Perhaps enercity’s story starts best in the mid-16th century. Back then, Hanover established a water distribution system. It featured wells and pipelines. For over 300 years, this system grew and was maintained. By 1875, Hanover’s magistrate decided to build a groundwater plant in Ricklingen. Hanover’s population had exceeded 100000. The simple wells no longer met the city’s needs. In 1878, the Ricklingen waterworks began. Facilities followed in Laatzen-Grasdorf in 1899 and near Fuhrberg in 1911.
Enercity’s evolution continued. In 1825, Hanover contracted with the Imperial Continental Gas Association. This British company replaced tallow street lamps with new gas lamps. The company maintained them. The Glocksee gasworks, Germany’s first gas plant, was built that year.
Fast forward to 1883. A combined plant generated electrical energy after the Ricklingen waterworks and the Glocksee gasworks. By 1891, the first electricity plant in Osterstraße connected to the grid.
In 1922, the water, electricity, and gas works merged. They formed the Städtische Betriebswerke. During World War II, at least 123 forced laborers worked.
Post-war, energy supply was a problem. But reconstruction and economic expansion helped the Städtische Betriebswerke. New facilities arose and networks expanded. In 1952, the Städtische Betriebswerke became Stadtwerke Hannover. The Linden heating plant, opened in 1962, started the district heating network.
The 1950s and 1960s brought growth. In November 1970, Hanover’s council transformed the utility facilities into a joint-stock company. On December 21, 1970, the state capital of Hanover became the sole shareholder of Stadtwerke Hannover AG. This change allowed Stadtwerke and Üstra to consolidate under Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft Hannover mbH. This enabled Enercity’s profits to offset Üstra’s losses.
The natural gas business began in the early 1970s. In 1982, the first cavern storage facility opened in Empelde. In 1989, the Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Hannover in Stöcken began operations. The first unit of the Stöcken coal plant will gradually shut down starting in late 2024.
In 1996, Stadtwerke Hannover became Enercity due to energy market liberalization. Since the early 1990s, Enercity has promoted biomass for heat and power. The Danpower GmbH share acquisition occurred in 2006.
Enercity shifted from fossil fuels to renewables in the 2010s. Susanna Zapreva, CEO from 2015 to 2023, implemented this change. In 2019, Enercity bought Gamesa Energie Deutschland GmbH. This increased investments in onshore wind power. Enercity then purchased 166 wind turbines from the Norderland Group in East Frisia.
In 2023, Enercity had about 52% electricity from renewables and about 22% heat. The goal is 85% renewable electricity by 2030. The company plans to end coal use between 2024 and 2030. Hanover aims for climate neutrality in electricity and heat by 2035. Enercity plans to invest 7.6 billion euros in decarbonization and renewable energy expansion by 2030. Aurélie Alemany became Enercity’s CEO on July 1, 2024.
Enercity’s 2023 revenue was about 9.2 billion euros.
From 1975 to 2023, the head office was in the Ihme-Zentrum. Since August 2023, it has been in a new building on the Glocksee site. Enercity’s customer center is in central Hanover near Kröpcke.
Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft Hannover owns 76% of Enercity’s share capital. Thüga AG owns the other 24%. A large part of Enercity’s profits goes back to VVG and Hanover. Enercity has stakes in regional energy companies. It manages operations for power plants in Stöcken and Linden. It also manages the gas storage facility in Empelde.
Enercity supplies over 700000 people in the Hanover region with electricity, natural gas, district heating, drinking water, and energy services.