02.06.2023
On June 1, 2023, the Energy Storage Association INES (Initiative Energien Speichern) welcomed a new member: HanseWerk AG. The INES general assembly unanimously approved the admission at the beginning of May. HanseWerk AG is the fifteenth INES member company.
The cooperation between INES and HanseWerk AG began in the course of the work on the implementation of the German Gas Storage Act in 2022. Against the background of the requirements arising at short notice, INES had, among other things, developed a guideline and also invited external companies from the storage industry to participate. HanseWerk accepted the invitation and was intensively involved in the work of the association.
"We are pleased that we can now consolidate and expand our cooperation and that with HanseWerk we can bring even more expertise from the industry into our ranks," explains INES Managing Director Sebastian Bleschke. "With the expansion of our membership, we are sustainably strengthening our profile as the most important contact and central lobby organization for the operators of gas and hydrogen storage facilities in Germany."
HanseWerk AG operates a natural gas storage facility south of Schwerin in Kraak with a capacity of around 204 million cubic meters or about 2.4 terawatt hours. This corresponds to around one percent of German gas storage capacities. The Kraak cavern storage facility is the only gas storage facility in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Eva Maria Diederichs, Head of the Kraak HanseWerk storage facility, comments on the INES membership as follows: “The world of energy and therefore also the storage world is undergoing profound change. Even before these new tasks, it is important to ensure energy security permanently and reliably. The storage transformation that has started can only be carried out together and with bundled expertise. As a new INES member, we are all the more pleased to be able to contribute our part to an independent and stable energy supply.”
BACKGROUND ON INES
INES is the association of gas and hydrogen storage system operators in Germany. INES’ members represent over 90 per cent of German gas storage capacities and account for about 25 per cent of gas storage capacities in the European Union. INES’ member companies also push the development of underground hydrogen storage in numerous projects and thereby form pioneers in this important technology field for the energy transition.
The members of INES are astora GmbH, bayernugs GmbH, Enovos Storage GmbH, Erdgasspeicher Peissen GmbH, Etzel-Kavernenbetriebsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, EWE Gasspeicher GmbH, HanseWerk AG, OMV Gas Storage Germany GmbH, RWE Gas Storage West, NAFTA Speicher GmbH & Co. KG, STORAG Etzel GmbH, Storengy Deutschland GmbH, Trianel Gasspeicher Epe GmbH & Co. KG, Uniper Energy Storage GmbH and VNG Gasspeicher GmbH.
BACKGROUND ON HANSEWERK
More than 3 million customers in northern Germany obtain electricity, gas or heat directly or indirectly via the energy networks operated by the HanseWerk Group and its subsidiaries. In addition, the company offers its partners and customers modern and efficient energy solutions with a focus on network operation, decentralized energy generation or e-mobility solutions. As a partner in the energy transition, the HanseWerk Group has connected tens of thousands of systems for generating renewable energy to its grids in recent years and operates around 850 energy conversion systems and a natural gas storage facility at the same time.
Image: HanseWerk AG