Syneco

What Syneco does

Syneco Trading GmbH is a Munich-headquartered B2B energy services company and the largest municipal energy trader in Germany. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Thüga Aktiengesellschaft, serving more than 100 municipal utilities (Stadtwerke) within and outside the Thüga-Gruppe network, with a second office in Chemnitz. The company bundles energy trading, balancing group management, portfolio management, direct marketing of renewable assets, flexibility marketing, and loss energy tendering into an integrated service stack, supported by 24/7 trading desk access that municipal utilities without their own exchange infrastructure can leverage.

The firm's technology core is the Synection SaaS platform — a modular system covering procurement, load-schedule management, balancing group management, marketing, and reporting — paired with the greenxenergy portal for direct marketing of renewable energy assets. The stack integrates with third-party platforms including enmacc (OTC trading), Fidectus (post-trade automation), ProCom BoFiT and ITA B2B (optimization and intraday trading), BTC VPP (SCADA and plant connection), and RWE Easy Commodity Trader and D-Central (virtual power plant). Data exchange uses EDIFACT and EDI standards. Recent additions include a manufacturer-independent HEMS app, HeatWatch Connect for heating networks, the Thüga-Abrechnungsplattform (TAP) billing migration service, and an EU-ETS-2 portfolio management system built as a twin of its existing ETS-1 setup.

Syneco generates revenue through transaction-based commissions and margins on electricity and gas trading (≈46 TWh electricity and 58 TWh gas handled in 2017, with €3.6 billion in reported revenue that year), recurring software subscriptions for Synection and greenxenergy, success-based fees on flexibility marketing, and professional services for loss energy tendering and ETS-2 advisory. Distribution runs primarily through direct enterprise sales to municipal utilities — leveraging the Thüga-Gruppe network — supplemented by technology partner channels (enmacc, Fidectus) that extend market access to smaller Stadtwerke. Pricing is quote-based and negotiated per client. The customer base is concentrated in German municipal utilities, with key named clients including badenova, HarzEnergie, Stadtwerke Neuss Energie und Wasser, Stadtwerke SWLB, and RhönEnergie-Gruppe, among many others.

Name

Syneco

Legal name

Syneco Trading GmbH

Website

https://syneco.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Syneco Trading GmbH is a Munich-based B2B energy services platform and the largest municipal energy trader in Germany, serving 100+ German municipal utilities (Stadtwerke) — primarily within the Thüga-Gruppe network — with bundled energy trading, balancing group management, flexibility marketing, and regulatory compliance services delivered via its Synection and greenxenergy software platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Energy Trading Services for Municipal Utilities

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Management Consulting Services (541618), All Other Business Support Services (561499)

SIC

Gas & Other Services Combined (4932), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

DER Management Systems (DERMS) & Virtual Power Plants (VPP) (EUADAPAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

DER Dispatch, Aggregation & Virtual Power Plant (VPP) Integration (EUADALAI), Market Access, Bidding & Settlement Services for Aggregators (ISO/RTO, Balancing) (EUAFAHAH), Virtual Power Plant (VPP) / Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Aggregation for Balancing (EUAGAKAI), DER Aggregation & Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) (EUAMAJAC)

Keywords

• Energy trading services
• Municipal utilities platform
• Balancing group management
• Renewable direct marketing
• Flexibility marketing software

Headquarters

HQ city

Munich

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Energy Trading Commissions and Margins: Syneco acts as a trading intermediary and process partner for municipal utilities, generating revenue through trading margins and commissions on energy (electricity and gas) volumes traded on behalf of clients. The company handled approximately 46 TWh electricity and 58 TWh gas in 2017, with revenues of €3.6 billion. Revenue is volume-based and tied to energy market transactions.
2. Platform and Software Services: Syneco charges for access to its Synection and greenxenergy software platforms, providing portfolio management, balancing group management, direct marketing, and reporting services. The platforms operate on a modular basis where utilities select and pay for relevant services.
3. Flexibility Marketing Services: Syneco aggregates and optimizes flexibility from smaller energy assets (BHKW, heat storage, electrode heaters, water pumps) and markets them on short-term markets (intraday, 15-minute auction). Revenue is earned on a success basis — Syneco participates in the additional revenues generated from optimizing and marketing flexibility, with no separate service fee charged.
4. Loss Energy Tendering Services: Syneco coordinates and administers bundled loss energy procurement tenders for grid operators, facilitating consolidated purchasing to achieve better pricing through volume aggregation.
5. ETS-2 Advisory and Consulting: Following the EU Emissions Trading System expansion to buildings and transport (ETS-2) from 2027, Syneco provides advisory services including risk management support, procurement strategies, and updates to internal guidelines for municipal utilities and regional energy suppliers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Syneco is the energy trading and process services arm for German municipal utilities, providing 24/7 electricity and gas trading, balancing group management, portfolio management, flexibility marketing, and direct marketing of renewable assets. Its proprietary platforms Synection (modular SaaS for procurement, schedule, balancing group, marketing, reporting) and greenxenergy (direct marketing portal) bundle digital workflows for Stadtwerke that lack their own exchange access. Additional services include loss-energy tendering for grid operators and EU ETS-2 portfolio management advisory.

Product overview

Syneco offers a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on the Synection software platform, which bundles procurement, balance group management, load schedule management, marketing, and reporting. This core platform is complemented by the greenxenergy portal for direct marketing services, and a suite of service modules covering balance group management, flexibility marketing, market access, portfolio management, and sales support. Additional offerings include loss energy tendering, EU-ETS-2 portfolio management, a HEMS app for prosumer optimization, HeatWatch Connect for heating networks, and Thüga billing platform migration support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Synection: Digital platform bundling procurement, schedule and balance group management, marketing, and reporting services in an automated, modular, data-driven system.
• greenxenergy

Products and services

• Synection Modular SaaS platform for municipal energy traders that bundles procurement, schedule management, balance group management, marketing, and reporting into a single data-driven system with automated workflows, bottom-up forecasting, real-time portfolio insights, and KPI dashboards.
• greenxenergy Web portal integrating all direct marketing (Direktvermarktung) services for renewable energy plants, covering feed-in management, green electricity certificates, and regulatory compliance tasks including REMIT reporting and Redispatch 2.0.
• Bilanzkreismanagement (Balance Group Management) 24/7 regulation-compliant balance group management service for municipal utilities with reliable forecasting and processing.
• Flexibilitätsvermarktung (Flexibility Marketing) Multi-market marketing service for flexible energy assets covering intraday trading, 15-minute auction, and balancing power markets, aggregated and optimized across smaller plants like BHKW, heat storage, electrode heaters, and water pumps.
• Marktzugang (Market Access) Reliable, tailored exchange access close to market developments for efficient energy procurement and marketing without requiring clients to own exchange infrastructure.
• Portfoliomanagement (Portfolio Management) Digital control of procurement and sales portfolios for transparency and risk control, with bottom-up forecasting and real-time portfolio insights.
• Vertriebsunterstützung (Sales Support) Digital tools and personal consulting to accelerate sales processes and secure market opportunities for municipal utility sales teams.
• Ausschreibung Verlustenergie (Loss Energy Tendering) Bundled tendering service for grid operators to procure loss energy in compliance with German energy law (EnWG) and Bundesnetzagentur requirements, with centralized processing and clear documentation.
• EU-ETS-2 Portfolio Management System Professional portfolio management system for the EU Emissions Trading System 2 (ETS-2) covering procurement, processing, and risk management of emissions certificates, developed as a twin of the existing ETS-1 system.
• HEMS-App (Home Energy Management System) Manufacturer- and device-independent app for municipal utilities to optimize wallboxes, heat pumps, battery storage, and PV systems automatically, including a smart tariff calculator for prosumer advice.
• HeatWatch Connect End-to-end data-based solution for heating networks and heating plants covering heat quantity metering, AI-supported optimizations and forecasts, electricity-price-oriented marketing, and sector coupling with PV or storage.
• TAP (Thüga-Abrechnungsplattform) Migration and Operations Support Migration, operation, and staff training support for the Thüga billing platform covering data cleansing, recoding, individual system integration, post go-live daily operations, and end-user enablement.

Quantifiable outcome

• Syneco handled ~46 TWh electricity and ~58 TWh gas on behalf of customers in 2017
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers29 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fidectus AGcoreTechnology or Integration · 10 February 2025Strategic partnership between Syneco Trading GmbH and Fidectus AG to drive digitalization of Post-Trade processes for municipal energy utilities. Syneco's municipal clients and Thüga partner companies gain access to Fidectus's advanced cloud services for automated trade confirmation matching, regulatory compliance, settlement reconciliation with eInvoicing per EN 16931, automated billing, and payment monitoring. Syneco's settlement and risk management teams (led by Katharina Kirchherr) oversee the integration. The partnership builds on Syneco's long-standing role as a digital transformation pioneer in energy trading.
• Thüga Erneuerbare Energien GmbH & Co. KG (THEE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 June 2023Syneco serves as the direct marketer and process service provider for THEE's renewable energy assets. The companies co-developed a financing-ready and scalable PPA delivery model (Power Purchase Agreement) for the Gickelfeld solar park (38 MWp) near Külsheim. Syneco aggregates all PPA-related tasks including generation forecasts, schedule management, balancing group management, and regulatory compliance (Redispatch 2.0, REMIT).
• Six Thüga-Gruppe Stadtwerke (PPA Model)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 June 2023Six Thüga-group Stadtwerke (badenova, Stadtwerk Tauberfranken, Thüga Energie, Stadtwerke Wertheim, Stadtwerke Neuss Energie und Wasser, energie schwaben) participate in the joint PPA model with Syneco and THEE for the Gickelfeld solar park. These utilities purchase decentralized renewable electricity and resell green electricity products to their end customers.
• BTC Business Technology Consulting AGcoreTechnology or Integration · 23 April 2020BTC provides the SCADA system and Virtual Power Plant (VPP) service that connects energy assets (BHKW, heat storage, etc.) to Syneco's optimization systems. BTC's VPP service transmits optimized schedules from BoFiT to asset control boxes and returns current operating data. BTC coordinates plant connection at fixed prices, enabling seamless onboarding of new asset types for Syneco's flexibility marketing service.
• RWE Supply & Trading GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 June 2018Syneco and RWE Supply & Trading entered a comprehensive cooperation in trading and portfolio management. Initial cooperation involved RWE's Easy Commodity Trader (ECT) platform and gas storage optimization. The partnership was later expanded to include RWE's D-Central virtual power plant for flexibility marketing, allowing Syneco to offer control of smaller assets through online access and access to balancing power markets (primary, secondary, tertiary, and AbLaV). Ulrich Danco (CEO) and Andree Stracke (RWE) led the agreement.
• ProCom GmbHcoreTechnology or Integration · 5 February 2018Syneco and ProCom developed a joint solution for intraday electricity trading. ProCom's ITA B2B (Intraday Trading Assistant) software module enables flexibility marketing and automatic energy trading. Syneco infrastructure provides 24/7 desk and exchange access, allowing clients to participate without their own exchange connection. Syneco negotiated a collective license agreement enabling Stadtwerke to access ITA B2B at preferential rates.
• Mainova AGminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2017Syneco participated in the Thüga-Gruppe's Power-to-Gas project platform with Mainova, which hosted the group's demonstration plant in Frankfurt. The plant (the world's first to convert electricity to hydrogen and inject into the municipal gas distribution network) achieved up to 77% efficiency. 13 Thüga-Gruppe companies were involved in this R&D collaboration.
• enmacc GmbHcoreTechnology or Integration · 6 June 2017Syneco partnered with enmacc, Europe's leading independent OTC energy trading platform, to provide digital market access to Thüga-Gruppe Stadtwerke. Syneco was enmacc's first multiplier partner and played a decisive role in making professional OTC energy trading accessible to municipal utilities. Syneco remains among the most active market participants on enmacc, leveraging the platform's liquidity and European network to optimize its own trading activities.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• RWE Supply & Trading: RWE Supply & Trading is one of Europe's largest energy trading houses and a Syneco technology partner via Easy Commodity Trader and D-Central VPP. As a broad incumbent, it offers trading, portfolio management, and flexibility aggregation at much greater scale than Syneco and could either partner with or compete against Syneco for municipal utility mandates.
• European Energy Exchange (EEX): EEX operates Europe's leading energy exchanges for power, gas, and emission rights, and provides clearing, settlement, and market data services. As a broad incumbent in the energy trading infrastructure layer, EEX is comparable to Syneco as a counterparty in market access services and competes indirectly for trading-related fees and volumes.

Direct peers

• Lichtblick: Lichtblick operates one of Germany's largest virtual power plants aggregating CHP, biomass, and small renewable assets, and offers energy services to utilities and end customers. Its VPP platform and energy services portfolio overlap directly with Syneco's flexibility marketing and platform offerings in the German market.
• Next Kraftwerke: Next Kraftwerke is a leading European VPP operator and direct marketer of renewable energy, aggregating thousands of distributed energy assets for marketing on European spot and balancing markets. It is directly comparable to Syneco's Flexibilitätsvermarktung service and competes for the same municipal and industrial flexibility marketing accounts in Germany.
• PSI Software: PSI Software provides energy management and trading software (PSIcontrol, PSImarket) for utilities, transmission system operators, and energy traders. Its energy management platform competes with Syneco's Synection for municipal utility procurement, portfolio management, and balance group management workloads in German-speaking markets.
• Energy2market (e2m): Energy2market is a German VPP/DER aggregator and direct marketer for renewable and flexible distributed assets, operating across multiple European markets. It competes head-to-head with Syneco in flexibility marketing and direct marketing (Direktvermarktung) for the same municipal utility and industrial asset owner customers.
• SOPTIM: SOPTIM provides software and consulting solutions for energy trading, grid operations, and virtual power plants, with deep roots in the German municipal utility sector. It is comparable to Syneco's combined technology-plus-services model for trading, portfolio management, and flexibility aggregation in German-speaking markets.
• KISTERS: KISTERS provides energy trading, portfolio management, and balance group management software solutions to utilities, traders, and grid operators across Europe. Its software stack competes with Syneco's Synection platform for the same municipal utility customers seeking digital trading and portfolio management capabilities.
• EWE Trading: EWE Trading is the energy trading arm of EWE, a major German municipal and regional energy company, providing portfolio management and trading services for its group utilities and external partners. It competes with Syneco for the same municipal utility trading mandates and uses similar exchange access and OTC trading infrastructure.

Emerging players

• enmacc: enmacc is Europe's leading independent OTC energy trading platform and a core Syneco technology partner for digital bilateral trading. It is comparable as a digital market access infrastructure layer that Syneco and competing aggregators use to reach counterparties, though enmacc is itself a multi-tenant platform rather than a trading intermediary.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/syneco-trading-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Syneco