- 2G signs framework agreement for the supply of CHP plants with Centrica Business Solutions UK Ltd.
- Canadian utility Enbridge Gas Inc. orders two further hydrogen engines.
- Order intake in 2022 on level with 2021 despite of multiple crises.
- Management Board reaffirms sales expectations for 2023 (EUR 310 to 350 million) and 2024 (up to EUR 390 million).
Heek – 2G Energy AG (ISIN DE000A0HL8N9), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems, has signed a framework supply agreement with Centrica Business Solutions UK Ltd., a subsidiary of Centrica plc which is listed in the FTSE 100 index on the London Stock Exchange.
Centrica Business Solutions builds, operates and maintains energy assets that help organisations to decarbonise and save money, specialising in onsite, behind-the-meter energy solutions for the public sector and large industrial businesses – integrating hydrogen-ready CHPs, large-scale solar PV and heat pump technology. Their portfolio includes CHP plants with a total capacity of over 700 MW in the UK, the USA, Italy and the Netherlands.
“With this step, Centrica is responding to the growing need for integrated hydrogen solutions, which are key to decarbonising the energy supply in the UK. The fact that Centrica will partner with 2G to provide its customers with highly efficient, hydrogen-ready, combined heat and power solutions, shows once again that 2G is regarded as a technology leader internationally”, as CTO Frank Grewe states.
The first orders are expected as early as the first quarter of 2023.
Consistently high customer interest with a temporary decline in orders in Q4
In the last quarter, 2G continued to register lively interest from customers. However, this demand did not translate into orders with the same speed as was the case in the previous year. For the fourth quarter, the order intake stood at EUR 37.1 million, down around 29 % from the previous year.
The order intake in the last quarter breaks down as follows:
| Q4 2022 | Q4 2021 | Change | ||||
| in EUR million | in % | in EUR million | in % | in EUR million | in % | |
| Germany | 20.5 | 55 % | 25.3 | 49 % | -4.8 | -19 % |
| Rest of Europe | 11.4 | 31 % | 15.6 | 30 % | -4.2 | -27 % |
| North/Central America | 2.0 | 5 % | 7.8 | 15 % | -5.8 | -74 % |
| Asia/Australia | 1.6 | 4 % | 1.0 | 2 % | 0.6 | 60 % |
| Rest of the world | 1.5 | 4 % | 2.4 | 5 % | -0.9 | -38 % |
| Total | 37.1 | 100 % | 52.1 | 100 % | -15.0 | – 29 % |
The temporary slowdown in orders received is the result of the general uncertainty currently affecting the global economy. In Germany and Europe, pending political decisions on the electricity and gas price brake and on a windfall tax on the profits of biogas plants led to a wait-and-see stance.
“We can certainly see growing interest again in highly efficient, distributed energy generation solutions. Our systems are still highly cost-effective which means that our national and international project pipelines are fuller than ever,” CEO Christian Grotholt explains. “Resilience of supply, cost-effectiveness and sustainability are key for many companies. Only fuel-variable Combined Heat and Power systems can already satisfy this holy trinity in full today.”
Against this background, the Management Board is explicitly reaffirming its latest sales targets for 2023 (EUR 310 to 350 million) and 2024 (up to EUR 390 million).
Enbridge Gas Inc. orders two further hydrogen engines
The Management Board also perceives cause for optimism in the fact that 2G hydrogen technology is creating rising demand in North America. In December, 2G received a further order from the Canadian utility Enbridge Gas Inc. to supply a hydrogen cogeneration unit. Following the first order in April (2G reported on this in its CN on 3/5/2022) and a follow-up order in September, this was already the third hydrogen engine to be installed by 2G for a cogeneration project in North America.
Enbridge Gas Inc. is Canada’s largest company for the storage, transportation and distribution of natural gas, providing around 3.9 million customers with reliable energy. Thanks to its net zero emissions targets and investments in innovative, low-carbon energy solutions, Enbridge Gas is leading the transition to a clean energy future.
The recently ordered self-supply CHP will initially run on natural gas at the company’s Toronto site. Enbridge Gas will launch the system on blended gas, approximately 25 percent of which will be hydrogen. Depending on the results of the initial blend, the utility will continue increasing the percentage of hydrogen in the pipeline until the CHP system is running on 100 percent hydrogen. “With this strategy, Enbridge Gas is demonstrating its foresight,” states CEO Christian Grotholt. “As soon as the supply of hydrogen has been secured, this CHP system can switch over to carbon-free operation virtually without interruption.”
This latest hydrogen order follows a series of further orders last year. In total, 2G gained nine orders for the supply of hydrogen cogeneration units.
2G company portrait
The 2G Energy AG Group is an internationally leading manufacturer of decentralized energy supply systems. With the development, production and technical installation as well as digital grid integration of combined heat and power systems (CHPs), the company offers comprehensive solutions in the growth market for highly efficient CHPs. After-sales and maintenance services comprise an important additional performance criterion. The product range especially includes CHP modules in the 20 kW and 4,500 kW range for operation utilizing hydrogen, natural gas, biogas as well as other lean gases. Worldwide, more than 8,000 installed 2G systems in various applications supply electrical and thermal energy to a broad spectrum of customers including companies in the housing industry, agriculture, commercial and industrial companies, public energy utilities, and municipal and local government authorities.
2G benefits from global long-term trends that make efficient and decentralized energy solutions ever more important. These trends include not only rising energy demand but also the need to conserve natural resources. The parallel generation of electrical and thermal energy makes CHP technology more efficient and climate-compatible than conventional power conversion methods, especially when, for example, hydrogen of regenerative origin is harnessed as fuel. 2G power plants can offset wind and solar power plant production fluctuations as required, thereby forming a backbone technology for future supply concepts, especially in the deployment of hydrogen engines. As a consequence, 2G’s customers derive consistent benefits from economically and ecologically highly beneficial innovations that rapidly pay for themselves and create extensive added values.
2G is consistently expanding its technological leadership through continuous research and development work, both in gas engine technology for hydrogen, natural gas and biogas applications, as well as in specific software development. Moreover, in the energy revolution’s future electricity market design, the digitalization that 2G consistently implements forms an indispensable system-relevant element in combination with solar, wind, biogas and natural gas producers, and creates a high barrier to market entry for competitors.
Read the most up to date Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Industry news at FuelCellsWorks
2G employs more than 800 employees at its headquarters in Heek, Germany, in North America, as well as at five other European locations. The company is active in more than 50 countries and generated net sales of EUR 266 million in the 2021 financial year. 2G was founded in 1995 and has been listed on the capital market since 2007. The shares of 2G Energy (ISIN DE000A0HL8N9) are listed in the “Scale” segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
