Concord Blue

Concord Blue is a renewable-energy company founded in Germany in 2002 by Charlie Thannhaeuser. The company develops and builds waste-to-energy and biomass-conversion facilities based on a proprietary steam-thermolysis process known as the Concord Blue Reformer. Its stated technology objective is to produce hydrogen and bioenergy from waste and biomass without relying on fossil-carbon feedstocks, while also addressing waste-management needs. The company began with a pilot plant connected to an innovation-center initiative focused on renewable energy. Following the pilot's reported success, Concord Blue obtained government support and expanded its research and development activities. It subsequently established an Indian subsidiary and developed three research and development plants there in cooperation with Rochem India, a regional engineering and wastewater-treatment company. The partnership reflected Concord Blue's focus on combining its conversion technology with local industrial and infrastructure capabilities. By 2009, Concord Blue had facilities in India and Japan. Its plant in Omuta, Japan, was described as the world's first biomass-to-hydrogen facility. This project represented an important step in the company's effort to move beyond conventional waste incineration and demonstrate the production of hydrogen from biomass at facility scale. Concord Blue has also pursued international partnerships. In 2016, it partnered with Lockheed Martin to open a 250-kilowatt bioenergy plant in Owego, New York. The project extended the company's presence into the United States and demonstrated its technology in collaboration with a major industrial and technology company. More recently, Concord Blue signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia's Saudi Investment Recycling Company, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, for the first phase of a sewage-sludge-to-hydrogen project. The agreement was associated with German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies's delegation trip to the Gulf region. The company's business model appears to center on technology development, plant deployment, and project partnerships rather than on consumer products. Its projects have involved governments, engineering firms, wastewater-treatment companies, and major corporate partners. The principal feedstocks referenced in available material are municipal or industrial waste, biomass, and sewage sludge. Its principal outputs are hydrogen and bioenergy, with the Concord Blue Reformer serving as the core branded process. As of 2025, founder Charlie Thannhaeuser continued to serve as chief executive officer and chief technology officer. Publicly available reference material does not establish a separate parent company, stock-market listing, headquarters location, or a complete current executive roster. Concord Blue's activities place it at the intersection of renewable energy, waste management, hydrogen production, biomass utilization, and circular-economy infrastructure.

Concord Blue was established in Germany in 2002 by Charlie Thannhaeuser as a renewable-energy company focused on recovering value from waste and biomass. Its early development was tied to a pilot plant created through an innovation-center initiative. The pilot was intended to demonstrate a process capable of treating waste and biomass while producing useful energy products. After the pilot's reported success, the company received government support, enabling it to continue technology development and pursue larger projects. The central technology developed by Concord Blue is a steam-thermolysis process branded the Concord Blue Reformer. Rather than positioning itself solely as a conventional waste-incineration company, Concord Blue has focused on the conversion of waste and biomass into hydrogen and bioenergy. The process is described as producing CO2-free hydrogen and bioenergy from these feedstocks, although the available reference material does not provide detailed technical specifications, lifecycle accounting, commercial volumes, or plant-level performance data. International expansion followed the company's early German work. Concord Blue established a subsidiary in India and built three research and development plants there in partnership with Rochem India, a regional company involved in engineering and wastewater treatment. This collaboration linked Concord Blue's thermolysis technology with local expertise in infrastructure and wastewater-related applications. By 2009, the company had plants in both India and Japan. One of the company's notable Japanese projects was located in Omuta. The facility was described as the first biomass-to-hydrogen plant in the world, giving Concord Blue an early association with the emerging use of biomass as a hydrogen feedstock. The project also illustrated the company's broader strategy: developing facilities in cooperation with local or regional partners and adapting its technology to waste and biomass resources available in particular markets. Concord Blue later expanded into the United States through a partnership with Lockheed Martin. In 2016, the two companies opened a 250-kilowatt bioenergy plant in Owego, New York. The project provided a demonstration of Concord Blue's technology in the American market and showed the company's willingness to work with a large industrial partner on a facility-scale deployment. The company's more recent activity has included projects involving sewage sludge. In 2025, during a delegation trip to the Gulf region associated with German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies, Concord Blue signed with Saudi Investment Recycling Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, for the first phase of a sewage-sludge-to-hydrogen project. The agreement broadened the company's application area from general waste and biomass to a specific wastewater-treatment residue and connected its technology with Saudi Arabia's recycling and resource-recovery infrastructure. As of 2025, founder Charlie Thannhaeuser remained the company's chief executive officer and chief technology officer. Available reference material confirms operations or projects in Germany, India, Japan, the United States, and Saudi Arabia, but does not provide a definitive headquarters address, ownership structure, financial profile, public listing status, or comprehensive list of facilities. Concord Blue's documented history is therefore best understood as the development and international demonstration of a waste- and biomass-conversion platform through partnerships with governments and industrial organizations.

• 2025

  Saudi sewage-sludge-to-hydrogen project agreement

  [1]Concord Blueen.wikipedia.org

  Concord Blue signed with Saudi Investment Recycling Company for the first phase of a project to convert sewage sludge into hydrogen.

• 2016

  Owego bioenergy plant opened

  [1]Concord Blueen.wikipedia.org

  Concord Blue and Lockheed Martin opened a 250-kilowatt bioenergy plant in Owego, New York.

• 2009

  Plants operating in India and Japan

  [1]Concord Blueen.wikipedia.org

  By 2009, Concord Blue had plants in India and Japan; its Omuta facility was described as the world's first biomass-to-hydrogen facility.

• 2002

  Company founded in Germany

  [1]Concord Blueen.wikipedia.org

  Charlie Thannhaeuser founded Concord Blue in Germany as a renewable-energy company focused on waste and biomass conversion.

• Initial pilot plant developed

  [1]Concord Blueen.wikipedia.org

  The company developed its first pilot plant through an innovation-center initiative focused on renewable energy and later received government support after the pilot's reported success.

• Expansion into India and Japan

  [1]Concord Blueen.wikipedia.org

  Concord Blue established an Indian subsidiary, built three research and development plants with Rochem India, and expanded its facilities into Japan.

Concord Blue positions itself as a technology and project-development company for converting waste, biomass, and sewage sludge into hydrogen and bioenergy through steam thermolysis. Its differentiation is centered on the proprietary Concord Blue Reformer and on partnerships with public authorities, infrastructure companies, and industrial organizations.

• Steam-thermolysis conversion technology

  Concord Blue Reformer

  The Concord Blue Reformer is the company's patented steam-thermolysis process for converting waste and biomass into hydrogen and bioenergy. It is the core technology associated with the company's project-development and plant-construction activities. Public reference material identifies the process and its intended outputs but does not provide sufficient detail to describe its engineering configuration, capacity range, commercial pricing, or verified emissions performance.

• Renewable-energy infrastructure

  Waste-to-energy plants

  Concord Blue develops waste-conversion facilities designed to recover energy from waste and biomass. The company's documented projects have involved partnerships with governments and other companies, and the resulting facilities are intended to produce useful energy products rather than merely dispose of waste. Specific plant capacities and commercial operating results are not consistently available in the reference material.

• Hydrogen production

  Biomass-to-hydrogen facilities

  These facilities apply Concord Blue's conversion approach to biomass feedstocks and are designed to produce hydrogen alongside bioenergy. The Omuta facility in Japan was identified as a pioneering biomass-to-hydrogen installation. The offering reflects the company's effort to connect renewable hydrogen production with biomass utilization and waste-management infrastructure.

• Wastewater-residue conversion · 2025

  Sewage-sludge-to-hydrogen projects

  Concord Blue applies its waste-conversion platform to sewage sludge, a residue of wastewater treatment. In 2025, the company signed an agreement covering the first phase of a Saudi Arabian sewage-sludge-to-hydrogen project. The available material does not establish the project's final capacity, construction status, investment value, or operating date.

• 2025

  Agreement for a Saudi sewage-sludge-to-hydrogen projectStrategy

  Background

  Concord Blue pursued an application of its conversion technology to sewage sludge and participated in a Gulf-region delegation associated with German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies.

  Action taken

  The company signed with Saudi Investment Recycling Company, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, for the first phase of a sewage-sludge-to-hydrogen project.

  Aftermath

  The agreement expanded the company's publicly documented project scope into Saudi Arabia. The available source does not establish whether construction or commercial operation had begun.

  Source

• 2016

  Deployment of a 250-kilowatt bioenergy plant in OwegoProduct launch

  Background

  Concord Blue sought to demonstrate its waste- and biomass-conversion technology in the United States through a partnership with Lockheed Martin.

  Action taken

  The companies opened a 250-kilowatt bioenergy plant in Owego, New York.

  Aftermath

  The project extended Concord Blue's documented international project footprint into the United States. Public reference material does not provide subsequent operating results.

  Source

• 2025

  Concord Blue signs first-phase sewage-sludge-to-hydrogen agreement in Saudi Arabia[1]Concord Blueen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  Concord Blue signed an agreement with Saudi Investment Recycling Company, a Public Investment Fund subsidiary, for the first phase of a project intended to convert sewage sludge into hydrogen.

• 2016

  Concord Blue partners with Lockheed Martin on a bioenergy plant in New York[1]Concord Blueen.wikipedia.org

  M&A · Product launch

  Concord Blue partnered with Lockheed Martin to open a 250-kilowatt bioenergy plant in Owego, New York.

1. 1Concord Blueen.wikipedia.org