Hamburg's energy plants: massive investments despite falling profits!

Hamburg's energy plants: massive investments despite falling profits!

On July 16, 2025, Hamburger Energiewerke (HEnW) will be the center of attention as Senator Katharina Fegebank (Greens) praises the company's work. Despite a decline in the annual surplus to 48.9 million euros, which corresponds to a minus of 37.3 million euros compared to 2023, the senator is optimistic about future developments. In recent years, the company has benefited from high electricity prices, which led to a positive annual result of 86.2 million euros in the 2023 financial year, which exceeded expectations by around six million euros. This result was transferred in full to the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, like hamburger-energiewerke.de reported.

The current decline in sales is due to lower income from electricity sales at trading venues. Around 160,000 electricity and gas customers in the metropolitan region are supplied by Hamburger Energiewerke. The company also operates a district heating network that reaches around 260,000 households. A central goal of HEnW by 2030 is to generate district heating without hard coal, which is a crucial measure in the heat transition.

Large investments and taking on debt

In 2024, Hamburger Energiewerke will have borrowed over 400 million euros on the capital market in order to make extensive investments. Investments totaling 2.5 billion euros are planned for the coming years up to 2029, which include, among other things, the conversion of the Tiefstack thermal power plant. The HEnW plans to invest around 2.85 billion euros in Hamburg's heating transition between 2022 and 2028, which underlines their ambitions for modernization and sustainability.

• Geplante Investitionen bis 2029: 2,5 Milliarden Euro
• Aktuelle Schuldenaufnahme: über 400 Millionen Euro in 2024
• Wärme ohne Steinkohle bis 2030
• 160.000 Strom- und Gaskunden
• 260.000 Haushalte im Fernwärmenetz

In addition, HEnW has contracts with several business customers, including big names such as Lufthansa Technik and airports, to diversify their income. Future offerings include photovoltaic systems, heat pumps and wall boxes to meet the increasing demands for renewable energy.

Overall, the situation at Hamburger Energiewerke shows that despite the current challenges, in particular a decline in annual profit and a difficult market environment, the plans for the future are optimistic. The extensive investments and commitment to sustainable energy solutions are at the heart of their business, such as mopo.de reported.