Fichtner Annual Report 2023

Energy Transition Consultant

The “historical turning point” proclaimed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, together with the accompanying strategy of the government to speed up the transformation of infrastructure in Germany, captures the essence of the challenge facing the industry. With the growing realization that global warming is developing much faster than predicted, the targets for achieving climate neutrality are becoming ever shorter. For example, net zero is to be achieved in Europe and worldwide by 2050, in Germany by 2045, in Baden-Württemberg by 2040 and in some cities, such as Tübingen, even by 2030. Australia, Brazil and Japan have also committed to the net-zero target by 2050, while countries such as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and China have pledged to achieve this by 2060. This is where Fichtner comes into play, because as an independent provider of engineering consulting services, Fichtner not only has the techno-economic know-how but is also able to orchestrate the expertise of all infrastructure components. After all, the transition will only succeed as a whole through intelligent interaction between the physical reality and the market, the energy industry and the chemical sector, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and IT. A key task for us in this respect is to inspire and retain enough specialists for these future tasks.

The Transformation of Financing Channels

Investments in renewable energies differ significantly from conventional energy projects and require high initial investments for the construction of plants such as wind farms, solar plants or electrolyzers. In addition, considerable grid capacity is needed to cope with fluctuating energy supplies. As sustainability projects, however, they offer long-term returns due to favorable operating costs throughout their long lifespan. Financing renewable energies requires a reassessment of traditional criteria and close cooperation between investors, project developers, banks and government bodies.

Climate-Resilient Water Infrastructures Secure Our Future – Worldwide

Alongside energy supply, water infrastructure is particularly affected by climate and structural change. Water is the basis of all life, so it is incumbent upon us to preserve the natural water cycle and make water management more climate-resilient. Both in Germany and worldwide, droughts on the one hand and extreme rainfall on the other jeopardize the livelihoods of people and nature. Water infrastructure also has many facets, from urban water management and flood protection to hydraulic engineering. With great respect for the forces of nature, we contribute our expertise in building resilient water infrastructures, fully aware of the extent to which infrastructure components, and water and energy in particular, are interlinked.

Digitization Enables Change

With the gradual transformation of our energy systems away from fossil fuels and towards renewable, distributed energy generation, the management of secure data and its valorization into information and knowledge is becoming increasingly important. Artificial intelligence can be an immense support for us in this change if we use it with a sense of proportion. Our experts tackle this challenge every day and work with our clients to design optimized human-machine systems.

A Consultant for Global Infrastructure Solutions

The ever faster pace of change is challenging more than ever the potential of our global community to come up with solutions. As an international company, Fichtner puts its expertise at the service of globally effective infrastructure solutions. The following articles provide an impression of this.

In the past year, Fichtner has supported a large number of projects worldwide in its Energy, Renewable Energies Environment, Water Infrastructure, and Consulting IT sectors as a transition consultant. We would like to present some of these exciting projects to you here. You will find a detailed blog article for each project, which you can access directly with one click.

July 2024