Energy Segment

The Economic Environment of the Energy Industry

In the first half of the 2017/2018 fiscal year, forward market prices for electricity moved within a comparatively narrow corridor. From mid-March 2018, an upward trend was established, which ensured that the derivatives market reached its highest level since March 2012 towards the end of the fiscal year. This was mainly due to higher prices for coal and CO₂ allowances. The price for the annual base of the front year in the price zone Austria reached its highest value on 11 September 2018 at EUR 59.2/MWh, the lowest value on 2 October 2017 at EUR 33.8/MWh. At EUR 41.9/MWh, the average price was around one-third higher than in the previous year.

Prices also rose on the spot market. During the reporting period, the average European Power Exchange (EPEX) spot price base was EUR 39.5 per MWh, 11.9% higher than in the previous year. Due to the increasing feed-in of electricity from wind and photovoltaics, the market continued to be volatile with hourly prices between EUR -83.1/MWh and EUR +124.6/MWh.

The increase in hard coal prices from March 2018 was mainly triggered by strong demand in the Asia-Pacific region. Starting from USD 79.0/t at the beginning of the 2017/2018 fiscal year, the All Publications Index#2 (API2) with delivery in 2019 to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp Coal Trading Area (loco ARA) rose by almost 25.0% to USD 98.2/t by the end of September.

With some intermediate lows, the oil price also rose continuously in the past fiscal year. At USD 67.0 per barrel of Brent crude oil, the average price was around 25.0% higher than the previous year's level, with the peak being reached at the end of the fiscal year.

Influenced by these developments and driven by CO₂ price increases, gas procurement prices rose significantly in the course of the summer, although no demand-side bottlenecks were discernible on the market. The NetConnect Germany (NCG) gas price for the front year, which moved laterally until March 2018, averaged EUR 19.4/MWh in the reporting period, up 14.1% year-on-year. The volatility of gas prices has increased sharply overall.

The most significant increase was recorded in the price of CO₂ allowances. Stagnation in the first few months was followed by a steep rise, with the price tripling to EUR 21.8 per ton by the end of the fiscal year.

Price Development on International Energy Markets

Source: EEX, Reuters

Business Development in the Energy Segment

Following the fiscal year 2016/2017, which was exceptionally positive from a financial point of view, sales revenues in the Energy Segment amounted to EUR 896.0 million in the reporting period (previous year: EUR 990.4 million). The main reasons for this were lower sales revenues from gas management and electricity trading as well as reduced use of the Timelkam CCGT power plant for grid reserve and congestion management compared to the previous year.

In the Energy Segment, an operating result in the amount of EUR 81.7 million was generated in the reporting period. This corresponds to a decrease of 25.6% compared with the previous year's EBIT in the amount of EUR 109.8 million. In addition to lower earnings contributions from electricity and gas sales, this was also due to lower earnings contributions from gas management, partly due to mild weather conditions. Declines in thermal generation due to a drop in call-offs for grid reserve and congestion management were only partially offset by improved operating results at the Timelkam biomass power plant and Cogeneration-Kraftwerke Management Oberösterreich GmbH (CMOÖ).

While the previous year's EBIT was influenced by an appreciation in the amount of EUR 20.9 million for the Timelkam CCGT power plant, an impairment of EUR 2.5 million was recognised on the CCGT power plant in the reporting period following an impairment test due to the current market situation for grid reserve and congestion management.

Compared with the impairment of the 7Fields gas storage facility in the amount of EUR 6.6 million and other minor impairments in the previous year, the reporting period saw an impairment of the 7Fields gas storage facility of EUR 3.2 million and various minor impairments.

In addition, there was an appreciation in the amount of EUR 1.9 million on CMOÖ in the reporting period.

Decline in Thermal Electricity Generation, Stable Electricity Procurement from Hydroelectric Power

Due to the reduced use of the Timelkam CCGT power plant for congestion management, proprietary electricity procurement in the Energy Segment in the 2017/2018 fiscal year amounted to 3,039 GWh, 7.2% lower than the previous year's value (3,275 GWh). Total electricity procurement in the Energy Segment, including external procurement, amounted to 15,289 GWh in the reporting period and was thus 8.4% below the figure for the previous year (16,700 GWh). This significant decline is attributable not only to the lower level of proprietary procurement but also to the reduction in external electricity trading. The provision of district heating from the power plant stations in Riedersbach and Timelkam fell by 7.5% compared with the previous year (253 GWh) to 234 GWh.

The water level of the rivers varied greatly in the course of the 2017/2018 fiscal year: while the first half of the reporting period was characterised by significantly above-average values, the second half was characterised by atypically low precipitation. For the fiscal year as a whole, the hydro coefficient of 0.95 was 5% lower than the standard production capacity, but 1 percent point higher than in the previous year. Proprietary electricity procurement from Energie AG's hydraulic power plants therefore remained stable in the 2017/2018 fiscal year.

The largest investment in the hydroelectric power sector in 2017/2018 was the construction of fish ladders at the Marchtrenk and Traun-Pucking power plants. In building these lifts to improve the ecological situation, Energie AG complies with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive and the Austrian Water Act.

The prerequisite for the extension of the water rights at the Partenstein power plant is the adaptation of the plant to the current state of the art. For this reason, a fish ladder was erected at the Langhalsen weir during the reporting period and individual parts of the plant were replaced.

Ennskraftwerke AG, in which Energie AG has a 50% shareholding, also reported electricity production below the long-term average in the 2017/2018 fiscal year, with a hydro coefficient of 0.92. All told, Energie AG holds electricity procurement rights in hydropower plants with a standard production capacity of around 1,390 GWh.

In the wind power sector, participating interests in three wind farms and one approved project continued in the 2017/2018 fiscal year. The pro rata total capacity of the wind parks is 12.7 MW. In the reporting period, electricity generated with wind power totalled 31.3 GWh (previous year: 34 GWh).

Customer Loyalty Campaigns Led to Declining Switching Rates Among Private Customers

The electricity sales of Energie AG are bundled in ENAMO GmbH, the joint sales company of Energie AG and LINZ AG. In the 2017/2018 fiscal year, the ENAMO group of companies encompassed ENAMO GmbH, ENAMO Ökostrom GmbH, Energie AG Oberösterreich Vertrieb GmbH & Co KG and LINZ Strom Vertrieb GmbH & Co KG.

The electricity market continued to move during the reporting period, with the result that the switching rate for 2018 across Austria is expected to remain at a similarly high level as in the previous year (E-Control Austria, 2017: 4.3%). In the private customer segment of the ENAMO Group, the number of supplier changes dropped in absolute terms.

Electricity Sales Volume

GWh

In the 2017/2018 fiscal year, the consolidated electricity sales volume amounted to 7,294 GWh, 8.5% below the previous year's sales volume of 7,968 GWh. More than half of this decline is attributable to the industrial customer segment. Sales volumes in the business customer segment were at the previous year's level. The private customer segment continued to be a strong focus for competitors, but Energie AG Oberösterreich Vertrieb GmbH & Co KG was nevertheless able to record a slight reversal in trend with switching rates falling. The actions implemented in this segment to improve customer loyalty had a positive effect.

In addition to the tried and tested campaigns such as the replacement of household appliances or the 2018 energy-saving campaign, in which ENAMO provided a total of 380,000 LED luminaires, ENAMO also successfully generated added value for its customers through innovative products, thus maintaining its position in this dynamic market. As part of the innovation and digitalisation efforts, a completely new pricing model for heat pump users was presented in the form of the “Heimvorteil smart flex” (smart flex home advantage) package. The heat pump identifies time zones with cheap or free energy and automatically switches itself on during these periods. The energy costs for the heat pump can thus be reduced without any loss of comfort – and above all completely automatically. This electricity price model is an example of the added value, functionality and use of the new smart meter technology.

ENAMO is part of the European “PEAKApp” research project, in which energy suppliers, research institutes and software companies from seven countries are involved. The aim of the project, which was launched in 2016, is to influence customers' consumption patterns in a targeted manner towards more efficient energy use. Initial evaluations of a field test conducted in the 2017/2018 fiscal year showed promising results, including positive effects on customer switching rates. In addition, the results form the basis for the development of future electricity products and services.

In addition, ENAMO is participating in the “Flex+” research project starting in the fiscal year 2017/2018. In the scope of the project, various strategies will be developed and tested in large-scale real-life operation in order to economically leverage the flexibility of remotely controlled components such as heat pumps, boilers, PV storage systems and e-mobility.

Mild Weather Affected Gas, Heat and Energy Services

Natural Gas Sales Volume

GWh

At 4,980 GWh, the volume of natural gas sold by the Group in the 2017/2018 fiscal year was 5.1% below the previous year's figure of 5,247 GWh. Compared with the colder previous year, sales volumes to business and private customers using space heating fell, primarily for weather-related reasons. During the year under review, the total number of heating degree days in Upper Austria was 7.4% lower than the average for the past ten years and 11.3% below the previous year's figure. Natural gas sales volumes to large customers remained stable.

A customer loyalty campaign in the Gas Segment with a price guarantee for existing business and private customers was successfully extended in the spring of 2018. Thanks to this and other customer loyalty campaigns, Energie AG Oberösterreich Power Solutions GmbH (Energie AG Power Solutions) once again succeeded in retaining its customer base, achieving a switching rate well below the average. On average, in the natural gas industry, the switching rates in the business and private customer area in Austria and Upper Austria continued to rise.

Energie AG Power Solutions with its online brand “gasdiskont.at” emerged as the winner from this year's auction by the Association for Consumer Information (“Verein für Konsumenteninformation”, VKI). By supplying to the newly acquired customer base, it has been possible for the first time in several years to achieve customer growth in the natural gas business and residential customer segment.

In the energy services business area, the heat sales volume from contracting plants amounted to 135 GWh in the first half of the reporting period, and thus below the previous year's figure of 141 GWh. Asset growth did not fully compensate for temperature-related shortfalls in volumes.

In the course of the 2017/2018 fiscal year, eleven new PV contracting systems with an output of 1,550 kW_p were installed, increasing the total photovoltaic output of the Group to 8.2 MW_p. As a result, a total of 7.1 GWh of electrical energy was generated in the reporting period. In addition, PV systems with 200 kW_p were implemented for customers as general contractors. The 2017/2018 fiscal year was thus characterised by the Energie AG Group's largest PV extension programme within one year to date.

CMOÖ GmbH supplies a key account customer in Laakirchen with electricity and process heat through a CCGT power plant, as well as several adjacent companies with district heating. The volume of process heat and district heating provided to customers in the 2017/2018 fiscal year was 688 GWh and thus 43.6% up on the previous year's figure of 479 GWh.

Heat Sales Volume

GWh

Overall, the heat sales volume in the Energy Segment amounted to 1,327 GWh in the 2017/2018 fiscal year, an increase of 15.0% on the previous year (1,154 GWh). Successful customer acquisitions more than compensated for lower volumes attributable to above-average temperatures in Austria and abroad.

Despite this generally mild weather compared with the previous year, the February and March months saw strong temperature fluctuations with record lows in the supply region of the Heating business unit. These significant fluctuations necessitate flexible operation of the heat generation plants, so that the modernisation and efficiency measures carried out by the Heating business unit in recent years proved their value during the reporting period. In fiscal 2017/2018, efficiency was further increased, particularly at the Kirchdorf location, through the installation of a high-efficiency hot water boiler with a thermal output of some 11 MW in conjunction with an exhaust gas heat exchanger. In this context, work started on overhauling the control technology system at the central heating plant in the context of automating the plants.

Another trend-setting project was launched in Gmunden within the reporting period. The district heating business unit receives the waste heat generated by the processes in an established industrial plant and uses it to serve district heating customers in Gmunden in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. The heat output is approx. 8 MW; this corresponds to the annual heat requirement of around 1,000 households. This pioneering joint project with the Gmunden-based cement plant will result in annual CO₂ savings of around 3,800 tonnes following completion in the 2019/2020 fiscal year.

In the Czech supply region, modernisation and optimisation campaigns were implemented on an ongoing basis in the 2017/2018 fiscal year. In addition to consolidation of the existing district heating networks at the individual locations, a major project in Kolín started in the 2016/2017 fiscal year was continued in the reporting period. Parts of the previous supplier's district heating network were taken over by Městské tepelné hospodářství Kolín, spol. s r.o. (MTH Kolín); in the course of this, renewal work was started, resulting in a considerable efficiency boost across the entire value chain at the site.

Extension of Public Charging Stations for E-Mobility

In the field of electromobility, the construction and operation of the public basic charging infrastructure was completed. Currently, Energie AG's customers have access to 22 charging stations (with two different power classes 22 kW/11 kW). In addition, the construction and operation of charging stations for municipalities and companies were taken over. This charging network setup was closely tied to preparations for digital billing of public electric vehicle charging.