Press releases
08.11.2022
Leipzig transmission system operator acquires engineering firm Weishaupt, Grimma
Decades of successful cooperation enter a new phase. With the purchase, the ONTRAS portfolio is supplemented by construction planning, supervision and approval procedures. Under the company Weishaupt Planungen GmbH, the staff, managing directors and company headquarters in Grimma are retained.
On 01.11.2022, the transfer of Ingenieurbüro (IB) Weishaupt, Grimma to Weishaupt Planungen GmbH (WPG), founded specifically for this purpose by ONTRAS, was completed. This was announced by both companies today. Prior to this, Andreas Weishaupt, owner of IB Weishaupt, Grimma, and ONTRAS had agreed on the acquisition of the engineering office by the Leipzig transmission system operator. This has created the conditions for the transition of the cooperation into a new phase after decades of successful collaboration. In the future, the total of around 30 employees of WPG will significantly strengthen and complement the ONTRAS portfolio in the areas of construction planning, supervision and official approval procedures without any personnel changes. Andreas Weishaupt takes over the function as Managing Director of WPG.
Andreas Weishaupt founded his company in 1993 as an engineering office. From the beginning, the company specialised in pipeline construction projects in the energy sector. The main clients included VNG and, after the spin-off in 2006, ONTRAS with numerous renovation and new construction projects in the new federal states. Today, IB Weishaupt alone employs 19 engineers who can cover all service phases as a basis for all projects in high-pressure gas pipeline and plant construction.
"I am pleased to have found a partner in ONTRAS who wants to preserve the company I founded with its evolved identity and regional ties and lead it together with me from the fading natural gas era into the budding hydrogen era," Mr Weishaupt emphasises his decision. ONTRAS Managing Director Uwe Ringel adds: "With the broadening of our product portfolio to include engineering services, we are further expanding our depth of added value and strengthening project implementation in the natural gas network, but above all the development of our hydrogen start-up network for eastern Germany, which will comprise over 900 kilometres of pipelines by 2030."
With the completion of the acquisition, operations can now continue under the new company. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Engineering office Weishaupt
The owner-managed Ingenieurbüro Weishaupt, based in Grimma, has been a service provider in engineering related to pipeline and plant construction since 1993 with Europe-wide projects for various clients from different industries with a focus on the gas industry. The range of services includes local construction supervision as well as all service phases 1-9 of the HOAI for the planning and execution of project-related laying of pipelines, telecommunications, water and wastewater lines, as well as the construction and modernisation of gas pressure control/measuring systems and hydrogen or biogas plants.
ONTRAS operates the 7,700 kilometre long-distance pipeline network in eastern Germany and is responsible for the reliable and efficient transport of gaseous energy - today and in the future. We are actively shaping the energy market of the future, contributing ideas and developing sustainable solutions for our infrastructure. In doing so, we rely on reliable technology, many years of experience and our most important asset: a committed team! Our gas infrastructure is compatible with renewable gases and thus also supports a variety of use cases for hydrogen such as material applications, mobility and heat. To make our infrastructure fit for a renewable gas supply, we plan and realise numerous projects together with partner companies.