The company, with over 35 years of experience and more than 40 professionals, focuses on markets such as biogas, hydrogen, water purification, energy conversion and recycling. In recent years, NieuweWeme has developed significantly in prefabricated, modular process technology, whereby complete systems are designed, assembled and tested entirely in-house before being shipped to customer locations worldwide. This approach reduces risks, increases quality and minimises installation time on site.
Managing Director Menno Kunst emphasises that NieuweWeme's strength lies in the engineering process. In recent years, a lot has been invested in standardising and professionalising the design. As a result, NieuweWeme works with modular building blocks that can be used in various projects without losing their customised character.
In their factory, modules are fully prefabricated, electrically and mechanically connected, fitted with stainless steel piping, certified welding, insulation and, where relevant, heating systems. Everything is extensively tested in Oldenzaal together with the customer. As a result, projects can be installed on site in a virtually plug-and-play manner.
Menno: ‘As a system integrator, we take care of the entire scope: mechanical, electrical, piping, everything is integrated by us. By building prefab, we reduce time, risks and surprises on site.’
A recent example is the delivery of piping skids for a new biofuel plant in East Gwillimbury, Ontario (Canada). These modular racks with piping connect various biogas tanks and installations and are equipped with heating and insulation due to the harsh winters. The direct buyer is Waste Treatment Technologies BV (WTT) from Oldenzaal, neighbours and long-standing partners of NieuweWeme. The end customer is Convertus York Biofuel Ltd, part of the Canadian Convertus Group, the largest processor of organic waste in Canada.
NieuweWeme has now supplied 73 countries and will soon add a 74th, Angola. Menno: "The markets are in flux. Europe, for example, is a mature market with clear regulations and a growing willingness to invest. And in Australia and New Zealand, there is increasing demand for biogas and recycling solutions. In North America, you are ultimately highly dependent on local regulations, landfill fees and market structure."
In North America in particular, large waste and collection companies play a dominant role, which offers both opportunities and challenges. NieuweWeme focuses on regions with high population density, strict environmental regulations and expensive landfill fees, i.e. places where innovative technology is most profitable.
With its modular approach, strong engineering and international partnerships, NieuweWeme demonstrates that the Dutch manufacturing industry can play a crucial role in the global energy transition. Through smart collaboration, risk reduction and the use of available export instruments, medium-sized companies can make an impact worldwide.
The new plant will convert 170,000 tonnes of separated organic household waste into green gas (biomethane), fertilisers and CO₂ each year. That's enough to heat over 5,000 homes. This fits in with Canada's strategy of focusing on waste collection and sustainable fuels.
Weather conditions play a major role in Canada. Severe frost makes long-term work on site problematic. This makes it essential that modules are constructed entirely prefab. In addition, they must fit into standard shipping containers. This ultimately has the important advantage that they can be installed at the construction site with minimal assembly time.
NieuweWeme actually builds the entire factory in Oldenzaal first, connects all the modules and tests the whole thing. The modules are then dismantled into container-friendly segments and shipped. On site, they are quickly reconnected.
Cornelis: ‘We cut up an entire factory into transportable modules, but test them in the Netherlands as a fully functioning whole. This provides enormous certainty and speed on site.’
NieuweWeme and WTT have been working closely together for more than ten years. Their relationship originated from previous projects in Italy and grew further when WTT started a factory in Canada. The proximity of both companies in Oldenzaal accelerated this process; on the initiative of the then owner of NieuweWeme, an extra floor was even built on the factory to provide WTT with space for their engineering team. The collaboration intensified on international projects, especially when prefab engineering, risk reduction and tight deadlines were key.
Large-scale international projects bring financial challenges. Due to subsidies, project financing and long lead times, payment is often only made upon delivery. This puts pressure on suppliers' working capital.
“I came into contact with Lara van Druten through an article about The Waste Transformers. She pointed out the possibilities offered by Atradius Dutch State Business (DSB).”
Both the recent transaction in Canada and a project in India made use of Atradius DSB's working capital cover.
This cover is essential because banks often require 90% of the invoice amount to be paid upon delivery to the site when financing projects. Suppliers such as NieuweWeme therefore have to pre-finance large amounts. Atradius' working capital cover makes this risk manageable.
In addition to Canada, NieuweWeme is also working on projects in India, where WTT is the technology supplier for a local initiator. The Indian market is developing rapidly, due to the national strategy for energy independence and the need for sustainable gas production. When you add to this the growing waste problem in megacities and look at the new trade agreement with Europe, you can see that India is a huge growth market, with the potential for hundreds to thousands of similar installations.
The Twente-based company NieuweWeme from Oldenzaal is a full-service installation integrator that designs, builds and maintains high-quality process installations for the high-tech and sustainable industry. With over 35 years of experience and more than 40 professionals, the company focuses on markets such as biogas, hydrogen, water purification, energy conversion and recycling. NieuweWeme works with modular building blocks that can be used in various projects without losing their customised character. A recent example is the delivery of so-called piping skids for a new biofuel installation in East Gwillimbury, Ontario (Canada). These modular racks with piping connect various biogas tanks and installations and are equipped with heating and insulation due to the harsh winters.
