HISTORY
The two founders Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Hanneken (l.) and Dipl.-Ing. Johannes Gehlenborg (r.)
The company bwe biogas-weser-ems GmbH & Co. KG & was founded in the year 2000, by the graduate engineer Johannes Gehlenborg and the graduate engineer Klaus Hanneken. Both partners had had previous work experience as planners in the sector; this enabled them to apply their concentrated expertise to the company.
The first biogas plants were implemented as early as 1997. After all, even prior to founding the company biogas weser-ems in the year 2000, these two engineers Johannes Gehlenborg (a specialist in mechanical engineering) and Klaus Hanneken (a specialist in structural engineering) designed and realised biogas plants in which various forms of grease, flotation tailing and residual substances from the food-processing industry were fermented.
The co-operation between these two general managers facilitated the rapid further development of this mid-sized company.
With the first-ever Energy Supply Code (passed in the year 2000), the establishment of biogas plants also became relevant in a commercial context.
With the amendment of the so-called Energy Supply Code in 2004, biogas plants have increasingly gained commercial appeal. This legislative action was followed by a veritable "mad dash" to set up such plants in which renewable raw materials are recycled.
In 2006, the first biogas-plant industrial parks were commissioned. These include the biogas park located in Felgentreu (Brandenburg) - an exemplary concept unprecedented on the pan-European level in terms of its relevance to environmental technologies and social policy.
In 2007, we moved into our new building located on the "Zeppelinring" – and marked the occasion with a weekend of festivities.
In the meantime, our market presence extends far beyond Germany's borders. For instance, since 2008, we are represented through our own branch offices in Italy, Spain and Poland. We can also register initial projects implemented in England, Hungary and Romania – as well as in Turkey, the Czech Republic and in the Baltic states. Since no energy-supply contracts are in place outside Germany, the prevailing commercial and legal conditions there are indeed vastly different. We face the associated challenges with expertise, dedication and reliability. For the future, we have made it our mission to further promote the international spreading of our biogas plants. In this age marked by globalisation and climate change, the premise is simple: such challenges do not end at national borders.
In mid-2010, the co-founder Johannes Gehlenborg (a graduate engineer), resigned his post as the General Manager of biogas weser-ems, yet continues to hold a stake in the company as a partner. The graduate engineer Rainer Noack is (along with the graduate engineer Klaus Hanneken) the new General Manager of biogas weser-ems and has been employed with the company since April 2010.
Nowadays, the company biogas weser-ems is among the leading suppliers in this sector. To this day, this company has successfully engineered and realised more than 250 plants. The output (in terms of planned projects and already-installed plants) amounts to approx.140 MWel. In the meantime, biogas weser-ems employs a work force of approx. 100 at its corporate headquarters in Friesoythe. Due to the vigorous expansion, an extension to this building is already in the planning stage. Designed with modern and state-of-the art techniques, it provides the necessary capacities to facilitate the company's sound further development.