28 | Focus on Germany: Dieffenbacher
Above left: Dieffenbacher Energy heat recovery steam generator at BS Energy in Braunschweig, Germany Above right: Dieffenbacher Energy heat recovery systems and process gas vessels for hydrogen production at BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany
giants and instead stay in the middle power generation bracket. “We are not able to quantify 500MW
power plants. We can execute power plants up to 150MW, this is our range.”
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE Dieffenbacher Energy cites a definite trend of customers seeking to become more independent from energy suppliers. Gas prices were unpredictable in 2022 and big rises were experienced – something which may be repeated in the future. With wood product manufacturers having
access to biomass, many are wanting to utilise it to make their own energy and thus insulate themselves from the fluctuations and uncertainties of fossil fuel-driven energy. “This will have a positive impact as they certificates if they burn oil or
have to buy CO2
gas, and if they burn biomass this will reduce their dependency on oil and gas,” explained Mr Lashofer.
“There is also an opportunity of burning
waste wood, as more of this material is becoming available on the market and furniture sellers are having to take used furniture back.” This provides two opportunities.
Customers can run Dieffenbacher recycling lines (Dieffenbacher successfully sells these for waste wood operations), with the top- quality recycled wood used for making new wood-based panels, while part of the lower- grade waste wood can be burned for energy. Of course, there are many factors that
must come into alignment when decisions are made to invest in new energy-generation, especially greenfield site investments. The price of biomass and waste wood and the price of energy are scrutinised by customers.
Dieffenbacher Energy currently has many
interested customers in range of potential projects, some expected in the near term and some in the coming years. “We definitely see a positive trend in this business,” said Mr Lashofer. “The demand for panel products is declining a little because the market is currently reduced, so manufacturers may rather invest in a power station to create more independence from energy rather increase their PB or MDF capacity. “Some of our customers making panel products are still very dependent on gas and are trying to become more independent from it, so there is a strong wish to find alternative sustainable power supply opportunities.”
Mr Ohlsson, who has been with Dieffenbacher 15 years, has witnessed what he calls a “tremendous change” over those years, with many WBP producers switching from gas or oil to invest in biomass combustion plant projects. “This was quite a big change because it meant much higher investment for the WBP producer. There were some customers already in the field of co-generation.” The trend experienced a peak two years
ago linked to the peak in electricity prices. Since then, the trend has moderated. Part of the reason for this change, aside from energy price fluctuations, is the demand and price of biomass, with virgin wood fibre sometimes being seen as too valuable to burn. Panel producers are more focused on using waste/recycled wood. “All the recycled material goes into the panel and what remains is for the fuel. So now we are confronted in the panel industry with many ideas.”
WBPI | December 2023/January 2024 |
www.wbpionline.com FUTURE TRENDS
Dieffenbacher Energy has an annual turnover target of around €100-150m. It enjoyed a good start to 2023 and its order book at the end of the year was at about €200m. The project pipeline is good, said Mr Lashofer. He said the business would aim to grow at a safe and sustainable rate, ensuring that it has sufficient resources to meet demand. Mr Lashofer highlighted the move by some
European governments to move away from residential gas heating systems in the future. “How can that be replaced in the cities?” he questioned, adding that extension of central heating systems powered by green energy would provide part of the solution. “Everyone has different opinions and
strategies, but I feel everyone wants to reduce risk and be energy independent.” Mr Ohlsson said there would be strong links between his team in Eppingen and the former Bertsch operations in Austria and Poland, with advantages in terms of the flexibility of the different sites and the different forms of expertise. There is some knowledge that is only based in Eppingen – the design of the reciprocating grate for example. In Bludenz and Vienna there is the knowledge and experience for fluidized bed technology as well as process heat recovery. “In terms of combustion size the fit is
perfect,” said Mr Ohlsson. “Bertsch was not a supplier of small solutions that are not useable in wood-based panels plants, nor was it supplying giant solutions that do not apply to the industry, so we had the synergies from the very beginning.” With energy systems a hot topic globally, Dieffenbacher’s energy business looks set to grow in the future. ●
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