Holding & Services Segment

Together with other prominent Austrian companies and corporate groups, Energie AG is participating in a building benchmarking that in the 2020/2021 fiscal year once again documented the pioneering character of the included buildings with respect to economic operations and efficiency. Due to the fact that the corporate headquarters of Energie AG – the PowerTower – continues to present a structural landmark in terms of technology, some building techniques like the facade or component activation will also find their way into the extension building to the PowerTower.

Energie AG has placed its focus firmly on its employees and their well-being at the workplace. This is why modern energy concepts for the various sites are planned and implemented in addition to Energie AG proactively exercising operator responsibility in accordance with ÖNORM B1301 (property and building safety).

The company restaurants and canteens of Energie AG in Linz, Gmunden, Timelkam and Riedersbach have placed an even stronger focus on the use of regional and seasonal fresh produce compared to the previous years. Direct partnerships with regional suppliers of produce and meat are sought out and established with increased intensity. In the 2020/2021 fiscal year, the canteens prepared a total of 93,078 fresh servings of food for employees (previous year: 122,892). The decline is attributable to employees working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the interest of a balanced diet, the menus also feature vegetarian meal options. Around 25% of all lunches sold are vegetarian.

In purchasing processes, some environmentally relevant criteria are set as mandatory requirements in the text of requests for proposal. The supplier assessment in the Group's purchasing manual includes an environmental component. Tenders for transport services are awarded with a strong preference on low CO₂ emissions. Tenders for cleaning services pay particular attention to the biodegradability of cleaning products. Purchases are geared to longevity, e.g. the average useful life of transformers is 45 years.

Electromobility

Energie AG emphasises its role as a paragon and pioneer in the area of resource preservation by enthusiastically endorsing electric mobility and alternative engine power.

With a share of around 30% in Austria's total CO₂ emissions in the year 2019 and a continuous increase exceeding 74% since 1990, motor traffic is a key factor in the mission of achieving a CO₂-neutral society. Great hopes rest on electromobility.

Energie AG operates 190 passenger vehicles and 600 trucks and commercials across its sites in Austria. The share of electric passenger vehicles in the Group's fleet (excluding the Czech Republic Segment) rose to 39 vehicles in the 2020/2021 fiscal year and now represents 21%. The goal is to successively increase the share of electric cars in the Austrian fleet to around 40% by the year 2024. To achieve this objective, a massive expansion of the internal charging infrastructure of currently 76 charging stations (previous year: 48) at 23 locations (previous year: 14) to 161 charging stations at existing and numerous new locations by the year 2024 is being planned.

Energie AG thereby supports the Austrian Government Programme 2020-2024, which provides strong impetus for public companies to switch their fleets to electric vehicles. The charging and operation of the vehicles with 100% renewable energy enables the Group to reduce CO₂ emissions and the dependence on fossil energy sources.

Energie AG’s charging card is the key to Austria’s largest charging network, giving customers a convenient way to charge their electric cars. More than 7,200 electric car charging stations across Austria are provided by cooperation partners and can be used with the Energie AG charging card (previous year: 4,500). In Upper Austria, Energie AG has established a dense charging network to provide public and fast charging facilities for electric cars. Energie AG is planning to expand the network of public charging stations with different output levels in the future (in cooperation with municipalities and local partners). The electricity supplied to all charging stations operated by Energie AG is to 100% sourced from hydroelectric power, wind and solar energy. Energie AG also offers charging solutions for densely populated residential buildings and company fleets. These solutions are geared to the charging requirements of the local target groups.

In addition to Energie AG's charging solutions for private and business customers, the Group is pursuing a targeted expansion of public charging stations – including operations management and service packages with local partners and municipalities – that is aimed at providing full-coverage supply to customers. Energie AG currently operates 128 publicly accessible charging stations with various output ranges from 3.7 kW to 150 kW, including a billing system, and manages a total of over 425 charging points. Rapid charging stations are currently operated at eight locations, with a further six rapid charging stations planned in the 2021/2022 fiscal year. For more information, see the Group Management Report, Electric Vehicles section.

Energy audit

The energy audit, in line with § 9 of the Austrian Federal Energy Efficiency Act 2015 (Bundes-Energieeffizienzgesetz), is conducted once every four years and covers all the Energie AG Group’s locations in Austria. The most recent energy audit was concluded in November 2019. The energy audit examines a key energy consumption area in the relevant sites’ ”processes“, which is analysed in detail and subsequently audited. These processes encompass operational processes and industrial facilities, e.g. electric drives and systems, hot water systems used in industrial activities. The “Processes” business unit accounted for 95.1% of Energie AG’s total energy consumption in the 2017/2018 fiscal year (2014/2015 fiscal year: 92.0%), while transport accounted for 4.2% (2014/2015 fiscal year: 4.0%) and buildings accounted for 0.7% (2014/2015 fiscal year: 4.0%).

The efficient use of energy and energy sources is a top priority for Energie AG, as is evident from the Vertrieb GmbH's numerous incentives and campaigns. The 400 kWp PV system installed at the Ötztal location in autumn 2020 is a prime example for the sustainable use of energy. The unit not only supplies electricity to the waste management site but also to commercial tenants as well as electric vehicles of customers and employees. Particular emphasis is placed on the energetic efficiency of the grate firing and fluidised bed waste incineration plants as part of the continuous energy efficiency improvements within processes. The next energy audit will take place in the 2022/2023 fiscal year.