Under our Early Bird motto, we are presenting various start-ups, projects and fund investments of the Group, showing how EWE is taking early advantage of the opportunities of digitalisation, and developing digital business models based on these opportunities.
In keeping with this motto, those responsible from the projects explain themselves what makes their own project special, and the good news is that climate protection is often core to their thinking.
The early bird
Digital business models in focus
Pioneering work at EWEThe Group is focusing on the topics of climate protection and digitalisation. These two issues will shape the years and decades to come. At EWE, they go hand in hand and complement each other. But how can this be achieved, in concrete terms? With innovative solutions and new approaches and perspectives!
Not a Caribbean dance, LiMBO is a German acronym meaning ‘monitoring, evaluating and optimising real estate’. Local authorities usually manage a large number of properties and buildings and set ambitious energy-efficiency targets. Professional energy management systems provide support in achieving these goals. Various subsidies are available for implementing and certifying professional energy management systems. LiMBO can be the foundation of an energy management system as a software solution eligible for subsidies.
Energy reports at the touch of a button
Local authorities can use LiMBO for partially automated capture of their properties, such as schools, gymnasiums, swimming pools, town halls, etc. as well as their electricity, gas, heat and water consumption data. Based on key energy figures and benchmarks, the need for action to improve the energy efficiency of the property is analysed and the corresponding measures are documented. The display of the consumption values directly shows the effects and changes achieved. Cost and CO2 emission trends are also calculated and displayed. Local authorities can also use LiMBO to instantly generate energy reports for their properties, which they will be required to produce for the first time in Lower Saxony for 2022. During the development phase, the team worked closely with local authorities to adapt the product precisely to their needs. LiMBO also focuses on coordination with its municipal customers in further developing the software. The municipality of Schortens was the first to sign a contract with EWE
Three questions for Christoph Wahmhoff, Innovations business segment
What is your business model all about?
LiMBO is a carefully coordinated software solution for municipal energy management, which we offer throughout Germany out of the Innovation business segment.What makes LiMBO an early bird?
Local municipalities face an increasing need to implement energy efficiency and climate protection measures and to make the effects tangible. Cost savings and, most importantly, the carbon footprint are big drivers here as well. Through continuous monitoring, LiMBO displays at a glance where the municipalities have the greatest potential leverage to achieve their objectives. We have been working on the needs of the municipalities over recent years with the enera project, seamlessly transitioning into the development of LiMBO. This means that we are now in a position to launch a product that stands out from other established facility management tools, with plenty of lead time for the upcoming energy reporting obligation in 2022.What problems are you trying to solve with Limbo?
EWE is a municipally-owned company, to which the municipalities are linked in various roles; among others as shareholder, regulatory authority, and customer. Our aim as a partner is to provide support, while at the same time successfully marketing a product that precisely fits the needs of the municipalities. We plan to steadily expand the existing core functions, naturally trying also to integrate additional Group-internal business models from, for example, the fields of electric mobility, photovoltaic potential and CO2 accounting. Lots of ideas are already out there.
Our colleagues at gridlux have also recognised and internalised the concept that “fibre optics are the main artery of digitalisation, ensuring our economic and social future over the long term”. In 2021, gridlux received an award from the German Association of Local Utilities (VKU) for its idea of strategic preliminary planning for FTTx projects, for example to identify fibre-optic expansion areas more quickly and cost-effectively. The cloud-service bundles all the necessary resources to ensure rapid planning of potential expansion areas.
Germany’s fibre optic boom continues to gain momentum. Reliable, stable and high-performance internet access is a success factor for businesses and locations. gridlux is already working on innovative approaches in the field of artificial intelligence, allowing expansion planning to be mapped entirely digitally. All the key data is prepared by software in a matter of seconds.
Headwind for fibre optic expansion
The gridlux software is disrupting fibre optic expansion planning and creating competitive advantages. In particular, the fundamental processes of area selection are significantly simplified and ultimately rendered more efficient. Strategic decisions can be made faster thanks to gridlux. You can find more information about the work gridlux is doing here.
Three questions for Arne Drees, Product Owner of gridlux
