EnBW is looking for an investor for Senec

At the end of 2017, EnBW fully acquired the energy storage manufacturer Deutsche Energieversorgung (DEV), and soon after, the company was renamed Senec, the name of the storage brand that the Leipzig-based company developed, produced, and sold.

Nine years later, the energy group is now putting its wholly-owned subsidiary Senec up for sale.

“The search for a potential investor for Senec is in its early stages. Senec underwent a comprehensive organizational, strategic, and product restructuring last year, preparing itself for success in the market,” an EnBW spokesperson confirmed to pv magazine, corroborating the report in the “Stuttgarter Zeitung.”

The company is pursuing growth and intends to focus more on software offerings for its customers in addition to storage hardware. Senec CEO Herbert Schein explained this in a pv magazine interview last fall. He added that Senec is back in the market. Furthermore, in addition to expanding its existing markets in Germany and Italy, Senec plans to further internationalize its business.

All of this necessitates further investment. EnBW intends for a new investor to provide this investment. However, not every company is suitable. The energy company did not directly answer whether negotiations with potential interested parties were already underway.

“When examining potential investors, EnBW is also aware of its special responsibility, not least as a company operating critical infrastructure,” the spokesperson explained to pv magazine. The goal is to find a “good solution” that also considers employees, specialist partners, and customers. EnBW aims to make a decision as soon as possible this year. The spokesperson added that it is also conceivable that Senec could remain a wholly owned subsidiary of EnBW.

It is largely thanks to its parent company, EnBW, that Senec still exists at all. Following several fires involving Senec-branded photovoltaic storage systems since 2022, the company decided on a large-scale field replacement of the affected product lines. In addition, the storage systems were temporarily shut down or had limited functionality, for which Senec paid compensation to the operators. In total, approximately 100,000 battery storage systems have now been replaced, and the campaign is complete “with only a few isolated cases,” as confirmed by the EnBW spokesperson.

“The battery replacement and the introduction of new products incurred costs in the hundreds of millions of euros this year (2025). We have mapped all risks for the future and do not expect any further significant burdens,” he continued. The field replacement, however, was a crucial measure to assume responsibility and regain customer trust, also to enable further business expansion in the future. Senec considers this a success and points to the increasing number of positive customer reviews.

EnBW also sells Senec storage systems as part of its photovoltaic packages. Will this remain the case if an investor is found for the Leipzig-based storage subsidiary? “The search for a potential investor for Senec is still in its early stages. At this point, it would be speculative, which is why we cannot comment on this,” said the EnBW spokesperson.

From pv magazine Germany.