Energy Segment

Generation

Energie AG’s generation unit is responsible for developing, building, operating and maintaining electricity and heat generation facilities and heat distribution systems.

Energie AG is committed to using renewable energy sources in an environmentally friendly manner and is building and operating hydropower plants, thermal power plants and heat supply facilities, including with the use of biomass fuels. The Company is also committed to the expansion of wind power and photovoltaic power plants. Energie AG furthermore supports research into alternative electricity generation.

Effects of climate change on the business model

The Group's business policy accommodates changes caused by the effects of climate change. This includes the monitoring of relevant studies that examine precipitation changes in the catchment areas of Energie AG's hydropower plants. A statistically significant change of the standard production capacity of the hydropower plants is so far neither apparent nor can it yet be assessed. The current volatility on the electricity markets (price volatility) greatly exceeds the economic uncertainty due to potential changes to the standard production capacity caused by climate change. The effects are distorted by the natural fluctuation of water levels and legal uncertainties that affect the generation of hydroelectric power. Energie AG responds to these uncertainties, e. g. with measures aimed at maintaining the best possible state-of-the-art technology for each individual power plant.

With regard to a possible increase in the frequency of extreme events, Energie AG is well prepared for peak events, particularly including flooding incidents. This concerns the operational management of the power plants and the weir operation regulations in particular. The most important measures and concepts have been coordinated with the relevant public authorities and are reviewed and updated regularly.

The overall direction of the business strategy aims at increasing the proportion of renewable energy sources in the production of electricity and heat. In addition to expanding the systems for energy production from renewable sources, the Group is also advancing the development in the area of renewable energy storage. Electricity and heat generation systems that are based on non-renewable energy sources are, in particular, operated and further developed as necessary to warrant the security of supply.

Steady expansion of renewable energy

The further expansion of the existing generation portfolio from renewable sources – especially hydroelectric power, wind and photovoltaics – is a focal point of the strategic development. According to technical and commercial potential estimates, Energie AG Group has the capacity to generate 630 GWh of renewable electricity between now and 2030 by utilising new plants (hydroelectric power, wind power, and PV) and improving the efficiency of existing plants. The regional focus is set predominantly on Upper Austria. This means that Energie AG alone will, by the year 2030, contribute around 2 percentage points to the national 100% renewable target, and increase the existing level of generation by around 22% to approx. 3,150 GWh renewable electricity.

Hydroelectric power

Hydroelectric power is the most important pillar of Austria's electricity supply. The nation has set itself the target of generating an additional 5 TWh from this energy source by the year 2030. The largest part of the electricity procurement in Energie AG's power plant portfolio is also generated by hydroelectric power plants. Upper Austria has already reached a very high degree of resource utilisation of more than 90% in this area. The newly constructed power plant in Dürnau and the planned power plant in Traunfall, which both replace older plants, as well as the power plant project in Weissenbach and other projects are intended to expand the capacity to harness the potentially available clean electricity by the year 2030. The Dürnau power plant was already officially commissioned in the summer of 2021. Replacement of the old plant with a newly constructed power plant has tripled the output to 1.2 MW. The yearly electricity output of approximately 5.8 GWh can cover the demand of around 1,400 standard households. The Weissenbach project not only delivers environmentally friendly electricity but is also a valuable contribution to flood protection in the region.

Energie AG operates 43 of its own hydropower plants with a total capacity of around 280 MW and around 1,160 GWh of standard production capacity (previous year: 1,150 GWh). In addition, the Group holds procurement rights to hydropower plants with an output of around 380 MW and around 1,410 GWh of standard production capacity (previous year: 1,410 GWh).

With its hydropower plants, Energie AG is an active player on the electricity market and also delivers important grid services, particularly including the supply of balancing energy.

Ennskraftwerke AG, in which Energie AG holds a 50% interest, is investing around EUR 20.0 million into renovating the power plant in St Pantaleon, which is among those with the highest output capacity. The power plant's full-scale renovation will contribute to increasing the electricity generation from hydroelectric power by the consumption of 1,800 standard households.

The construction work on the new hydropower plant in Traunleiten, which started in 2017, was completed in 2020. The power plant is owned by Wels Strom GmbH, in which Energie AG holds a 49% interest. The investment volume was EUR 48.0 million. The power plant was constructed at the existing site with the greatest possible degree of care for the adjacent Natura 2000 conservation area.

Photovoltaics

The expansion of photovoltaics will be implemented with the help of Group-owned PV plants, to be erected mainly on already contaminated sites such as landfills and decommissioned mining areas or on already used open spaces (e.g. SolarCampus in Eberstalzell) on the one hand, as well as contracted rooftop-mounted photovoltaic plants. Energie AG is progressing in accordance with the “Photovoltaic Strategy for Upper Austria 2030”, which prioritises PV on buildings and inferior open spaces.

Energie AG Group is operating 75 PV power plants (previous year: 71) with an output of approximately 14 MW (previous year: 12 MW) and a standard production capacity of 14 GWh (previous year: 13 GWh). The PV plants in operation have a module surface of around 100,000 square metres and can produce the yearly electricity consumption of around 3,500 freestanding family homes.

In the last few years, the expansion of photovoltaic power enjoyed very strong momentum across all of Austria. Energie AG has extensive experience in this field and constructed the first research and demonstration plants several decades ago. An important milestone was the 1 MW solar park in Eberstalzell commissioned in the year 2010.

Wind power

The expansion of wind energy in Upper Austria is a highly demanding task, especially due to the topography. What is needed is a revised political environment (Wind Master Plan for Upper Austria) as well as projects outside of Upper Austria, which will be implemented via cooperation projects and partnerships.

Wind power facilities in Austria are predominantly installed in the more windy states of Lower Austria and Burgenland. In addition to the facilities in Munderfing, Upper Austria, Energie AG is also invested in wind power facilities located in the municipalities of Trautmannsdorf and Scharndorf in Lower Austria. Together with local partners, the Energie AG Group owns interest stakes in 13 wind power facilities via subsidiaries and thereby makes an active contribution to achieving the climate targets. The wind power facilities have a proportional output of around 15 MW (previous year: 15 MW) and a standard production capacity of around 36 GWh (previous year: 36 GWh).

Need for flexibility in electricity production

In addition to a high-performance grid infrastructure, the security of supply also depends on a secure and flexible energy output. After reaching the “100% renewables” target in electricity generation in the year 2030, the summer months are expected to deliver a clear surplus production of PV electricity. The higher energy demand during the winter months, however, cannot be covered by the output of the photovoltaic and wind power plants. Forecasts expect the shortfall to amount to up to 9,500 MW for brief periods. “Backup capacities” from flexible CCGT power plants are needed to warrant the system stability during these months. The CCGT power plant Timelkam plays an important role in congestion management and as a grid reserve. In addition to the usual maintenance measures, Energie AG Group will invest around EUR 2.5 million into the modernisation and further efficiency improvement of the plant in the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 fiscal years.

In order to make flexible capacities available at short notice, which may be necessary due to unreliable wind or sunshine forecasts, Energie AG is taking the next step toward realising the pumped-storage power plant in Ebensee, which has already been approved by the environmental impact assessment. The preliminary project will also include preparation of the final economic evaluation under energy criteria and the profitability calculation. Once the preliminary project has been completed, the Supervisory Board will be asked to make the final investment decision on the project. The demand for additional storage capacities until 2030 undoubtedly exists. Battery storage, e-mobility, and managing consumer behaviour may be sensible additions from today's perspective but fall a long way short of covering the total additional need for flexibility. Maintaining the system stability requires synchronous and parallel support for the volatile generation from renewable sources by flexible “backup capacities” such as pumped-storage power plants. The appropriate regulatory and public funding framework will have to be put in place for these extremely capital-intense investments.

Thermal power plants & district heating

Energie AG has seven locations ¹⁾ for thermal power plants with an output of around 400 MW_e and a standard production capacity of up to 2,260 GWh ²⁾. The power plant with the highest output in Upper Austria is the CCGT power plant in Timelkam with an output of 405 MW_e ³⁾. It warrants the necessary flexibility and a highly efficient partial load operation that allows for a congestion management that can stabilise the electricity grid. The major overhaul planned in the 2021/2022 fiscal year upgrades the plant to state-of-the-art technology and increases the output to around 414 MW_e. As renewable energy proliferates, flexible power plant capacity is increasingly important. The Timelkam plant is particularly relevant to the Austrian control area manager with regard to the security of supply.

The last of the coal was burnt up at the Riedersbach power plant in 2016. Since then, only natural gas and biomass have been used to generate electricity and district heating at the Riedersbach and Timelkam sites. The biomass power plant at Timelkam (output: 9.5 MW_e, 28 MW_t) uses forest and herbaceous biomass to generate green electricity and district heating.

Energie AG operates 12 district heating distribution networks (previous year: 12) and manages 607 heating systems under service contracts on behalf of customers (previous year: 598). A large share of the district heating is generated from highly efficient CHP (combined heat and power) plants and biomass power plants. As well as operating geothermal plants, the use of industrial waste heat is also increasing in importance.

All thermal electricity and heat generation plants of Energie AG exhibit a very high degree of fuel utilisation and, in turn, efficient use of primary energy resources.

Conserving resources is more than simply a focus area in the operation of these plants; it begins as soon as infrastructure facilities are built and spans their entire useful life. The environmental impact of new production and supply facilities is kept as low as possible with the close involvement of affected stakeholders and the support of outside experts. A forward-thinking maintenance strategy ensures high system availability and maximises system lifespans.

Increasing energy efficiency in electricity and heat production, distribution grids, and customers’ energy and water consumption is a permanent focus of efforts to achieve sustainability.

The Group ensures that thermal power plants and heat generation processes remain environmentally friendly by using state-of-the-art practices, which are regularly reviewed both internally and externally. The use of combined heat and power (CHP), combined electricity and heat generation, plays an important role in improving efficiency. The heat is used for industrial process heating or district heating for the industrial sector, commercial applications and household customers. Efficiency gains are also realised via environmental and other audits, maintenance and repairs, and via internal improvement processes as part of ongoing management efforts. The Group is continuing to expand the use of heat.

Together with the Energy Institute of Johannes Kepler University in Linz (JKU) and other research and industry partners, Energie AG has launched a research project that investigates the development of interregional heat transfer networks that are supposed to link several industrial waste heat and other sustainable sources, district heating networks, industrial process heat sinks, and storage facilities with each other, please see Group Management Report, Research, Development and Innovation. Another research project conducted by Energie AG, the Technical University of Vienna, the Energy Institute at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz (JKU) and other industry partners is investigating the extraction of high temperatures incl. heat transportation to industrial customers for the supply of process energy.

Energie AG regularly obtains expert opinions to verify that its larger facilities are operating with high efficiency.

In terms of ensuring security of supply, Energie AG’s fleet of thermal power plants is playing an important role in the transition to clean and renewable energy. It can balance the volatile feed-in of renewable energy and acts as a reserve in the case of grid congestion. Biomass CHP plants also make an important contribution to the use of renewable energy.

This can be achieved through increased use of biomass and by “greening the gas” (blending natural gas with renewable gas, such as using methanation or hydrogen produced from renewables). Energie AG’s portfolio of power plants and district heat generation facilities provide a solid foundation for further developments in this area.

Renewable heat

In the area of heat, Energie AG has already initiated the switch to renewable energy through a number of projects over the past years. All measures will lead to the share of sustainable, CO₂-neutral heat generation rising to more than 80% by the year 2030, with more than 260 GWh from biomass (Erzeugung GmbH, district heating networks Aschach, Freistadt, Pregarten, Weichstetten, Bioenergie Steyr GmbH and Energie Contracting Steyr GmbH), approx. 45 GWh from geothermal (GRB Geothermie Ried Bohrung GmbH and Geothermie-Fördergesellschaft Simbach-Braunau mbH), and approx. 40 GWh from industrial waste heat utilisation (Kirchdorf und Gmunden). The significantly expanded utilisation of waste heat in the waste incineration plant in Wels as part of the project “Future initiative electricity and heat supply Wels” allows for the current production of around 180 GWh to be more than doubled to around 390 GWh in the long term. The strategy of densification and optimisation of the existing district heating networks is being continued. Additional waste heat sources will be evaluated between now and 2030, the heat used this way will be integrated into the district heat networks, making them even more sustainable.

Decarbonisation of space heating

In the 2020/2021 fiscal year, 14,800 households in the town of Wels were to a large extent supplied with exhaust heat from the Wels waste incineration plant operated by Energie AG. The intensified cooperation between eww ag as the district heating network operator and Energie AG as the heat producer encompasses the expansion and densification of the district heating network, a second large transport pipeline in the northern part of the town of Wels, and warranting the supply with district heat. Doubling the heat extraction at the Wels waste incineration plant substitutes for other energy sources. In calendar year 2021, these projects lead to investments to the tune of EUR 26.0 million in the area of district heat. The uninterrupted supply is also warranted by the use of biomass, solar heat, and modern heating boilers. The use of fossil fuels is reduced by maximising the utilisation of heat from waste incineration. Once the final scope is installed, between 80% and 90% of all households in Wels (approximately 26,000) along with numerous businesses can be supplied with environmentally friendly district heat from the Wels waste incineration plant.

In the 2020/2021 fiscal year, 81.6% of Energie AG’s proprietary electricity procurement came from renewable sources (previous year: 76.4%), with around 75.1% of this coming from hydroelectric power (previous year: 70.4%) and the remainder from PV systems, wind power, biomass and biogenic waste.

For more information about energy generation, see the Key performance indicators section of the Group Management Report as well as the Energy Segment.

Biodiversity

The preservation of valuable habitats, biodiversity and water body morphology are essential aspects of project development at Energie AG. A wide array of environmental considerations are addressed during the approval process for power plant construction.

Energie AG is also implementing measures to improve ecological conditions and reduce the environmental footprint, e.g. fish bypasses.

Fish bypasses have been built at Energie AG’s run-of-river power plants and pumped-storage power plants in accordance with the Water Framework Directive.

With over 20 fishing rights in Upper Austria and Salzburg, Energie AG is one of Upper Austria's largest fisheries and not only supports the natural reproduction of the fish stock, but also secures the naturally authentic population density by means of ecological breeding programmes and regular stocking with native fish species.

Sales

The energy savings that result from giving well-founded energy advice are a significant contribution to environmental protection and cost reduction efforts. Energy efficiency and advice have been among Energie AG's core competencies for many years. Most of the Company's customer advisers in Austria are certified “European Energy Managers” (EUREM) who can advise their customers on-site, e.g. on trade fairs or in the business customer sector, on the basis of concrete analyses.

As a provider of energy audits in accordance with the Federal Energy Efficiency Act that is registered with the National Energy Efficiency Monitoring Centre, Energie AG Oberösterreich Vertrieb GmbH (Vertrieb GmbH) and its wholly owned subsidiary Ingenieurbüro IfEA Institut für Energieausweis GmbH (IfEA) employ 12 listed energy auditors (previous year: 10), making the Company one of the largest providers of this service in Austria. The IfEA offers numerous other energy services for private persons and businesses. The objective is to promote a sustainable and conscious consumption of energy and to enable customers to benefit from easily accessible high-quality services. Energy performance certificates, thermograms, blower door tests, and heating monitoring are among the standard service offers. The IfEA supports businesses on their way to more sustainability and resource-efficiency by offering energy audits, energy advice for small and medium-sized companies, CO₂ footprint and load profile analyses for electricity and natural gas, as well as optimisation concepts.

Vertrieb GmbH offers its customers CO₂-free electricity labelling for household and business customers. The energy mix amounts to 0 grams CO₂/kWh. The fuel mix disclosure uses 100% renewable energy sources. Additionally, Enamo Ökostrom GmbH is supplying municipal public and business customers with electricity that is certified with the Austrian Ecolabel. The Ecolabel distinguishes tariff models and products offered by green electricity traders who fully source their electricity from renewable energy sources and conform with clearly defined requirements and transparent criteria.

Vertrieb GmbH also offers a CO₂-reduced gas product, which contains biogas from the company's own biogas plant in Engerwitzdorf. The biomethane plant in Engerwitzdorf feeds around 10.8 GW of renewable gas (biomethane) into the natural gas grid each year.

For the most part, Energie AG supplies its electricity customers with electricity from environmentally friendly hydroelectric power. The following presentations of the energy mix of the product label “OÖ Wasserkraft”, and the product label “OÖ Ökostrom” of the Vertrieb GmbH relate to the 2019/2020 fiscal year ⁵⁾.

Fuel mix disclosure

The majority of Energie AG's private and business customers use the product mix “Upper Austria hydroelectric power”:

Upper Austria Hydroelectric Power

Products “Ökostrom Klassik”, “Ökostrom Smart Nachtaktiv”, “Ökostrom Wärme”

The product mix “Upper Austria green electricity” presents as follows:

Upper Austria green electricity

Product “Ökostrom Plus”

The Austrian Energy Efficiency Act and its implementation

The Federal Energy Efficiency Act (Bundes-Energieeffizienzgesetz) of 2015 was to the largest part rescinded at the end of calendar year 2020. It took great effort for the Vertrieb GmbH to satisfy all requirements from the Act to the utmost satisfaction of all involved parties. The new Energy Efficiency Act and the requirements and obligations resulting from it are expected to be published in the first half of 2022. Hand in hand with its customers and partners, the Vertrieb GmbH will continue on the path towards a more sustainable future.

Energy efficiency at the customer

The Energie AG Group engages in promotional funding and campaigns to encourage efficient and sustainable energy use. The following values relate to the last full calendar year available on the reporting date – i.e. in the 2020/2021 fiscal year they relate to calendar year 2020. This allows for comparability with the statutory requirements under the Federal Energy Efficiency Act, which prescribes an analysis on a calendar year basis.

The figures stated in the table relate to measures that were taken proactively by the Vertrieb GmbH or delegated to customers by the Vertrieb GmbH. Due to the fact that Vertrieb GmbH has, thanks to its pioneering role, already met its obligations that result from the Federal Energy Efficiency Act 2015 for many years in advance, the measures in subsequent years may fall short of the required savings.

The products and services of the Vertrieb GmbH focus on advancing renewable energies and improving the energy efficiency at the customer. As a result, the portfolio is being extended and combined with public funding options offered by the Province of Upper Austria.

Energie AG incentivises its customers to use energy efficiently in numerous ways. Around 25,000 LED lamps were distributed to customers free of charge at the occasion of the regional roadshow in calendar year 2020. The household appliance upgrade campaign in calendar year 2020 with selected market partners was taken advantage of by many customers and resulted in the replacement of 743 old household appliances with efficient new appliances (calendar year 2019: 310).

With the energy saving help package initiative, Energie AG provides free boxes that contain energy saving products (e.g. LED lamps) and helpful information on how to save energy to recipients of welfare benefits and other persons in need across Upper Austria.

Energie AG supports various campaigns and initiatives aimed at promoting the replacement of old heating systems with modern and efficient heating systems – with Energie AG offering financial assistance as well as energy advice and demo systems.

The “exit oil” campaign promotes the switch from old oil-powered heating systems to new environmentally friendly heating solutions. 115 customers took advantage of Energie AG's heat pump subsidy in calendar year 2020 and replaced their old heating system with a heat pump (calendar year 2019: 65), yielding total energy savings of around 1.7 GWh (previous year: 0.7 GWh). The “energy-saving package” offered by Energie AG supported 169 customers who replaced their existing heating systems with an efficient natural gas unit in calendar year 2020 (calendar year 2019: 254), yielding total energy savings of around 2.2 GWh (previous year: 3.1 GWh).

Heat contracting solutions for efficient heating systems were another focus area. The increased use of biomass, geothermal energy and industrial waste heat is particularly effective in promoting regional and renewable energies in the production of heat.

Energie AG has extensive expertise and experience in the area of photovoltaics. PV contracting solutions enable business and industrial customers to harvest the benefits of an environmentally friendly electricity generation from solar power without having to finance the installation of the system and take care of its operation. The Vertrieb GmbH is operating a total of 50 PV contracting systems at customers (previous year: 51) with an output of around 8.4 MWp (previous year: 8.4 MWp) installed on the roofs of companies in Upper Austria. Contracts for 20 new PV plants with 4.0 MWp were signed in the 2020/2021 fiscal year; these new plants are currently under construction.

Energie AG promotes the expansion of roof-mounted PV plants by offering its customers the “PV Superdeal”, which is a currently unique way of using a hire-purchase model to put a powerful, high-quality and individualised PV solution on the roof without the upfront investment. The focus is on PV plants up to 5 kWp for individual consumption; the unused electricity is either purchased by Energie AG at attractive conditions, or traded peer-to-peer via a mobile phone app. Business and agricultural clients stand to benefit from the newly developed “PV Profideal”, which is similar to the PV Superdeal and offers PV plants with an output of up to 40 kWp. This provides strong support to the “Photovoltaic Strategy for Upper Austria 2030”.