ENERGY FOR SUCCESS
Global industrial companies needing a European presence evaluate sites according to any number of criteria. But they all need at least two things: reliable power and as few bureaucratic hurdles as possible when establishing operations. In the past year, three non-German companies have met these and other key site requirements by locating facilities at the Oberbruch Industry Park in Heinsberg, Germany, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Oberbruch is situated in the heart of the Cologne-Düsseldorf-Aachen-Maastricht region, one of Europe’s most industrialized areas.

Oberbruch Industry Park is a chemical park located on a 110-hectare site formerly owned by AKZO Nobel since 2000 managed by Nuon, a leading European power company based in The Netherlands. Nuon supplies more than 5 million customers with electricity, gas, water and energy-related services. Oberbruch Industry Park is one of seven sites Nuon manages in The Netherlands and Germany, making it possible for companies to set up operations, take advantage of reliable and affordable power sources – and not have to worry about purchasing sites or contracting with third parties for security, wastewater treatment and other essential services.

The supply of services enables the customers at the site to concentrate on their core business. "Reliability and flexibility are awfully important for each company but crucial for highly sophisticated technology firms,” says Ton Doesburg, managing director of Nuon Deutschland. "Therefore we are investing continuously in our infrastructure to improve our performance. We are only successful when our clients are successful."

The know-how of a energy supplier helped attract Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd. (CFCL) of Melbourne, Australia, to Oberbruch Industry Park after an evaluation of other sites in Europe and Asia. “They joined the park because of the service package,” Doesburg explains. 

“Our production facility simply must be successful,” says Mike Atkinson, CFCL’s manager of capital projects. “The deciding factor was our sense that the location gave us the best chance of success for a whole basket of reasons,” he says. “The most impressive reason is the feeling of cohesion the park, the local and regional governmental authorities bring to the process. They are operating as one team, helping us be successful. That is fairly unique in our experience.”