Renewable Energy: A Growing Market

Expansion of renewable energy is an essential stepping stone in our overall growth strategy.

The regulatory frameworks are now very favourable both in Germany and in Europe: In Germany the proportion of renewable energy utilised for electric power generation is expected to double from 6% today to 12.5% by 2010. According to the EU Directive on the Promotion of Electric Power Generation from Renewable Energy Sources within the Single Market for Electricity, this proportion is expected to reach up to 22% by 2010 (14% today).

In order to realise these targets, the German government and the governments of several EU countries have started to promote expanded use of renewable energy. Thanks to the Renewable Energy Act (REA) with its long-term supply guarantees and binding rates and tariffs for pooling, investors now have sound, predictable prospects for a return on investment. These investment-friendly, legal frameworks — and our extensive experience as an energy-services provider — have opened up excellent prospects for us in this forward-looking market.

MVV Energie AG identified renewable energy as a dynamic growth market early on and succeeded in securing itself a head start and thus a competitive edge through the economies of scale in this sector of the market. We have now bundled our investments in MVV Erneuerbare Energien GmbH in Mannheim. It will operate facilities for supplying energy from renewable energy nationally as well as internationally and will acquire participations in enterprises that for their part are engaged in developing such facilities. Moreover, the MVV Energie Group has taken over projects in the area of generating electric power and heating from renewable energy and is also in demand as a consultant. The main emphasis of our activities is currently being focussed on utilising biomass energy and wind power. In the coming years, we intend to implement national and international projects on various decentralised forms of generating energy with a total capacity of 600 MW.