Senate announces merger of Hamburg Energie und Wärme Hamburg

21 April 2021

New municipal energy supplier from January 2022 - electricity, gas and heat to come from a single source

Hamburg Energie and Wärme Hamburg are to merge on January 1, 2022 - a move which will see electricity, gas and heating solutions for private and business customers come from a single source in future, the senate announced Saturday (April 17, 2021). No changes are expected for existing customers and all employees will keep their jobs.

Merger to have positive impact on climate protection

The merger will be advantageous for the energy transition and should help achieve climate targets and in terms of costs, said Jens Kerstan, Senator for the Environment. "As a result, we as a city are positioning ourselves even more powerfully and better to advance the energy transition and save more greenhouse gases. Hamburg is actively shaping energy and climate policy since buying back the energy grids. This is a great advantage for us as a city and a federal state." A referendum in 2013 resulted in a majority vote in favour of Hamburg buying back the energy grids.

Energy suppliers to expand product range

The merger will allow the energy suppliers to pool their expertise and expand their product range, said Christian Heine, Managing Director of Wärme Hamburg. "Hamburg Energie and Wärme Hamburg have great, strategic similarities, both bear the name of our city and feel particularly committed to it. We can now meet this commitment even better as a strong, integrated regional supplier for private and business customers."

850 employees at new supplier

While Wärme Hamburg currently supplies around 500,000 residential units in Hamburg with heating and hot water, Hamburg Energie supplies around 150,000 customers with green electricity and is one of Hamburg's largest solar and wind energy producers. The merged company will offer the entire value chain of generation, distribution and sales for energy and employ around 850 people.

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