In addition to the expansion of renewable energies and the reduction of greenhouse gases, improving energy use is a key pillar of the energy revolution. Here you will find information about our many measures to improve energy efficiency.
Energy efficiency at EnBW
1. Network energy efficiency and climate protection
In order to contribute to increasing energy efficiency in industry, trade, commerce and crafts, the German government, together with associations and organisations from industry, has concluded an agreement on the nationwide introduction of energy efficiency and climate protection networks. The energy efficiency networks established under the first association agreement proved to be a successful approach to saving energy and hence reducing emissions. In 2020, the parties extended this agreement by five years while placing greater focus on climate protection. By the end of 2025, a further 300 to 350 networks are to be established. These will continue to work on the goals of saving energy, reducing carbon emissions and reducing energy costs on a long-term basis.
EnBW has been a pioneer in the area of energy efficiency and climate protection with our successful EnBW Energy and Climate Networks that we have been offering as a service to our industry customers for the last 19 years. More than 120 industrial companies are participants in the seven networks running in 2025. EnBW has now held more than 700 network meetings – which are currently frequently held online and which are sometimes opened up to give participants in all of the networks the opportunity to come together and discuss specialist themes.
2. Energy efficiency in buildings
EnBW Real Estate GmbH – a wholly owned subsidiary of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG – is responsible for the most important real estate activities in the Group. It is aiming to reduce the CO₂ emissions
from the real estate portfolio and improve energy efficiency. The portfolio managed by EnBW Real Estate GmbH comprises about 130 properties with approximately 300 buildings and a net floor space of around 690,000 m².
The goal is to reduce the specific energy consumption of existing buildings by 10% by 2025 and by 20% by 2030, based on the reference year of 2018. We had achieved a reduction in energy consumption of around 20 % at the benchmark sites by the end of 2024.
We use an energy management system (EnMS) certified according to ISO 50001 as a fundamental part of our work to regularly monitor and improve the energy consumption in buildings.
A program of measures to achieve a “climate-neutral real estate portfolio” was launched in 2023 and we plan to reach this goal by 2035. The program covers around 250 buildings and the following measures: approximately 30 energy-focused building refurbishments, including changing over to heat pumps in some cases, the expansion of more than 90 PV plants, a comprehensive switch to LED lighting, digital metering systems and the implementation of smart building automation systems. Reducing CO₂ emissions and energy consumption are also a priority in the renovation of our sites.
The energy-efficient refurbishment of our buildings in Mühlacker and Altbach is currently at the execution planning stage, while preliminary plans are being developed for the buildings at the sites in Biberach, Böblingen and Neuhausen.
Our two new construction projects in Oberndorf and Osterburken are in the execution phase and we are also planning to construct a new building in Tauberbischofsheim. These buildings will comply with the EG 40 EE standard and, in combination with a PV plant, some of them will generate more energy than they consume themselves, thus making an important contribution to improving energy efficiency in our real estate portfolio.
Work on the first PV plants in Aglasterhausen, Biberach, Esslingen, Urbach and Veringenstadt with a total output of 740 kWp is now complete and they have been connected to the grid. Other PV plants with a total output of approx. 1,560 kWp are currently being constructed in Biberach, Boxberg, Ettlingen, Forst and Karlsruhe.
We have already successfully switched from conventional to LED lighting at the sites in Altbach and Esslingen and are currently developing the plans to replace the lighting at the sites in Karlsruhe, Stuttgart and Biberach.
Smart, forward-looking building management systems will also be installed at the two largest sites in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart to reduce energy consumption and improve the thermal comfort there. In addition, we are also developing detailed measurement and metering concepts for a large proportion of our sites. This will create transparency about our energy consumption and help us optimize the energy-efficient operation of the sites.
3. Energy efficiency in water supply
Stuttgart water supply produces more energy than it uses
NETZE BW Wasser GmbH, a subsidiary of Netze BW GmbH, operates the Stuttgart water supply. Due to the topographical location of the water network, energy can be recovered from the power of the water and then used locally or fed into the power grid. The basic idea is that the "hydraulic potential" is not lowered by pressure reducing valves, but is converted into electrical energy by means of backward running pumps before the water is fed into the municipal distribution network. An electricity requirement of approximately 1.4 GWh per year is offset by a recovery up to 3.7 GWh of electrical energy. About 0.8 GWh of the generated electricity can be consumed by the city itself. This covers about 57 % of the company's own electricity requirements. By feeding the remaining 2.8 GWh of electrical energy back into the public power supply grid, fossil fuels can be substituted. Thus it is possible to avoid about 2,200 tonnes of CO₂ per year.
Since Netze BW Wasser GmbH buys 100% green electricity, the purchase of the gigawatt hour of electricity still required from the grid is CO₂-neutral. Even if the CO₂ emissions caused by the demand for fuels and gas (0.26 GWh and 0,75 GWh) are included in the balance sheet, the bottom line is that Netze BW Wasser GmbH's balance sheet shows approximately a remaining of minus 2,000 tonnes of CO₂.
Netze BW Wasser GmbH currently operates 19 turbines with a total output of around 1.4 MW at 15 sites in the urban area of Stuttgart. The power range extends from turbines with only 1.5 kW to aggregates with 315 kW active power. Although the recovery of energy from drinking water is not subsidized under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), the aim is to further expand and exploit even small recovery potentials.
Since 2016, Netze BW Wasser GmbH has had a certified energy management system in accordance with ISO 50001, which helps to identify potential savings and sustainably reduce energy consumption. Since its introduction, total annual energy consumption has been reduced by around 35 % (electricity: -33 %, gas: -45 %, fuels -32 %). Energy recovery has been more than doubled by around 130 %. By supporting energy management systems in accordance with ISO 50001 at the Filderwasserversorgung and Strohgäu Wasserversorgung water utility associations, Netze BW Wasser GmbH also supports the continuous improvement of energy efficiency outside its own boundaries.
4. Green IT
We have been able to significantly reduce energy consumption in our data centers using indirect, free cooling systems and hot aisle/cold aisle housings, as well as by increasing the temperature spread, raising the temperature level, using waste heat to heat the offices and utilizing energy-efficient hardware. As part of our ongoing efforts to optimize the energy efficiency of our data centers, we have also been able to identify and successfully implement additional measures for improving efficiency. Furthermore, we are planning to dismantle one data center and this will not only reduce the needs of our own IT resources but also improve the utilization of other existing resources.
We place great importance on sustainable purchasing practices when procuring new IT components and plan to improve these practices even further in the future. Furthermore, we also pay close attention to the environmental friendliness and sustainability of our cloud system providers.
The IT initiative “Drive it25” included a series of IT activities aimed at delivering greater sustainability in and through the use of IT. At the beginning of 2025, we established the Competence Center Sustainable IT to structure the management of measures related to all of our IT resources in line with the EnBW Sustainability Agenda. These measures now cover the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic and social. We are meeting the increasing demands placed on IT through digitalization by intensifying our efforts to make our solutions more sustainable. Some measures that are particularly worthy of mention include the use of a sustainable search engine across the Group, the reduction in digital barriers for greater inclusion, intensive efforts to make the carbon footprint of our IT much more transparent and the fact that we have already succeeded in reducing our paper consumption by approx. 80% since 2019.