German Pellets acquired interest in WUN Bioenergie

Nov 19, 2012. /Lesprom Network/. German Pellets GmbH, Wismar, is a new shareholder of WUN Bioenergie GmbH, which operates a biomass combined heat and power plant and a pellet production facility in Wunsiedel, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network. German Pellets will hold 12% of the shares of this showcase project in the Fichtelgebirge region of Germany. WUN Bioenergie and German Pellets have been co-operating in sales and raw-material supply for the pellet production facility since the start of production in late 2011. The successful co-operation will now be further strengthened with German Pellets’ investment. Both parties are profiting from the partnership. For German Pellets the joint venture represents the ideal complement to its existing concept for production and trade partners. At the same time WUN Bioenergie has gained a strong and competent partner for sales and raw-material supply. “German Pellets is a future-orientated company that shares our aim of successfully promoting the energy transition,” said Marco Krasser, managing director of WUN Bioenergie GmbH. German Pellets spokesperson Claudia Röhr had the following to say about the co-operation: “It is our common goal to supply consumers with environmentally friendly and renewable energy, helping them become independent from the increasing energy prices and dwindling fossil resources.” Regional value creation is an important consideration for all shareholders. The transport routes are short and energy efficient. The raw materials used for pellet production and the biomass combined heat and power plant come from the heavily forested Fichtelgebirge region and local sawmill operations. The wood pellets are marketed regionally, and the electricity generated in the biomass power station is fed into the grid. The aim is to achieve energy self-sufficiency for the region in the future. “Decentralised energy supply is especially important in rural regions. It secures the future energy supply and creates jobs,” said German Pellets spokesperson Claudia Röhr. For example, ten direct jobs – and roughly three times as many indirect jobs – were created with the construction of the pellet plant and power station. The regional utility company SWW Wunsiedel, as majority shareholder, has been committed to decentralised and environmentally friendly energy supply for many years. SWW operates local heating networks with pellet heating systems in the region. With the wood pellets from the Wunsiedel production facility, which has an annual capacity of 35,000 metric tons, 9,000 households can be supplied with green heat from wood pellets. The WUN Bioenergie combined heat and power station produces enough green electricity for 2,000 households in the region. German Pellets GmbH was founded in 2005 in Wismar (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany) and has since become the leading manufacturer of wood pellets in Germany and Europe. German Pellets produces wood pellets and animal-hygiene products at 12 sites in Germany and Austria.