On the evening of 7 November 2024, pyropower GmbH was honoured in Berlin with the KfW Award Gründen as state winner for Brandenburg. With this award, KfW, Germany’s state-owned development bank, annually recognises founding teams from all 16 federal states whose innovative concepts answer key economic and societal questions. For our team from Cottbus, the award is a milestone: it confirms that decentralised energy supply with carbon storage from Lusatia is gaining recognition across Germany.

WHAT THE JURY RECOGNISED At the centre of our entry was Pyro-ClinX, our pyrolysis-based combined heat and power system. It converts biogenic residues such as wood chips or green cuttings into four products in a single process: electricity with 150 kW of gross electrical output, usable heat for buildings and industrial processes, biochar as a valuable raw material, and carbon removal credits. What sets the system apart is its climate performance. Because the biochar permanently stores the carbon that the plants absorbed from the atmosphere while growing, the system permanently stores carbon during operation. Companies and municipalities become more independent from volatile energy markets while making a measurable contribution to decarbonisation.

AN AWARD THAT UNITES CLIMATE ACTION AND BUSINESS SUCCESS

“For us, the KfW Award is a recognition of our work. It shows that innovative green tech solutions are not only being noticed but actively supported,” says co-founder Lucie Töpfer. “It motivates us to keep helping companies combine business success with lasting climate action.”

That combination is exactly what we stand for: decarbonisation that pays off. The award encourages us to keep advancing our pyrolysis technology and to scale it, with systems built for continuous 24/7 operation and transformation concepts aligned with our customers’ investment cycles.