More and more companies with high electricity demands are looking for a sustainable energy supply. Many have already signed direct supply contracts for green power. "The next stage is an in-house production", says Markus W. Voigt, CEO of the aream Group.

In the near future, many companies will also try to electrify as much of their fossil fuel needs as possible. "The chemical industry is an example for this", Voigt says. "This means that the demand for green power will rise sharply." Not all of that demand, however, can be reliably purchased on the market. In-house, sustainable production capacities become the key factor here.

Demand for electricity from renewable sources is already very high today. It is driven above all by the objective of many large companies to become climate-neutral as quickly as possible. Companies such as BMW, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Google, Ikea and Walmart are members of the RE100 initiative. This has set itself the goal of producing CO2-free as quickly as possible.

"That drives up the price of green power", says Voigt. "Within a year, the price for long-term direct purchase contracts has almost doubled from around 42 euros per MWh to over 72 euros." In addition to security of supply, these price increases are another reason why companies are increasingly turning to their own production. "Moreover, greater independence from the public power supply makes company processes more predictable", says Voigt.

As a rule, electricity production is shelved into own units. "There is then a great deal of freedom of design, especially with regard to prices and price fixing", says Voigt. "But in addition, these units definitely deliver returns." And not just by selling the electricity not used by the company itself to customers or tenants, for example. "Guarantees of origin that are not used by the company itself can also be exploited and offered on the market", Voigt says.

The political mood is also very much in favor of such projects. "Approval procedures are to be accelerated and grid expansion and trading in guarantees of origin standardized", says Voigt. For companies, this will make investments in their own plants more plannable and ultimately more profitable.