Energy Segment

Generation

The program pursued by the Austrian government provides for a massive expansion of renewable power plants between now and the year 2030: The electricity generation is set to increase by 50% or 27 TWh, which will require the construction of many new hydropower plants, wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) systems along with a moderate expansion of biomass.

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.

Steady expansion of renewable energy

The further expansion of the existing generation portfolio from renewable sources 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. Energie AG Group’s existing capacities will be increased by approx. 24% to around 3,250 GWh of electricity from renewable energy sources, also see Energie AG Strategy 2030, Additional renewable electricity generation until 2030.

Achieving these very ambitious energy goals across all of Austria will require optimum framework conditions and the coordinated joint efforts of political and economic players as well as the general population. In addition to the streamlining and simplification of the environmental impact assessment and individual approval processes for energy generation systems, the necessary expansion of the electricity grid infrastructure for all voltage levels is an important building block for a sustainable future with regard to energy and climate protection.

The increasing public acceptance of the expansion of renewable electricity generation is in stark contrast to the acceptance of concrete projects. Energie AG is responding to this development by establishing processes that facilitate the participation of the citizenry along with the concerned municipalities, neighbours and other stakeholder groups.

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 will both replace older plants, as well as the power plant project in Weissenbach and other proprietary projects together with a production increase to the electricity procurement rights are intended to expand the capacity to harness the potential of clean electricity by the year 2030. The newly constructed replacement plant has tripled the output of the Dürnau power plant, which was commissioned in 2021, 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.

Storage expansion creates flexibility. In the future, the electricity supply in Austria will have to have an even greater capacity to store electricity and release it upon request at short notice. This is why Energie AG is advancing the implementation of the pumped storage power plant in Ebensee, which has already gained approval in the environmental impact assessment and is earmarked to significantly increase the security of supply with an output of up to 170 MW.

The expansion of hydropower also depends on preserving the existing power plant capacities, which will require measures and regulatory processes aimed at maintaining the water rights. Environmental measures will be designed with an eye on minimising the loss of works water for hydropower generation. The expansion of hydroelectric power is partially necessary to compensate the production decline caused by the ever more stringent environmental requirements.

Energie AG operates 43 of its own hydropower plants with a total capacity of around 280 MW and around 1,160 GWh in standard production capacity (previous year: 1,160 GWh). In addition, the Group holds procurement rights to run-of-river power plants along the Enns and Donau with a proportionate standard production capacity of around 1,210 GWh as well to the pumped-storage power plant Malta/Reisseck II with a proportionate output of around 130 MW.

The operational management of three hydropower plants of Wels Strom GmbH was assumed by Erzeugung GmbH on 1 January 2022.

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. Its full-scale renovation will contribute to increasing the electricity generation from hydroelectric power by the consumption of 1,800 standard households.

The construction works on the new replacement hydropower plant in Traunleiten with an investment volume of EUR 48.0 million were completed back in 2020. The power plant is owned by Wels Strom GmbH, in which Energie AG holds a 49% interest. The operational management was assumed by Erzeugung GmbH. 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 84 PV power plants (previous year: 75) with an output of approximately 18 MW (previous year: 14 MW) and a standard production capacity of 19 GWh (previous year: 14 GWh). The PV plants in operation have a module surface of around 125,000 square metres (previous year: 100,000) and can produce the yearly electricity consumption of around 4,500 freestanding family homes (previous year: 3,500).

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.

The expansion of the SolarCampus in Eberstalzell in the autumn of 2021 doubled the previous photovoltaic surface by adding 15,751 m², with the result that the existing land area is now fully used for electricity generation. The use of significantly more powerful PV modules and their optimised installation delivered an total output increase to 4.32 MWp, which represents a four-fold increase of the average yearly electricity generation. Compared on the basis of the ENTSO-E Mix 2020, this saves more than 1,500 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Instead of the previous number of 300, the SolarCampus in Eberstalzell is now supplying around 1,400 households with solar electricity from the region.

Wind power

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, Energie AG Group owns interest stakes in four wind parks with 13 wind turbines (previous year: 13) 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). A new wind turbine, which has been in trial operation since October 2022, was constructed in the wind park in Munderfing in fiscal year 2021/2022.

In the 2021/2022 fiscal year, 68.3% of Energie AG’s proprietary electricity procurement came from renewable sources (previous year: 81.6%), with around 62.4% of this coming from hydroelectric power (previous year: 75.1%) and the remainder from PV systems, wind power, biomass and biogenic waste. The reasons behind the declining share of electricity production from renewable sources are river water levels that are 12.1% lower than the long-term average (previous year: -6.1% lower) in combination with a more than doubling of the utilisation of thermal power plants as a result of the prevailing market conditions.

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 changes in precipitation and prolonged periods of drought 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.

Energie AG is prepared for a possible increase in the frequency of extreme 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 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.

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. In winter, on the other hand, it is not possible to cover the higher electricity demand - mainly resulting from heat pumps, e-mobility and industrial electrification - due to the insufficient output of the PV 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 order to make flexible capacities available at short notice, which may be necessary due to forecasts that deviate from actual wind levels or solar irradiation, 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 on their own. 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.

The Ebensee site offers a range of significant advantages given its topography, the associated high degree of efficiency and the existing grid connection. Due to the economic environment for the energy sector, the project’s economic viability was not guaranteed up to now. Europe’s Green Deal, Germany’s plans to phase out coal and nuclear power, and Austria’s ambitious climate and energy strategy all mean that there is a growing need for more high-performance storage capacities and flexible solutions. Depending on the project development, the building permit might already be issued in fiscal year 2022/2023, the construction will then last around 4 years, which means that an optimum project execution will lead to a commissioning in the year 2027.

Thermal power plants & district heating

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.

Energie AG has six 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 flexibility needed to guarantee the security of supply on the energy market and allows for a stabilisation of the electricity grid during congestion management. The Timelkam plant is particularly relevant to the Austrian control area manager with regard to the security of supply.

The main inspection of the CCGT power plant in Timelkam and its upgrade to state-of-the-art technology took place in the autumn of 2022 and aimed at increasing the efficiency and reducing the consumption of natural gas. The output was increased to around 414 MW_e. The conversion works will also see the installation of new furnaces and more advanced turbine blades, an increase of the incineration temperature, and adjustments to the cooling air.

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 as well as biogenic waste in accordance with the Austrian Green Electricity Act to generate green electricity and district heating.

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

Energie AG operates 12 district heating distribution networks (previous year: 12) and manages 614 heating systems under service contracts on behalf of customers (previous year: 607). 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.

In October 2022, Energie AG teamed up with the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) and other partners in research and industry to start a research project that examines the assessment of geothermal resources in three areas in Upper Austria together with the potential utilisation of this heat in industrial operations as well as the local district heating networks.

In yet another research project in cooperation 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 and storage facilities with each other.

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. Until the year 2030, all of the measures combined will lead to a quota of 80% for sustainable, CO₂-neutral heat generation from biomass 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 and 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 use of fossil fuels is reduced by maximising the utilisation of heat from waste incineration. 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.

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

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 support 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, Vertrieb GmbH and its wholly owned subsidiary Ingenieurbüro IfEA Institut für Energieausweis GmbH (IfEA) employ 12 listed energy auditors (previous year: 12), making the Company one of the largest providers of this service in Austria. IfEA offers a wide range of other energy services for individuals and companies that seek to promote a sustainable and conscious consumption of energy and 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. Delivered in cooperation with an external cooperation partner, IfEA’s new Fit4Green service creates significant additional value for customers. The focus is on energy efficiency, decarbonisation, development of a climate strategy and concrete implementation planning. It also includes a public funding strategy. A special campaign in 2022 aimed at raising the awareness for sustainability among the workforce by offering IfEA services at discounted rates.

Vertrieb GmbH offers its customers CO₂-free electricity labelling for residential and commercial customers. The energy mix amounts to 0 grams CO₂/kWh. The fuel mix disclosure uses 100% renewable energy sources. Additionally, Öko GmbH is supplying municipal public and business customers with electricity that is certified with the Austrian Ecolabel UZ46. 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 supplied around 11.9 GW (previous year: 10.8 GWh) of renewable gas (biomethane) into the natural gas grid in fiscal year 2021/2022.

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 2020/2021 fiscal year ⁴⁾.

Fuel mix disclosure

The majority of Energie AG’s residential and commercial 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”

Energy efficiency at the customer

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. The new Energy Efficiency Act and the requirements and obligations resulting from it are expected in the first half of 2023. Energie AG continues to engage in promotional funding and campaigns to encourage efficient and sustainable energy use.

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 27,000 LED lamps were distributed to customers free of charge at the occasion of the regional roadshow in calendar year 2021.

The household appliance exchange campaign promotes the replacement of old energy-hungry household appliances with energy-efficient new appliances. In cooperation with the network of partner stores, the number of customers who replaced one of their household appliances was increased in the year 2021. 845 old household appliances were replaced with more efficient new models (previous year: 743), 813 of them were in the white goods category (e.g. fridges, freezers, washing machines).

The provisioning of heat accounts for a significant portion of the total energy demand of households in Austria and is the reason behind Energie AG’s support of various campaigns and initiatives that promote the replacement of old heating systems with state-of-the-art heating solutions. The advice Energie AG gives its customers in the form of energy advisory services is complemented by a continued push for energy-efficient heating with the help of heat pumps.

In the year 2021, Energie AG partially funded a total of 394 heat pumps, of which 113 were in new buildings, 68 in renovated older buildings, and 197 in unrenovated older buildings. Funding was also made available to 16 projects that sought to replace hot water heat pumps. In the year 2020, this was comprised of 115 projects funded under the EEffG, 61 of them for new buildings, 45 for renovated older buildings, and 9 for hot water heat pumps.

An additional funding option for heat pumps was made available in the campaign “Exit oil”, which supported the switch from old oil-fired heating systems to environmentally friendly and energy efficient heat pump solutions. The “energy saver package” campaign, which in past fiscal years supported the replacement of old heating systems with an efficient natural gas-fired condensing boiler, has not been actively promoted since the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out. In line with contractual terms, the campaign does however remain current until the end of 2022.

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. Vertrieb GmbH is operating a total of 61 PV contracting systems for customers (previous year: 50) with an output of around 9.9 MWp (previous year: 8.4 MWp) on the roofs of companies in Upper Austria. Other PV contracting plants at customers’ premises are currently under construction.

Energie AG promotes the expansion of roof-mounted PV plants by offering its customers the “PV Superdeal”, which is a 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, or traded peer-to-peer via a mobile phone app. In the B2B business, the contracting solution “PV-Profideal”, which offers PV system packages from 10 to 80 kWp, was developed for commercial and agricultural customers as well as municipalities, associations and corporations. This provides strong support to the “Photovoltaic Strategy for Upper Austria 2030”.