Primeo Energie
Primeo Energie or EBM is a Swiss energy supplier with head office in Münchenstein. It was founded as a cooperative under private law in 1897. EBM supplies around 230,000 people with electricity in North-West Switzerland and Alsace. The company operates 167 local heat supply systems in Switzerland, Alsace and South Germany.
History
The engineer Fritz Eckinger and politician Stephan Gschwind founded Elektra Birseck Münchenstein in 1897 with the intention of introducing electric lighting and the idea of organising a company as a cooperative, which was a new concept at the time. The supply area in the lower part of the Canton of Basel-Country and Birseck-Dorneck, a part of the Canton of Solothurn, was soon expanded. Between 1906 and 1914, EBM connected eleven municipalities and the City of Saint-Louis (Haut Rhin) to the grid. Since 1921, EBM has been supplying a total of 60 municipalities with electricity in the Swiss Cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Solothurn.In 1979, it became the first company in Switzerland to support the frugal and rational use of energy. EBM implemented the first tariffs for promoting renewable energies and set up an energy and environmental advice centre for its customers. In the field of decentralised heating supplies, EBM developed the concepts «cogeneration plant and heat pump» at the beginning of the 1980s and constructed the first cogeneration plant in 1982.
Since 1992, the company constructs, supports and participates in photovoltaic plants, to supply solar energy at a favourable price. In 1997, EBM opened an electricity museum in Münchenstein to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
In 2009, EBM started producing electricity from wind and solar power. The company founded aravis to realise large plants in Southern Europe. It is the first «Swiss Limited Partnership» that was approved by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission. The fund was used for developing projects with a volume of CHF 200 million. EBM was the main investor with CHF 70 million. EBM’s investments helped to realise wind parks and photovoltaic plants in Italy and Spain with an installed output of around 64 Megawatt.
Renewable energy
EBM procures electricity from renewable energies from its own plants, partner plants and long-term agreements. In addition to plants in the region, specific plans are in place to realise large projects in suitable foreign locations.EBM aims to expand in Europe and Switzerland in the medium terms with the help of the companies «EBM Greenpower AG», «Leading Swiss renewables AG» and its minority share in «Kleinkraftwerk Birseck AG». The electricity generated by foreign plants is not yet supplied to Switzerland but is sold directly abroad at local supply prices or on the foreign electricity markets. The electricity generated from renewable energies rose to 811,703 MWh as a result of EBM increasing the number of its plants.