What Stadtwerke Bocholt Group does

Stadtwerke Bocholt Group is a German municipal utility conglomerate headquartered at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße 1, Bocholt, owned 70% by the City of Bocholt and 30% by the City of Rhede following the November 2025 fusion of Stadtwerke Bocholt and Stadtwerke Rhede. The group operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries: Bocholter Energie- und Wasserversorgung GmbH (now stadtwerker GmbH) handles electricity, natural gas, drinking water, and fiber optic distribution under the WattExtra and faserfreunde brands; Bocholter Bäder GmbH runs the Bahia sauna/water world and Fildekenbad sports swimming facility; and StadtBus Bocholt GmbH operates nine bus lines plus three TaxiBus lines. The holding was rebranded to stadtwerker Unternehmensgruppe GmbH in March 2026 under the unified 'stadtwerker' corporate brand.

The group serves approximately 70,000 Bocholt residents plus Rhede households with integrated essential services: 100% hydropower-sourced electricity (CO2- and nuclear-free), natural gas, drinking water from company-owned waterworks, FTTH fiber broadband, public transport carrying over 1.4 million annual passengers, and leisure facilities attracting roughly 600,000 combined annual visitors. Underlying technology includes owned electricity/gas/water/fiber distribution networks, a LoRaWAN IoT network for smart city and smart metering applications, and a biogas-based district heating network in Feldmark-West that achieves up to 87% CO2 reduction. A hydrogen supply partnership with Thyssengas targets industrial park decarbonization starting 2030.

Revenue is generated primarily through recurring utility subscriptions (electricity, gas, water, fiber at €19.90/month introductory rate), transaction-based fees for transport tickets and leisure admissions, and wholesale industrial energy supply nationwide. The company employs over 400 staff, reports total group emissions of 164,825 tCO2eq, and operates as a vertically integrated public service provider with no external shareholders beyond the two owning municipalities.

Name

Stadtwerke Bocholt Group

Legal name

stadtwerker Unternehmensgruppe GmbH

Website

https://stadtwerke-bocholt.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1860

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Stadtwerke Bocholt Group is a German municipal utility providing electricity, gas, water, fiber broadband, public bus transport, and leisure facilities to Bocholt and Rhede residents. Owned by the two cities, it operates 400+ employees across integrated network, distribution, and service subsidiaries under the unified 'stadtwerker' brand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Utility Services

NAICS

Utilities (221), Steam and Air-Conditioning Supply (221330)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Electric & Other Services Combined (4931)

akta.pro primary industry

Energy, Utilities & Sustainability Management (BPABAAAF)

Keywords

• Municipal utility services
• Electricity and gas supply
• Drinking water supply
• Fiber broadband services
• Public transportation

Headquarters

HQ city

Bocholt

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Energy Supply (Electricity and Gas): Core revenue stream from supplying electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Household and commercial customers receive 100% atom-free and CO2-free electricity from hydropower. Serves regional private customers and industrial customers nationwide through WattExtra brand.
2. Drinking Water Supply: Drinking water supply and distribution to Bocholt residents through company-owned waterworks.
3. Fiber Broadband (faserfreunde): Fiber optic internet, TV, and telephony services under faserfreunde brand. Revenue from monthly service fees for FTTH connections.
4. Public Transportation (StadtBus): Public bus transport operations with 10 bus lines and 3 TaxiBus lines, serving Bocholt and surrounding areas. Revenue from ticket sales.
5. Leisure Facilities (Bahia): Operation of Bahia sauna and water world facility and Fildeken swimming hall. Revenue from admission fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Stadtwerke Bocholt Group is a municipal utility conglomerate providing essential energy, water, telecommunications, public transport, and leisure services to the Bocholt and Rhede region in Germany. Through its subsidiaries (BEW/stadtwerker GmbH, Bocholter Bäder GmbH, StadtBus Bocholt GmbH), it supplies electricity (100% hydropower, CO2-free), natural gas, drinking water, fiber-to-the-home broadband (faserfreunde), operates public bus transport, and runs sauna and swimming facilities (Bahia, Fildekenbad). Following the 2025 fusion with Stadtwerke Rhede, it operates under the unified 'stadtwerker' brand.

Product overview

Stadtwerke Bocholt Group is a municipal utility conglomerate consisting of multiple subsidiaries operating in energy, water, telecommunications, public transport, and leisure services. The main subsidiary, BEW (Bocholter Energie- und Wasserversorgung GmbH, now stadtwerker GmbH), provides core utilities including electricity and gas supply (WattExtra brand), drinking water, district heating, and operates electricity, gas, water, and fiber optic networks. The faserfreunde brand handles fiber-to-the-home broadband services under the 'Gigabit-City Bocholt' initiative. Bocholter Bäder GmbH (BBG) operates swimming and sauna facilities (Bahia and Fildekenbad). StadtBus Bocholt GmbH (SBB) provides public transport. The group also offers greenhouse gas balancing services and IoT connectivity via LoRaWAN. Following the 2025-2026 fusion with Stadtwerke Rhede, all entities now operate under the unified 'stadtwerker' brand umbrella.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WattExtra: Energy brand of BEW for electricity and gas supply services
• faserfreunde
• Bahia
• StadtBus Bocholt

Products and services

• WattExtra Electricity Supply Electricity supply service for residential and commercial customers in the Bocholt and Rhede region, sourced 100% from renewable hydropower. Distributed under the WattExtra brand through BEW/stadtwerker GmbH.
• Natural Gas Supply Natural gas supply service for residential, commercial, and industrial customers, with prices reduced effective January 1, 2026. Distributed via company-owned gas distribution network.
• Drinking Water Supply

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Trianel GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaboration partner in the project 'Development of Stadtwerke Bocholt GmbH towards a climate-neutral institution', funded under the National Climate Protection Initiative (Förderkennzeichen: 67K23941). Trianel provides consulting services for climate neutrality roadmap development.
• Naturwärme Bocholt-West GmbH (NWB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Joint venture with local biogas farmers (Wolbring GbR and Niemann GmbH & Co. KG) to supply biogas-based district heating. NWB builds and operates the 4km heating network supplying up to 5.9 million kWh annually, reducing CO2 by up to 87%.
• Westnetz GmbH (formerly RWE, now EON)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2024Vocational training partnership for Elektroniker für Betriebstechnik (Electrical Engineering). BEW offers joint training program with Westnetz, with first year at Westnetz training center in Wesel.
• Landwirtschaftskammer Nordrhein-WestfalenminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Water protection cooperation between BEW water management and farmers in water protection areas. Joint field inspections and knowledge transfer on sustainable farming practices to protect groundwater quality.
• Thyssengas GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Strategic partnership for hydrogen supply to the Bocholt industrial park starting 2030. Thyssengas will supply hydrogen via existing pipeline infrastructure. Binding letter of intent signed in September 2023.
• PKF Fasselt (Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft)coreOthers · 1 January 2023Financial auditing firm from Duisburg commissioned over a year before fusion to evaluate the economic sense and benefits of the Bocholt-Rhede merger. Study results presented to both supervisory boards.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• EWE AG: Large integrated energy and telecommunications company serving northwest Germany (Lower Saxony, Bremen, parts of NRW). Overlaps with Bocholt in energy supply and fiber/telecom services and serves as a regional incumbent with broader geographic reach.
• Stadtwerke München (SWM): Largest municipal utility in Germany, serving Munich with energy, water, broadband (M-net) and public transport (MVG). Relevant incumbent benchmark for the breadth of municipal utility services and the integration of fiber and transit, even though much larger than Bocholt.

Others

• Westnetz GmbH: Distribution network operator (electricity and gas) and existing vocational-training partner of Stadtwerke Bocholt. While not a direct retail competitor, it operates the underlying networks in the region and serves as an infrastructure/integrator peer for grid operations.

Direct peers

• Stadtwerke Düsseldorf: NRW municipal utility providing integrated electricity, gas, water, district heating and telecommunications services. Direct comparable on business mix, though operating at a much larger scale; relevant for benchmarking service portfolio and bundling strategy.
• Stadtwerke Münster: Municipal multi-utility serving the city of Münster and surrounding Münsterland region in NRW. Comparable to Stadtwerke Bocholt as a mid-sized German Stadtwerke offering electricity, gas, water, public transport and digital services from a municipally-owned platform.
• Stadtwerke Bonn: Municipal utility for the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg region offering electricity, gas, water, heating and broadband. Comparable scope of services, regulated pricing environment, and municipal ownership structure to Stadtwerke Bocholt.
• RheinEnergie AG (Stadtwerke Köln): Cologne-area municipal utility offering electricity, gas, water, district heating and broadband. Comparable integrated service model, public-ownership structure, and NRW regulatory environment to Stadtwerke Bocholt, despite significantly larger scale.
• Stadtwerke Emden: Northwest German municipal utility providing energy, water, and telecommunications services to a small-to-mid-sized city. Comparable scale, municipal ownership, and integrated offering to Stadtwerke Bocholt.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@faserfreunde
• Facebookfacebook.com/faserfreunde
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stadtwerke-bocholt-gmbh
• Instagraminstagram.com/faserfreunde
• TikToktiktok.com/@faserfreunde

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries5 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 Stadtwerke Bocholt Group