Energy Segment

Economic framework conditions for the energy sector ¹⁾

Price development on international energy markets

Sources: EEX, ICE

The forward market prices for electricity for delivery in the front year 2025 in Austria showed a strong downward trend in first half year of 2023/2024, dropping from EUR 122.8/MWh at the start of the reporting period to EUR 85.5/MWh as of 28 March 2024. At EUR 99.7/MWh, the average price in the first half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year was some 40.0% lower than in the same period of the previous year. This downward development was mainly caused by the drop in gas and CO₂ prices. In the first half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year, electricity prices on the spot market fell by more than half compared with the same period of the previous year. The average European Power Exchange (EPEX) spot price base for delivery in Austria was around EUR 79.5/MWh with a highly volatile development which correlates strongly with gas prices.

In the first half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year, the Trading Hub Europe (THE) gas price for the front year 2025 fell from EUR 45.4/MWh at the beginning of October 2023 to EUR 32.1/MWh at the end of March 2024. The comparatively mild winter, the drop in demand from industry, and high levels in European gas storage facilities led to a reduction of gas prices despite Russia's ongoing war of aggression in Ukraine and the crisis situation in the Middle East.

During the reporting period, prices for CO₂ emissions allowances for the December 2024 lead contract fell from EUR 84.9/t to 61.8/t at the end of March 2024. The reasons for the drop were the uncertain economic development and a decline in industrial demand.

The oil price for delivery in May 2024 moved from USD 85.4/barrel (bl) of Brent crude oil at the beginning of the reporting period to USD 87.5/barrel at the end of March 2024. In the meantime, the price dropped to USD 73.8/bl in December 2023 before rising again and reaching its highest level in this period by the end of the reporting period.

Business development in the Energy Segment

At EUR 1,461.6 million, sales revenues in the Energy Segment were below the previous year’s figure. Besides the impact of lower sales volumes, the decline was specifically due to lower wholesale prices for electricity and gas compared to the previous year; this led to a fall in electricity and gas sales as well as in the management of the electricity and gas portfolio and gas storage facilities.

In the reporting period, the EBIT of the Energy Segment amounted to EUR 87.3 million, which was EUR 70.1 million above that of the same period of the previous year. The significant increase in water levels compared to the previous year, and the resulting higher generation volumes from proprietary hydropower plants and procurement rights, as well as higher market prices contributed to an increase in earnings from electricity generation. In addition, increased earnings contributions from the management of gas storage facilities had a positive impact on results. In contrast to this, declining sales volumes and prices in sales had a negative impact on the operating result in the Energy Segment. In addition, the legally prescribed absorption of revenue from the sale of electricity in line with the Federal Act on the Energy Crisis Contribution for Electricity had a negative impact on earnings. Like in the same period of the previous year, an impairment in the amount of EUR 13.3 million (previous year: EUR 13.0 million) was recognised for the Timelkam combined cycle gas turbine power plant (CCGT power plant) due to lower expectations in terms of future earnings contributions.

Significant increase in electricity production from renewables

Total electricity procurement in the Energy Segment in the first half of 2023/2024 amounted to 5,618 GWh and was therefore 13.2% lower than the previous year’s value (6,474 GWh). Of this, 1,554 GWh or 27.6% came from proprietary sources, which is an increase of 8.5% compared to the previous year (1,432 GWh).

Electricity production from renewables totalled 1,328 GWh in the first half of 2023/2024, a figure which is 21.9% higher than in the same period of the previous year (1,089 GWh). At 1,256 GWh, the largest share was generated from hydroelectric power at proprietary power plants and from procurement rights, which equates to 22.5% more compared to the same period of the previous year (1,025 GWh). The root cause for this was that water levels in the rivers in question were 27.4% above the long-term average or 26.0% above the previous year's level.

Production at run-of-river power plants was subject to pronounced volatility during the period under review, dropping to a minimum of 54.7% of the expected value in October 2023 due to extreme drought and rising to a maximum of 178.4% in December. The hydro coefficient in the reporting period was 1.27 (previous year: 1.03).

Electricity production from thermal capacities was 226 GWh in the first half of 2023/2024, which was roughly one third below the previous year's value of 343 GWh. The main reason for this was the decline in use of the Timelkam CCGT power plant in the first half of the fiscal year 2023/2024, both on the free electricity market and for congestion management.

The electricity procurement structure in the Energy Segment was as follows in the reporting period:

Electricity procurement structure without electricity trading

1st HY 2023/2024; previous year's figures in brackets

Energie AG provides the impetus for a sustainable energy future, and is pushing forward the expansion of electricity generation from renewable sources. One example of this is the construction of the pumped storage power plant in Ebensee, which will be completed in the next few years. With an investment volume of some EUR 450 million, this project is the largest single investment in the history of Energie AG. The pumped storage power plants are capable of storing large amounts of energy and making it available at a later date when there is demand to match. An important element of the energy transition, pumped storage will provide valuable flexibility to compensate for volatile PV and wind power plants and ensure grid stability. Construction began in October 2023 with the preparation of the construction site in Rumitzgraben in conjunction with extensive amphibian protection measures. In February 2024, work on drilling the tunnel began. The focus at the end of the first half of 2023/2024 was on constructing the access tunnel to the cavern for the powerhouse and the construction of the dam at the upstream reservoir. The period for constructing the Ebensee pumped-storage power plant alone is around four years. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2027.

To leverage the existing technical potential in the Hydroelectric Power unit in the best possible way, work continued on the projects for the construction of the Weißenbach power plant and the replacement of the Traunfall power plant.

Energie AG's wind power portfolio in Austria comprises investments in four wind parks with a pro rata overall performance of 15.2 MW. Generation from wind power in the reporting period was 25 GWh (previous year: 19 GWh).

Energie AG operates PV plants in Austria and Italy with a total capacity of 21 MW_p (previous year: 18 MW_p). In the first half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year, 6 GWh of electricity (previous year: 4 GWh) was fed into the public grid.

In the first half of 2023/2024, Energie AG acquired an interest in the Slovenian project company AAE Gamit. The intent is to develop wind power and PV projects with a total peak output of over 180 MW in Slovenia over the next five years. The project areas are located in the Primorska region in southern Slovenia close to the Adriatic coast and offer great potential in terms of the expected hours of wind and sunshine. The required wind measurement campaigns are currently in planning and initial biological surveys have already started on site.

Energie AG supplies several areas in Upper Austria, including Kirchdorf, Gmunden and Vöcklabruck, with sustainable district heating. The distribution of district heating from the power plant locations in Riedersbach and Timelkam was 166 GWh, an increase of 1.2% compared with the previous year (164 GWh). Moreover, expansion of the district heating site at Freistadt is in the implementation phase. The cornerstones of the project are the expansion of the biomass power plants by 2.5 MW and of the district heating network by 2,400 metres of pipework. Commissioning is scheduled for the 2024/2025 fiscal year.

Cogeneration-Kraftwerke Management Oberösterreich GmbH (CMOÖ GmbH) in Laakirchen supplies a key account customer 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 generated in the first half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year was 332 GWh, which is 18.0% up on the previous year's figure of 281 GWh.

Ennskraftwerke AG, in the power plants of which Energie AG holds procurement rights of some 38.0%, reported electricity production well above the long-term average in the first half of 2023/2024, with a hydro coefficient of 1.22 (previous year: 0.97). Energie AG holds electricity procurement rights to the hydropower plants of Ennskraftwerke AG and Verbund Hydro Power GmbH with a total annual standard production capacity of about 1,410 GWh.

Consistent focus on customers and changed customer behaviour

In the first half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year, Energie AG Oberösterreich Vertrieb GmbH (Vertrieb GmbH) focused its activities on systematically pursuing the measures derived from the Group-wide “LOOP” strategy project. This shaped the organisational structure of the company and contributed to forward-looking developments in the product portfolio of the Sales units. The focus was on the introduction of new products concentrating on decarbonisation, the expansion of e-mobility and PV offerings as well as further optimisations in the context of digitalisation and the customer experience.

The long-term planning and the procurement measures derived from this by Vertrieb GmbH in the household, commercial and agricultural area were based on parameters such as average consumption, standard load profiles, customer change forecasts and forecast weather conditions. Besides this, expectations relating to changes in consumption behaviour in the context of e-mobility, the transition to heat pumps as heating and cooling systems as well as the feed-in quantities and storage options for installed PV systems were referenced to derive procurement measures. Triggered by high energy prices, the trend towards installing local PV systems, which has been ongoing since 2022, continued, resulting in a further increase in the number of customers feeding electricity back to Vertrieb GmbH. This situation prompted changes to planning assumptions. Short, medium and long-term measures were defined here in order to ensure improved forecast quality. The package of tasks ranged from adapting the product portfolio and revising the procurement strategy and logic through to innovative, IT-supported applications with a view to improving forecast quality.

Competition has increased significantly since the easing of the situation on the energy markets; this is not least reflected in the number of households switching providers throughout Austria. For electricity, but especially for gas, switching rates have reached or exceeded pre-crisis levels. According to E-Control Austria, the industry switching rates in the 2023 calendar year averaged 3.8% for electricity (previous year: 2.2%) and 8.0% for gas (previous year: 4.0%). At Energie AG, switching rates for electricity remained at a low level, with a slight upward trend. In contrast to this, a sharp increase in the willingness to switch has been apparent for gas in recent months.

The number of heating degree days in Upper Austria in the reporting period was 4.1% below that of the comparable period in the previous year, and also below the average for the last 5 years (-11.7%).

Electricity

Electricity sales volume

in GWh

At 3,025 GWh, Energie AG's consolidated electricity sales volume in the first half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year was 231 GWh or 7.1% below the previous year's figure of 3,256 GWh.

A drop in the procurement behaviour of existing customers in the Business and Industrial Customers unit was recorded. The sales volume in the Residential and Commercial Customers unit in the first half of the fiscal year was also down on the previous year. This development is attributable to the mild weather, a change in consumption patterns and the sharp increase in PV system installations on customer premises.

Gas

Gas sales volume

in GWh

At 2,801 GWh, Energie AG's gas sales volume in the first half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year was 440 GWh, or 13.6%, below the previous year's figure of 3,241 GWh.

Volumes sold to business and industrial customers were down on the previous year. This was primarily due to a decline in sales volumes to existing customers. Due to the weather conditions, lower sales volumes were also noted for the gas sector's residential and commercial customers in the first half of the year. Due to the current economic framework conditions, interest in changing heating systems to alternative energy products increased.

Heat

Heat sales volume Austria

in GWh

The heat sales volume by Energie AG throughout Austria amounted to 678 GWh in the first half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year, which is a 4.5% increase on the previous year's figure of 649 GWh.

In addition to the district heating sales volume and the heat sales volume supplied to customers by CMOÖ GmbH, the heat sales volume also includes the volumes from individual customer solutions provided through on-site power purchase agreements.

Telecommunications

By the end of the first half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year, more than 20,500 customers were already actively using Energie AG products (previous year: 18,200). Despite the dynamic and challenging competitive environment, Energie AG was also able to convince more business customers of its product benefits.

Photovoltaics

On 31 March 2024, 75 photovoltaic plants (previous year: 65) with an output of 12.6 MW_p (previous year: 10.3 MW_p) were in operation on behalf of customers under on-site power purchase agreements. In the reporting period, one of the largest projects to date with an output of 6.0 MW_p was successfully implemented for a notable industrial customer. In response to the high demand for PV systems, scalable service products such as “Solar Sorglos” and “Solar Sorglos Business” were more strongly promoted and the portfolio of offerings for customers was extended.

Electromobility

The focus of electromobility activities in the reporting period was on expanding the E-Mobility team, developing a product and service catalogue, the targeted expansion of public charging stations, and selling charging solutions for companies. Energie AG currently operates 246 publicly accessible charging stations (previous year: 183) and manages a total of 1,122 charging points (previous year: 716).