dena Presents the Energy Efficiency Award to Four Projects

For the fourteenth time in succession, the Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) – the German Energy Agency – presented its Energy Efficiency Award to innovative energy efficiency projects in the private and public sector. The awards in four categories were presented as part of the dena Energy Transition Congress, which was held digitally for the first time this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Patron of the award, which is endowed with a total of EUR 30,000, is the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier.

The award winners, selected by a jury of representatives from politics, science, industry and media, are the following:

• In the category ‘From clever to digital: the broad spectrum of energy efficiency’, the award goes to the Bavarian tools manufacturer Hofmann & Vratny for fossil-free heating and cooling of buildings and production facilities. The measures introduced at their site in Aßling achieved energy savings of six per cent.
• In the category ‘Achieving more together: energy services as an enabler of the energy transition’, the award goes to the Rheinhessen-Nahe Energy Services Company of Nieder-Olm in the Rhineland Palatinate. Thanks to their efficient combination of a combined heat and power plant and biomass to supply heat and energy to the Nieder-Olm school centre, they achieved a 60 per cent reduction of CO₂ emissions.
• In the category ‘Think big! Complex energy efficiency projects’, the award goes to the tools manufacturer Overath SLM of Lohmar in North Rhine-Westphalia, and its sister company Overath EPP of Oebisfelde in Saxony-Anhalt, manufacturers of moulded foam products. These two have been able to make a leap in innovation by manufacturing tools using a 3D printing process. The energy savings achieved amount to 86 per cent during manufacturing of the tools and 79 per cent during their subsequent use.

The Audience Award, which was selected by the attendees of the online awards ceremony through a virtual live pitch, went to a project by Vonovia and Ampeers Energy.

“The Energy Efficiency Award honours entrepreneurs who tackle the challenges of climate policy with commitment and convincing ideas. With their solutions, they are working towards a low-emission future day by day and drive the integrated energy transition forward. This demonstrates possibilities to other players and inspires them to follow suit,” says dena’s Chief Executive, Andreas Kuhlmann, on the occasion of the award presentation.

Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) Thomas Bareiss goes on to say: “the winners of the Energy Efficiency Awards are proof that the innovative power of companies and their potential to make an important contribution to climate protection continues uninterrupted despite the coronavirus. By investing in energy-efficient technologies, they profit in the long term and boost their competitiveness”.

In total, 142 energy efficiency projects in Germany and abroad were entered for the Energy Efficiency Award this year, maintaining last year’s record response. The award is funded by the BMWi and supported by our premium partner KfW.

Comprehensive information on the competition can be found at www.EnergyEfficiencyAward.de. Further information on the dena Energy Efficiency Congress is available at www.dena-kongress.de