 
For MVV Energie, supplying reliable energy service while at the same time protecting the environment are top priorities. These include care in dealing with natural recources, an environmentally sustainable awareness in utilising our products as well as responsible management and disposal of waste materials. For this reason, we have been investing in innovative, forward-looking and environmentfriendly projects because we consider this to be essential and necessary in light of sustainability and long-term economic viability.
Environmental Guidelines Determine Our Actions
The principles of our environmental policy have been set down in our environmental guidelines. We thus take these guidelines into consideration when making entrepreneurial decisions in our daily operations. The basis of our environmental management is formed by an environmental information and control system, with which the impact on the environment caused by our operations can be monitored, controlled and minimised as far as possible by virtue of an ongoing process.
Environmental Activities in Fiscal Year 2002/03
In fiscal year 2002/03 we invested Euro 13 million (Euro 15 million last year) in measures that benefit environmental protection. In particular, these included investments in our energy from waste plant in Mannheim. A new waste-fired boiler was built to replace two older incinerators and conversion work had to be performed on existing waste bunkers. This work had become necessary because a new crane had been erected, which can also stoke the new boiler. Investments in building biomass powerplants and contracting facilities have not yet been factored into these figures. Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases is of major importance for protecting our climate. As an energy distributor and services provider, we have thus been investing in decentralised facilities for generating energy that will achieve the greatest possible benefits for the environment by means of the most advanced technology at acceptable cost. In planning and building three biomass powerplants in Mannheim, Königs Wusterhausen and Flörsheim-Wicker, which went into operation by the end of 2003, our environmental protection department supported all of the projects as advisers on environmental aspects, assisted in the permit procedures and attended the construction and commissioning phases. MVV Energie’s energy generation from biomass alone will lead to annual reductions in carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions of 270,000 tonnes.
In addition to building biomass powerplants, we are also engaged in developing wind-farm projects throughout Europe. For fiscal year 2003/04, plans are on the drawing board for erection of 230 wind turbines in seven wind farms in the Castile-León region of Spain with a total capacity of approx. 350 MW together with REpower Systems AG, a manufacturer of wind-energy systems in Hamburg. We have been working jointly with our partners on developing forward-looking fuel-cell technology. For this purpose, we have been operating a fuel-cell pilot plant in Mannheim since mid-March 2003, in which we can conduct various tests under normal, everyday conditions.
We have also been contributing to protecting our climate by supplying space heating to approx. 84% of Mannheim’s households with grid-bound energy (district heating and natural gas). In so doing, we have succeeded in significantly lowering CO2 emissions by producing district heating with environment-friendly cogeneration (CHP). In co-operation with our participations in Poland and the Czech Republic, we have been working on various projects to overhaul and to modernise their district-heating generation and distribution. These measures will bring about yearly reductions in CO2 emissions of approx. 33,000 tonnes as of fiscal year 2003/04.
In our value-added services segment, we have been developing individualised solutions for more efficient energy generation in a number of contracting projects, while at the same time taking environmental protection into consideration. In fiscal year 2002/03, we thus worked out, for example, a new energy plan for a chocolate manufacturer. Thanks to the combined use of steam from district heating and from gas-fired steam boilers, energy efficiency at these facilities will be increased from 84% at present to 90% – while at the same time conserving valuable natural resources. Implementation of this new project was started at the beginning of fiscal year 2003/04.
In Poland, MVV EPS Polska S.A. has concluded a substantial contracting project to supply electric power and district heating to an anthracite colliery; its new heat-only plant can now also be fuelled with pit gas thanks to an advanced demethanisation system. In this way, the plant will not only substantially contribute to improving the climate in this region, but will also produce very economical electric power. In another project in Sokolka (Poland), fuel consumption was reduced by 15% and energy efficiency significantly improved by modernising a coal-fired heat-only boiler (HoB).
In the area of our company’s environmental protection, we have been particularly focussing on monitoring and minimising harmful emissions as well as on preventive maintenance. In fiscal year 2002/03, our continual monitoring has shown that our generation and distribution facilities are well below the legal limits specified in the 17th amendment of the German Federal Clean Air Act. Due to numerous recent changes in legislation, we have provided comprehensive training for our employees with respect to exercising responsible care in handling hazardous materials and toxic waste. This training was – without exception – planned and conducted by our own experts.
|
