Flick Gocke Schaumburg advises EWE on successful completion of model for participation of municipalities in energy supply networks

EWE AG has successfully completed the second phase of its model, first introduced in 2013, for the participation of local authorities in the power grids operated by EWE NETZ GmbH. A Flick Gocke Schaumburg team led by Bonn partner Michael Erkens advised EWE on all aspects of corporate and capital markets law, including the coordination with BaFin, the financial regulator in Germany.
 
Based on this model, a total of 123 municipalities have joined EWE AG as partners. These municipalities represent around 67% of the population and about 65% of the area covered by the municipalities which were offered EWE AG stakes. Through the shareholding model, EWE AG aims to intensify cooperation with these local authorities, whose investments will help to bring about the energy turnaround, particularly in network expansion, and which will gain influence on the energy supply networks.

EWE AG, headquartered in Oldenburg, Germany, is an integrated energy supply company that – in addition to energy – operates in telecommunications and information technology. The EWE Group employs around 9,100 people and is the fifth largest German energy supplier.

EWE NETZ GmbH is the EWE Group’s largest energy network company with a total network length of around 82,000 kilometers in the electricity sector and about 56,000 kilometers in the gas supply sector. This also makes EWE NETZ GmbH one of the largest distribution network operators in Germany

Advisors to EWE AG:
Flick Gocke Schaumburg, Bonn: Michael Erkens (lead, corporate and capital markets), Jochen Bahns (tax), Ingo Fuchs (corporate and capital markets), Stefan Thilo (capital markets), Thomas Lakenberg (corporate); associate: Fabian Mang (tax)