The "S" in ESG: Social
STORAG ETZEL has been rooted in the region since 1971, and thus for over 50 years, and is expressly committed to maintaining and expanding good neighborly relations with the neighbors and residents of the Etzel cavern facility.
We are aware of our responsibility for our environment. We also live our corporate values for the benefit of the region.
Sponsoring & Donation Management at STORAG ETZEL
STORAG ETZEL is aware of its corporate responsibility and, as a good neighbor, has been providing targeted support to charitable institutions and associations in the vicinity of the Etzel cavern facility for many years.
Project proposals can be sent directly to the company without obligation.
Secure jobs for neighborhood & region
For decades, the Etzel cavern facility has provided secure jobs in the region. Up to 200 employees of the Etzel cavern facility or its operating companies live in the immediate vicinity of Etzel in northwestern Germany and contribute with their income to the economic stability in the northwest in recent years. Few other private sector investors make a similarly positive economic contribution in the northwest, as a significant portion of the investment remains in the region and Lower Saxony.
STORAG ETZEL invested more than €800 million in cavern development in the last expansion phase through 2017. Since 2015, the company has been spending a total of around 100 million euros on plant and operational safety until probably 2020.
Residents' festival
Blue skies, white pagoda tents and a beach feeling on the fairground with over 40 tonnes of sand at the information box of the cavern information centre in Etzel formed the backdrop for STORAG ETZEL's 2024 residents' party. An estimated 600 to 800 guests of all generations, mainly from Etzel, Marx and Horsten, came last Saturday and enjoyed a sunny day with atmospheric live music, delicious food and a colourful entertainment programme.
"Know how-Cluster"
Since the construction of the Etzel energy storage facility in the 1970s, numerous other oil and gas cavern storage facilities have been planned and built in Germany. This has given the specialist companies involved at the Etzel site and their mostly medium-sized service providers in the industry a considerable head start in terms of knowledge, which has since been put to use both domestically and worldwide. The strategic site development of STORAG ETZEL and its predecessor company IVG Caverns over the past decades has also paid off: An efficient "know-how cluster", i.e. a concentrated knowledge center, has been established at the Etzel site together with service providers and supplier companies. The key to strategic development here on site is the proximity of specialists from a wide range of disciplines, such as geology, mechanical engineering and underground technology, which is unique in cavern construction. This has led to new approaches in solving technical challenges. STORAG ETZEL is thus able to set standards in the industry, e.g. with regard to innovative techniques, safety and adherence to deadlines in project implementation.
Business taxes
In the municipality of Friedeburg (Etzel is part of the municipality's area), millions in trade tax have been accruing for years. The long-term rental agreements with our customers at the site also contribute to the fact that this is likely to be the case for the next few decades.
According to an estimate by the financial administration of the municipality of Friedeburg, about two-thirds of the respective trade tax revenue in recent years was related to cavern construction and operation. In 2018, €4.6 million in business tax was generated from cavern construction and operation, compared with around €7.3 million in 2017. In recent years, Friedeburg has thus ranked several times in the top 10 of the approximately 400 municipalities in Lower Saxony; the municipality is thus able to provide its citizens with numerous voluntary benefits. A large part of the trade tax also benefits the district of Wittmund and the state of Lower Saxony through the apportionment procedure for trade tax. STORAG ETZEL itself relocated its corporate headquarters to the municipality of Friedeburg at the turn of 2016.
Future-oriented
The existing "know how" cluster in the field of oil and gas storage of the last five decades is also transformed into one by the German "energy turnaround" through STORAG ETZEL's hydrogen initiatives such as "H2CAST Etzel". STORAG ETZEL has also been training young people to become mechatronics engineers for many years. Our trainee website presents many impressions and aspects of the training profession "mechatronics".