Basis for preparation

BP-1 General basis for preparation of the non-financial report

As per the European Union (EU) Directive 2014/95/EU on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information (NFR Directive) and its implementation in accordance with the Austrian Sustainability and Diversity Improvement Act 2017 (Nachhaltigkeits- und Diversitätsverbesserungsgesetz; NaDiVeG), Energie AG Group has been publishing the necessary information in a separate report on non-financial information (non-financial report) since the 2017/2018 fiscal year.

Since the 2021/2022 fiscal year, Energie AG Group has been required to disclose information on environmentally sustainable turnover, investments (CapEx), and operating expenses (OpEx) in accordance with the EU Taxonomy Regulation (2020/852). The application of Article 8 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation in accordance with the delegated acts enacted and the disclosure requirements for Taxonomy-eligible and Taxonomy-aligned economic activities for the 2023/2024 fiscal year are outlined in the Environmental information, Taxonomy Regulation section. This report presents the respective proportions of Taxonomy-eligible and Taxonomy-aligned economic activities in relation to turnover, CapEx and OpEx.

Energie AG is not yet required to report in accordance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in the 2023/2024 fiscal year. The structure and selected disclosure requirements of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) in relation to environment, social and governance (ESG) are already being observed voluntarily in this non-financial report for the 2023/2024 fiscal year. Selected indicators from the Electric Utilities Sector Supplement of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Sector Disclosures are also included. This non-financial report does not claim to be fully GRI or ESRS compliant.

This publication is the consolidated non-financial report for Energie AG Oberösterreich (Energie AG) in accordance with § 267a of the Austrian Commercial Code (UGB). The reporting period coincides with the fiscal year from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024.

This non-financial report is published on an annual basis together with the Group Annual Report. The report for the 2023/2024 fiscal year was published on 18 December 2024. The previous Group Annual Report for the fiscal year 2022/2023 was published on 20 December 2023.

Energie AG is addressing all of its stakeholders with this report. This non-financial report has been translated from German. In cases of doubt, the German-language version shall take precedence.

The report for the 2023/2024 fiscal year was voluntarily submitted for independent auditing with limited assurance by Deloitte Audit Wirtschaftsprüfungs GmbH. The non-financial report for 2023/2024 was audited in accordance with the Austrian Sustainability and Diversity Improvement Act (Nachhaltigkeits- und Diversitätsverbesserungsgesetz). On 17 December 2024, the Supervisory Board will report to the General Meeting following the end of 2023/2024 fiscal year.

Please address any questions on this report to Karin Strobl M.A., Group spokesperson and Head of Corporate Communications (karin.strobl@energieag.at, +43 5 9000-3775).

Scope of consolidation

In accordance with the requirements of ESRS BP-1, margin no. 5, this non-financial report by Energie AG was prepared for the Group on a consolidated basis. The scope of reporting for the non-financial report therefore comprises the scope of consolidation for the Consolidated Financial Statements. For details on the financial scope of consolidation, see Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, Section 3. Scope of consolidation. In accordance with the legal requirements of the ESRS, all subsidiaries fully consolidated according to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the Austrian Commercial Code (Unternehmensgesetzbuch; UGB) were included in the consolidated non-financial report. Companies in which Energie AG holds shares but which are not fully consolidated in the Consolidated Financial Statements are included in the relevant category of the corresponding disclosure requirements in this report in accordance with the ESRS requirements. This applies, for example, to the categories “under operational control” and companies that are part of the value chain of Energie AG due to an existing business relationship. Other categories include joint operations, which are included in the Consolidated Financial Statements as a joint operation, as well as companies consolidated using the equity method that are not under operational control and are not part of the value chain.

For information on the upstream and downstream value chain, see section SBM-1 – Strategy, business model and value chain.

In this report, no use was made of the option to exempt certain information relating to intellectual property, know-how or the results of innovation from being disclosed.

BP-2 – Disclosures in relation to specific circumstances

New structure of non-financial report 2023/2024

For the 2023/2024 reporting period, Energie AG conducted a materiality assessment in accordance with the requirements of the ESRS. Based on the new ESRS materiality assessment, the sustainability reporting has been reorganised and the non-financial report 2023/2024 has been voluntarily structured to align with the ESRS.

The key figures in this report for the 2023/2024 fiscal year are disclosed in accordance with the ESRS to the greatest extent possible, with any discrepancies noted separately. Comparison values from previous years have not been stated as this is the first ESRS-aligned report. Where available, written information is provided in line with ESRS requirements. Disclosures about topics of lesser relevance have not been provided.

The impacts, risks and opportunities for the 2023/2024 fiscal year are disclosed together in the section SBM-3 – Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with the strategy and business model.

Time horizons

The time horizons for reporting correspond to the ESRS requirements, meaning that the Energie AG Group sets the following intervals for its reporting:

• in the short term: the reporting period, i.e. one year
• in the medium term: from the end of the short-term reporting period up to five years
• in the long term: more than five years

As part of the “LOOP” strategy and organisation project, in the 2022/2023 fiscal year, the Group’s previous renewable expansion targets for the period up to 2030 were closely evaluated and a further ambition for the period up to 2035 was developed. The strategies outlined in the non-financial report therefore essentially cover the period up to 2035, with any discrepancies noted separately.

Details of the Energie AG Group’s sustainability strategy can be found in section SBM-1 – Strategy, business model and value chain.

Sources of estimation and outcome uncertainty

Real data was used to ensure the accuracy of sustainability reporting. Where no real data was available, well-founded estimates were used, see E1 Climate change, Energy generated from renewable and non-renewable sources and E1 Climate change, Greenhouse gas emissions.

Changes in preparation or presentation of sustainability information

Unless otherwise stated, the information in this report relates to the scope of consolidation outlined above in accordance with ESRS requirements. This leads to changes especially in the inclusion of companies that are not fully consolidated but in which Energie AG holds shares. In principle, these were proportionally included in the past. In accordance with the new statutory requirements, these companies will be referred to in the categories “under operative control”, “part of the value chain” and “joint operations” described above and will as such be included into the respective disclosure requirement. In the case of companies under operative control, for example, this concerns the inclusion of not fully consolidated subsidiaries in the greenhouse gas emissions under ESRS E1-6, energy consumption under ESRS E1-5 and biodiversity disclosures under ESRS E4. The energy generation volumes also covered by the ESRS E1-5 disclosure requirement are included in this report in the same way as the greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, and unlike in past non-financial reports, the upstream and downstream value chain will in future be included in the materiality assessment, for example.

Reporting errors in prior periods

Corrections to information from previous non-financial reports are provided in the relevant sections.

Disclosures stemming from other legislation or generally accepted sustainability reporting standards and frameworks

Selected GRI indicators of the Electric Utilities Sector Supplement G4 Sector Disclosures are included.

Inclusion of information by reference

In addition to this non-financial report, Energie AG provides information about its corporate responsibility in an annual Group Management Report, Consolidated Financial Statements in the Semi-annual Report and on the Group website.