The NEXT Infrastructure Fund of NEXT II S.C.A. SICAV, A FUND OF THE REAL ASSET INVESTMENT MANAGER NEXT Generation Invest (NEXT), which specialises in impact investing, will enable the construction of a wood energy plant in Zwickau. This is a plant that produces electricity, heat and, as a by-product, biochar from biomass, in this case wood chips, and biochar. The wood energy plant was designed by Procarbic Management GmbH, a company of the Prolignis Group from Ingolstadt. This will also drive forward the further development and implementation of projects on behalf of the fund. The total investment amounts to around 26 million euros.
The project is planned as part of the municipal heating transition and general energy supply of the city of Zwickau. The thermal energy is purchased by the Zwickau energy supply, while the green electricity generated is fed into the national power grid. The biochar produced by the combustion process can be used for long-term CO2 storage, for example by binding it in products as a raw material or aggregate in industry or by introducing it into the soil as a soil conditioner in agriculture.
The wood energy plant will be built on a plot of almost 20,000 square metres. The site was already used for local energy generation in the past – the Zwickau hard coal mining area was located here until mining ceased in 1978. Due to its proximity to the densely wooded foothills of the Ore Mountains, the area is very suitable as a project location.
With this project, the Infrastructure Fund is pursuing the goal of promoting the use of base-load renewable energies and thus curbing the use of fossil fuels. The latter are often used to cushion load peaks in the power grid. With the electricity generated from the wood energy plant, there will be an alternative for this. The grid connection is planned for the second quarter of 2027.
Hannes Ressel, CEO of NEXT: "With our infrastructure fund, we are securing entrepreneurially oriented financing for a good, sensible and regionally anchored project and thus setting the course for the construction of the wood energy plant in Zwickau. For the major common goal of getting a little closer to the heat and energy transition, NEXT is working hand in hand with local companies, suppliers and the municipality as a private investor on this project. Unfortunately, this still happens too rarely, as yield orientation, approval processes and political decisions can get in each other's way – which makes us all the more proud of the successful closing of this project."
