lehmden, who has been CEO of the Lohne and Saerbeck-based biogas all-rounder from the start, looked back over the company’s beginnings in a speech given at the celebratory event in July, attended by 250 employees: “From the early days of the Renewable Energy Sources Act to all the challenges, great and small, we had to deal with over the last couple of decades, I wouldn’t have missed a day spent either at or on behalf of this company.”
And the company only achieved these successes, von Lehmden continued, thanks to the hard work from the whole EnviTec family, whose daily dedication, team spirit and power to innovate has helped to promote and pursue biogas as a versatile and renewable resource. Von Lehmden: “From our holding company to our teams in Plant Engineering, Service or Own Operations – our employees are the engine that keeps our company running.”
Von Lehmden also honoured EnviTec’s championing of biogas, despite minimal support from renewable energy market policy, and the pioneering attitude it maintains to this day. Recent figures (2021) show that 9,692 biogas plants and 233 biomethane plants now operate in Germany, using domestic residues/wastes and renewable raw materials to produce some 100 TWh/a of biogas and biomethane every year – all year round and whatever the weather. As a renewable, climate-neutral and gaseous energy source, biogas offers a flexible and demand-based solution for generating power and heat in CHP plant, in the chemical industry or fuelling the transport sector. “This makes biomethane a key part of any strategy to replace Russian energy imports,” von Lehmden continues. “In the medium term, we can swap around 25 percent of Russian imports for biomethane in Germany – a sustainable, domestic and continuously available energy source.”
EnviTec is also moving into brand new territory with its entry into the advanced fuels market, facilitated by its acquisition and conversion of the Güstrow biomass energy plant. “For us, Güstrow is a declaration of our commitment to climate mitigation efforts in transport: from early 2023, we will be looking to supply significant quantities of purified bio LNG to help ‘green’ heavy goods traffic,” von Lehmden explains. News of Güstrow’s conversion into Germany’s largest integrated bio LNG liquefaction plant has travelled fast in the market and the first contracts with customers who will offer EnviTec’s climate-neutral LNG have already been signed.
Branching out to exploit new markets and new opportunities has also meant major expansions to the company workforce, notes the CEO: “As employers, we value our teams and have kept decision-making local rather than top-down – which is also why many of our employees can now look back on over ten years with our company.” EnviTec Biogas currently has a wide range of opportunities for new hires at both its locations in Germany. The project management and customer service teams are continuously expanding, with sales and back office positions also regularly being offered.
“Last but not least,” von Lehmden concludes, “we’d obviously like to thank our customers, who have maintained their trust in our company for over twenty years, and have valued our expertise not only in plant construction but also in after sales, and the technical and biological services we offer.”
About EnviTec Biogas AG
EnviTec Biogas AG covers the entire value chain for the production of biogas, including the planning and turnkey construction of biogas plants and biogas upgrading plants as well as their commissioning. The company takes charge of biological and technical services on demand, and also offers operational management services. EnviTec operates 89 of its own plants, making it one of the largest biogas producers in Germany. EnviTec’s business interests also include the direct marketing of upgraded biomethane as well as the marketing of electricity and balancing energy. The company is represented in 16 countries worldwide by its own companies, sales offices, strategic partners and joint ventures. In 2021, the EnviTec Group generated revenue of EUR 262.4 million and EBT of EUR 23.3 million. The Group currently employs more than 550 people worldwide. EnviTec Biogas AG has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since July 2007.