Energiekontor reaches finals for prestigious award

Peter Szabo, Dr Bodo Wilkens and Günter Lammers are among Germany’s finalists for the Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 award

Bremen, 22 November 2017. Last Friday in Berlin, Energiekontor AG was celebrated as one of 29 finalists selected from several hundred applications for the Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 award. The Company was represented by its CEO Peter Szabo and the Company founders Dr Bodo Wilkens and Günter Lammers. The competition, which is sponsored by the auditing and consultancy company EY (formerly Ernst & Young) for the 21^st time, distinguishes the best owner-managed medium-sized businesses in Germany.

The “Entrepreneur of The Year” is one of the most prestigious entrepreneurial awards worldwide. For more than 30 years, EY has been bestowing the award on select entrepreneurs in 60 countries for outstanding performance. The jury’s criteria include growth, potential, innovation, leadership and social responsibility. The award ceremony was held during a festive gala event at the Deutsches Historisches Museum, and was attended by guest speaker Christian Lindner (FDP leader), TV presenter Judith Rakers, and numerous other well-known personalities from the worlds of business, politics and culture.

“We are extremely happy to rank among the finalists in this prestigious competition,” commented Peter Szabo, Energiekontor CEO. “I see the award primarily as recognition for the hard work of our employees. It is thanks to their contribution that our company has been able to grow so successfully, quadrupling its share price within the last three years. The creativity and flexibility that they have demonstrated, something that has been key to achieving our goals, is due to our company’s decentralised organisational structure. By providing latitude, it encourages resourcefulness and self-responsibility.”

And Dr Bodo Wilkens, co-founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Energiekontor AG adds: “This nomination, which comes on the heels of our “Family-friendly company in the state of Bremen” award, shows that our company, with its continuity, its clear strategic direction and its distinctive corporate culture, is on the right path.”

Energiekontor’s aim is to promote the transition to 100% renewables in the scope of a sustainable growth process. In keeping with the spirit that led to its founding over 25 years ago, the company is looking to take on a pioneering role in this field, and be among the first to set up commercially viable wind and solar projects able to operate without state funding. The first of these is likely to be in Scotland. In this respect, the company’s continued expansion of its own wind farm portfolio provides financial stability and promotes sustainable growth. Moreover, in addition to developing its solar energy activities, Energiekontor is moving into new markets in the Netherlands, the US and France, using its innovative strength and efficiency enhancements to continually improve the value chain for realising wind farms and solar parks.

For more information on the “Entrepreneur of the Year 2017” competition, go to:
http://www.ey.com/de/de/newsroom/news-releases/ey-20171018-entrepreneur-of-the-year-2017

About Energiekontor AG:

For the last 25 years, Energiekontor has stood for a sound approach to business and a wealth of experience in wind power. Formed in Bremerhaven in 1990, the Company was one of the pioneers in the industry and is now one of the leading German project developers. Its core business covers the planning, construction and operational management of wind farms in Germany and abroad, and was expanded to include solar power in 2010. Energiekontor also currently owns and operates 33 wind farms with a total rated power of around 250 megawatts.

In addition to its headquarters in Bremen, Energiekontor also maintains offices in Bremerhaven, Hagen im Bremischen, Aachen, Bernau (near Berlin) and Dortmund. The Company also has branch offices in England (Leeds), Scotland (Glasgow), Portugal (Lisbon) and the Netherlands (Nijmegen). The formation of additional branch offices in the US and France is currently in the pipeline. Our track record speaks for itself: 114 wind farms completed with around 600 turbines and a total rated power of more than 900 megawatts. This corresponds to an investment volume of more than EUR 1.4 billion.

Energiekontor went public on 25 May 2000. The shares of Energiekontor AG (WKN 531350/ISIN DE0005313506) are listed in the General Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and can be traded on all German stock exchanges.