The 20th Congress for Wood Energy will take place from 22nd to 30th September 2020. Industry representatives will talk about current market developments, legislative initiatives, discuss recommendations for action and present project examples. As platform for exchange of experience and for personal discussions the congress is likewise very estimated. In view of the current situation regarding COVID-19, the leading event of the German wood energy market was converted into a digital event format and this year’s motto is: Wood energy goes digital!
The Brüning | Group is also represented. Philipp Pinnow and Matthias Warnke will be present virtually via live connection and talk about the current situation on the market for renewable resources and for waste wood. The two are accepting the invitation of the Bundesverband BioEnergie e.V. (BBE) with the request, as biomass experts, to comment on the current market situation.
Matthias Warnke explains: “Currently both markets are struggling with a material surplus. In our presentation we will discuss the influencing factors and show that the markets have become very European in recent years. This makes it even more important for us to gather all the information about all the markets in order to be able to assess market developments for our domestic German partners in the best possible way. We share our results with our partners. We hope that our presentation will encourage other companies to build new plants so that more material can be recycled in their own country.”
Philipp Pinnow adds: “Moreover, our intention is to guarantee security of supply to potential customers who deal with the topic ‘biomass cogeneration plant’. This always has the highest priority – of course regional wood is preferred and only in case of necessity internationally marketed or purchased. It is important to find out in advance exactly which biomass is available in which quantities in the respective region – we are happy to help our partners with this.”
Coincidentally, the amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), which is to come into force on 1st January 2021, is being prepared almost simultaneously with the conference. The bioenergy industry is hoping to receive a tailwind from politicians here. The federal states demand from the federal government to implement their targets for bioenergy formulated in the Climate Action Programme 2030 and to develop concepts for maintaining the energy industry functions and the environmental and climate protection performance of bioenergy plants. According to the federal states, there is a high degree of urgency and incentives must be provided in the short term in order to do justice to the manifold functions of bioenergy.
Philipp Pinnow states: “We want to encourage politicians to continue their commitment to the issue and provide the necessary framework conditions. But we also aim to make the market as a whole more open to international volume exchange between neighbouring European countries. Germany is an export country for biomass – there is still sufficient raw material available to realise new power plant projects.”
We are looking forward to the congress with hopefully many new impulses and a lively exchange of ideas among experts.