SWM: A company for Munich

As one of the largest municipal companies in Germany, SWM stands for a secure supply of energy and drinking water, urban mobility, forward looking telecommunications services and pure, untreated drinking water from the Bavarian Alpine foothills. With our service offerings we are an important part of public communal services and are making major contributions to the economic strength and the quality of life in Munich and the region.

Company profile

SWM keeps Munich running around the clock, 24/7: We supply the city of Munich with electricity, natural gas, district heating, district cooling and spring fresh drinking water from the Bavarian Alpine foothills. Our services also include the network management for the energy and water networks, distribution and sales. What’s more, we also operate 18 indoor and summer swimming pools.

Our MVG mobility subsidiary is responsible for the municipal subway, bus and tram networks, as well as our MVG bike offerings. By expanding fiber optics and other communication networks, we are laying the foundations for the networked and liveable city of the future.

The City of Munich is the 100% owner of SWM. In other words, SWM belongs to the citizens of Munich and is therefore an essential part of municipal public services. We take responsibility for individuals, resources and the environment. We are also committed to education and social issues and rank as one of Munich's largest employers. Our employees act in a cooperative manner and in a spirit of partnership, both internally and externally.

The goal of our activities is to maintain and further develop the high quality of life in Munich and the region. SWM contributes to making Munich one of the world’s most livable cities.

The energy transition

SWM drives Munich’s energy transition forward

As a municipal energy utility, Stadtwerke München has a crucial responsibility to make major contributions to the energy transition. Long before Germany decided to strive for climate neutrality, SWM initiated a turnaround in power generation: in 2008, it launched its renewable energies expansion campaign.

Renewable Energy Expansion Offensive

Holistic energy strategy

SWM is taking a holistic approach in implementing the energy transition. Within the framework of our Renewable Energies Expansion Campaign, we are advancing renewable energy generation in both the electricity and heating sectors. After all, the energy transition can only succeed if electricity and heat are generated by renewable sources.

From 2025, SWM intends to produce sufficient green electricity in its own plants to cover all of Munich’s requirements. In 2022, SWM will already generate some 6.3 billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity, covering approximately 90 % of Munich’s consumption.
In order to achieve the energy transition in the heating market, SWM developed a District Heating Vision in the year 2012: Our aim is to achieve CO2-neutral coverage of Munich’s demand for district heating by 2040 at the latest, mainly through the use of geothermal energy.

An additional element of SWM’s commitment to climate protection is the expansion of district cooling as an alternative to individual air conditioning systems. Thanks to naturally cold groundwater and water from Munich’s urban streams , the district cooling process reduces electricity consumption by up to 70 %.
SWM is also making major contributions to the mobility transition.By 2035, the entire MVG bus fleet is to be converted to battery-electric drives and run on green electricity as the underground trains and trams already do.

Expansion of regenerative energies

SWM’s renewable energy systems

In the expansion of green electricity generation, SWM gives preference to regional projects. . But the city of Munich and the surrounding metropolitan region are very densely populated. Sun and wind availability for energy generation is limited in this area, and Bavaria’s 10-H distance rule makes wind energy expansion virtually impossible. Consequently, SWM cannot generate enough green electricity within the region to cover all requirements. Therefore, SWM has also joined forces with experienced partners to generate green electricity at other sites in Europe.

Our renewable energy systems at a glance: