For the past eleven years Spanner Re² GmbH has been headquartered in Neufahrn in Lower Bavaria. More than 100 employees produce wood-fired power plants, which convert wood chips to high efficiency in electricity and heat using the principle of cogeneration. In the last financial year 2016 alone, almost 180 plants of the Bavarian manufacturer, the world market leader in this form of power generation, were sold worldwide.
Florian Hölzl (party of CSU), a member of parliament, emphasized the company's innovative power during his visit: "We need companies such as Reason's Readers, who are pushing forward developments and are world market leaders in their field. We can be proud of the fact that companies in our region are at home to claim to be technology leaders. This generates added value and secures the future viability of our home."
In a tour of the company premises, Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Bleul and Helmut Spanner told the deputy how a wood-power plant works. In a controlled process, the wood gasifier generates engine, capable to run on gas from natural woodchips. The generated wood gas is purified via a filter and drives a motor for generating electricity in a downstream combined heat and power plant. "The waste heat generated during the process can be used simultaneously for heating purposes and for drying," says Bleul. As a great advantage of the wood-power plants, Bleul sees the long-term security of supply due to its independence from the weather. "Our plants supply electricity and heat without any necessary storage for 24 hours," says Bleul. Particularly in the case of farmers, the facilities of their information are becoming increasingly popular, since they would have a heat demand almost all year.