PRESS RELEASE

Dr. jur. Michael Jaffé, Lawyer
Insolvency administrator of Electrochaea GmbH, Planegg 

Following an international transaction process for Electrochaea:
Global patent portfolio for the production of "green" gas monetized

Hitachi takes over further development of the technology of the
power-to-gas pioneer company/

Munich/Planegg, August 03, 2026. Just one month after the opening of insolvency proceedings over the assets of Electrochaea GmbH, a pioneering company for the production of "green" energy (e-methane gas), its worldwide patent portfolio could now be exploited in the best possible way. The insolvency administrator Dr. jur. Michael Jaffé from the law firm JAFFÉ Rechtsanwälte Insolvenzverwalter has now concluded a corresponding purchase agreement with the large Japanese industrial conglomerate Hitachi. The creditors' meeting approved this already.

"It was a difficult transaction process because it is a highly complex technology that has not yet proven itself in industrial production and requires further investment. The solution that has now been found not only serves the interests of creditors, but also offers a guarantee for the preservation and further development of this technology," says insolvency administrator Dr. jur. Michael Jaffé.

Globally exploitable cleantech knowhow

Electrochaea GmbH was founded in 2014 and has since developed an innovative power-to-gas system. Surplus electricity from wind and solar plants is used so that a strain of microorganisms (archaea) specially bred for biocatalytic methane production can produce biomethane in natural gas quality from hydrogen and CO2 particularly efficiently.

The gas produced by the microorganisms can be used to generate heat or as fuel, regardless of time and space. Experts see the technology developed by Electrochaea as an important contribution to climate-neutral energy generation. Since 2014, several demonstration plants have been set up in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and the USA, mostly in partnership with industrial groups.

In the end, however, due to delays in the expansion of the plants, Electrochaea was unable to realize cost-covering production on an industrial scale, with the company itself only marketing the technology and licenses for production. As is typical for innovative start-up companies, Electrochaea has been heavily loss-making since its inception and therefore relies on the ongoing injection of capital to maintain operations.

Since a further round of financing, which was necessary for this, failed in spring 2026, the power-to-gas pioneer had to file for insolvency at the end of April. As a result, the Munich District Court appointed Dr. jur Michael Jaffé as insolvency administrator. Immediately after his appointment, he initiated an international transaction process with the aim of exploiting the patents in the best possible way. With Hitachi, a renowned investor was finally found who, as a global technology company for sustainable energy systems, can further develop Electrochaea's power-to-gas patent portfolio for industrial use.

Further information:

Dr. jur. Michael Jaffé has been regularly appointed for almost three decades now by the courts in difficult and major insolvency cases, in which it is a matter of securing the assets for the creditors and realizing them in the best possible way. Among the nationally and internationally best-known insolvency proceedings of Dr. jur. Michael Jaffé includes the media group KirchMedia of the late Dr. Leo Kirch, the formerly globally active memory chip manufacturer Qimonda as well as the German subsidiaries of the Petroplus Group, the three German P & R container management companies as well as Wirecard AG, the first insolvency case of a DAX group and one of the biggest financial scandals in German post-war history.

For more than two decades, the law firm JAFFÉ Rechtsanwälte Insolvenzverwalter has been one of the leading law firms in the fields of insolvency administration, insolvency law and restructuring (according to the ESUG), especially in complex and cross-border proceedings. An important basis for this is the many years of experience, competence and independence that are regularly in demand, especially in complex proceedings. This is one of the reasons why the law firm has enjoyed the trust of courts and creditors for decades, especially in difficult proceedings in which there are conflicting interests of the parties involved. With its own high-performance structure that has grown over the years, the law firm can accompany proceedings of any size in the interest of the creditors.

For further information, please contact:

Media contact for the insolvency administrator:
Sebastian Brunner
Phone: +49175/5604673

E-Mail: sebastian.brunner@brunner-communications.de