EnBW completed the general purchase agreement for the purchase of 12 biogas plants from ALTUS AG

Stuttgart/Karlsruhe. Through a general purchase agreement with ALTUS AG, EnBW Erneuerbare Energien GmbH is purchasing the project rights to 12 biogas plants with a total electrical output of almost four megawatts. The two companies had already founded a project development joint venture in the wind power sector in 2009 and are now expanding their collaboration into biogas.

The biogas plants will be built mainly in Lower Saxony and in the new Bundesländer and will also be integrated into agricultural business. Biogas will be produced locally at the 12 sites and electricity and heat will be generated with a cogeneration power station. While the electricity will be fed into the public grid, the heating requirements of the agricultural businesses can be covered with the heat generated, insofar as it is not needed for the operation of the biogas plant itself. The average annual electricity production forecast for the biogas plants is around 30,000 megawatt hours. As a result, in one year we will be able to save around 19,000 tonnes of CO2 supply around 8,200 households. The first biogas plants are estimated to go online by mid-2010, and the remaining plants by mid-2011. EnBW Erneuerbare Energien GmbH will take over the projects once construction is complete and realise and operate them with support from Altus.

"For EnbW, the purchase of 12 biogas plants marks the entry into electricity generation from biogas plants. Consequently, EnBW is further developing renewable energies and is strengthening its existing portfolio of hydropower, onshore and offshore wind power, photovoltaics and biomass to include biogas," explains Stefan Thiele, spokesman for EnBW Erneuerbare Energien GmbH.

ALTUS AG shall develop the complete project, the management of the construction work and the constant technical management of the plants. For the biogas plants, the cooperation partners are relying on tested engineering from the company Novatech GmbH from Baden-Württemberg.

"We are pleased to have found a strong partner in EnBW Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, who offers our farmers the opportunity to create an extra cornerstone for the economic security of the company. The farmer as operator and sub-contractor will become an energy producer, thereby securing the future of his farm," comments Wolfgang Fettig, responsible Director of ALTUS AG, on the contract with EnBW.

EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG

With around six million customers and more than 21,000 employees, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG generated in 2009 an annual turnover of more than Euro 15 billion. As Germany's third-largest energy supplier, EnBW concentrates on the areas of electricity – divided into the business fields of generation and trading, grid and sales –, gas and energy and environmental services.

With an installed output of more than 15,000 MW, EnBW is one of Germany's most important energy generators. The aim of EnBW is to increase the proportion of renewable energies in its energy mix to around 20 percent by 2020. Apart from expanding onshore and offshore wind energy, alongside its traditionally high commitment to hydropower, EnBW is also using other mature technologies such as solar energy, biomass and biogas. In addition to generating electricity from biogas, EnBW has already committed itself to two projects generating bio natural gas from biogas.

ALTUS AG

ALTUS AG is an internationally operating project development company specialised in renewable energies (wind power, biogas and PV plants) which is based in Karlsruhe. It was created in 2008 from the merger of wat Ingenieursgesellschaft mbH and MFG Management & Finanzberatung AG. ALTUS AG takes care of the entire project development for renewable energies from feasibility studies and consulting about financing and realisation to the management and technical operational aspects. At present, the company is able to refer to projects with renowned partners around the world. ALTUS AG currently employs more than 70 people. It has branch offices in more than ten European countries and subsidiaries in Romania, Poland, Czech Republic and Greece. ALTUS AG is a member of Bundesverband WindEnergie e.V. and Fachverband Biogas e.V.

EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG
Corporate communications
Tel: 0721 63-14320
presse@enbw.com
www.enbw.com

ALTUS AG
Publicity
Tel: 0721 626 906 - 93
f.lichtner@altus-ag.de