Reference story Energiekontor AG

During the coronavirus crisis, Energiekontor AG relied on digital signatures using d.velop sign.

• Reduced workload for printing, signing, and distributing documents
• Lower costs for paper, postage, envelopes, and office supplies
• No more follow-ups needed to check the processing status of documents

Success Driven by Legislation

1990. The Electricity Feed-In Act comes into force. What sounds simple turned out to be an ecological and economic triumph: As a precursor to today’s Renewable Energy Act, the Feed-In Act required electricity providers to purchase and compensate for power generated from renewable sources.

In Bremerhaven, business partners Günter Lammers and Dr. Bodo Wilkens immediately recognised the significance of the new legislation. They founded Energiekontor Windkraft GmbH. By 1994, Energiekontor had built its first wind farm in Misselwarden near Bremerhaven – ten turbines, each with a capacity of 500 kilowatts. At the time, these were the largest wind turbines available on the market.

Over the years, wind and solar energy gained momentum. They became so attractive that Energiekontor not only began producing electricity with its own installations, but also started developing wind and solar parks both domestically and internationally. Today, these pioneers of renewable energy operate offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, the United States, and France.

Legally Binding Signatures with a Single Click

The rollout of d.velop sign in October 2020 took just a few days. Soon, employees and managing directors knew exactly which clicks mattered. Administrative staff could simply drag and drop contracts or other documents – such as annual financial statements – into the d.velop sign interface. They defined the signing order, and the system automatically forwarded the document to the next recipient after each signature. Within the interface, staff could track the status of each document and see who was currently responsible for signing.

Each participant received an email from d.velop sign when it was their turn, inviting them to the signing interface. Signature fields and guidance could be added to indicate where to sign. Recipients could then sign with a single click. “This has been a huge relief, especially for processes involving the executive team,” says Hendrik Siemes, Sales Manager at d.velop AG and responsible for the implementation at Energiekontor.
“We quickly identified where digital signatures would bring the greatest benefit: annual financial statements for over 300 subsidiaries, and also for payment authorisations.”

“We’re Saving Thousands of Sheets of Paper”

d.velop sign offers three levels of digital signatures. Even the simplest level – which Energiekontor uses – is legally valid. After all, contracts can also be concluded verbally or with a handshake. For this basic signature, Energiekontor uses Windows login credentials. For qualified electronic signatures – legally equivalent to handwritten ones – d.velop partners with D-TRUST (a subsidiary of the German Federal Printing Office) as a trusted service provider.

“d.velop sign has made our work significantly easier – for annual accounts, declarations of completeness, contracts, and more,” says Jaqueline Afzali. “We’re saving thousands of sheets of paper each year, countless working hours, and considerable costs. Manual tasks like checking printed contracts for completeness – sometimes 300 pages long – are now a thing of the past.”

Hendrik Siemes adds: “Many Energiekontor employees work from home, and now they have the flexibility to provide legally binding digital signatures remotely.”

Tangible Savings with d.velop sign:

• Countless working hours previously spent printing, initialling, and circulating hundreds of documents annually
• Printing and maintenance costs
• Costs for paper, postage, envelopes, and office supplies
• No more chasing document statuses
• No more searching for misplaced paperwork
• No more time spent sending copies to external parties like lawyers or tax advisors

Initially, only the accounting and administration departments at Energiekontor AG – and only at the German locations – began working with d.velop sign. In the future, additional departments and more advanced types of electronic signatures are planned. Already, up to 80% of all documents requiring signatures are processed using d.velop sign by the relevant teams at Energiekontor. “Thanks to d.velop sign, we always have a clear overview of which document is currently with which employee,” concludes Jaqueline Afzali. “That’s a major advantage and a huge relief in our daily work.”