Ulrich Wolf
Dresden. The hydrogen technology sector in Saxony has suffered a setback. Wolf Energetik GmbH, a Dresden-based company specializing in the storage of energy and hydrogen, filed for insolvency on 2 October. Dresden Local Court appointed Andreas Hiecke, a specialist lawyer in insolvency and restructuring law, as provisional administrator of the company's assets.
When asked by Sächsische.de, Hiecke stated that business operations are currently "continuing in full with all employees". The Wolf Energetik test facility will continue to be operated and the company is in contact with all parties involved. "At the same time, we are working on a long-term solution to maintain the research results achieved so far and to achieve market maturity."
Several million euros in funding from the EU, federal government and Saxony
The Dresden-based company describes itself as a "process provider for industry". For plant engineering in particular, a technology called Feredox has been developed for storing energy and hydrogen. "Our goal is to convert proven process chains to renewable energies," says the company's self-promotion. Wolf Energetik sees Feredox a "central building block for energy-efficient and competitive hydrogen projects".
The storage systems developed by the company are primarily intended for use in heavy-duty rail transportation. The company is working together with the Technical University of Dresden, the Freiberg Mining Academy and the freight transport provider Deutsche Eisenbahn Service AG, based in Putliz, Brandenburg. A test facility for the production of the Feredox-storage facility has been in operation since fall 2022. Other partners are EA Systems in Dresden and Tec4Fuels GmbH from Herzogenrath near Aachen.
The European Union as well as the federal and state governments are supporting the project. According to the company, the support from the Federal Ministry of Economics alone amounts to three million euros. Saxony holds a six percent stake in Wolf Energetik via investment companies.
Largest shareholder became known in Saxony with Choren
The largest shareholder with almost 50 percent is BW Energiesysteme GmbH, based in Bad Saarow, Brandenburg. Its boss Bodo Wolf is no stranger to Saxony: In 2011, he founded the company Choren in Freiberg a sensational failure there.
Other shareholders are the investment company of 44-year-old managing director Claudia Hain from Berlin and the Hamburg-based energy company Mabanaft. Wolf Energetik was founded in 2013 as Coal Refining GmbH in Bad Saarow and subsequently renamed twice. The company has been based in Dresden since 2021. It belongs to the network Decarbonization of industry cluster an.