Sustainability

Biomass Power Plant

We believe companies can only act successfully in future if they manage to maintain a good balance between long-term economic, ecological and social objectives in their daily business.

Sustainability is becoming an increasingly decisive factor in successful business activity.

The Executive Board of MVV Energie is committed to acting responsibly and to sustainable business operations in order to retain natural resources and maintain flexibility for future generations.

For us, sustainable business operations mean:

• Achieving continuous growth in the value of our companies and consistently enhancing our business model to secure our long-term economic success
• Making a credible contribution to the necessary restructuring of the energy industry along ecological lines as well as to climate and environmental protection
• Maintaining a balance between profitable growth and social responsibility
• Creating and retaining sustainable jobs and training positions for our employees.

Our Economic Basis

The MVV Energie Group is one of Germany’s leading municipal energy suppliers. Our strategy focuses on generating sustainable, profitable growth. Our economic strength and the potential harboured by our group of companies are reflected, among other factors, in the key figures we achieved in the year under report. With sales of Euro 3.6 billion, adjusted EBIT of Euro 242 million, total assets of Euro 3.7 billion, total investments of Euro 247 million and a workforce of around 5 900 employees, our Group was solidly placed in terms of its economic strength in the 2010/11 financial year. This is underlined by the value added statement below. Our companies are major economic players at their respective locations and make a key social and ecological contribution to the lives of the people in their regions.

Our earnings strength and profitable growth thus provide a key basis for doing justice to our social and ecological responsibilities.

Further growth in value added

The value added statement portrays the contribution made by the business activities of the MVV Energie Group to society. Moreover, the statement also shows which groups and players have benefited from the value added thereby generated.

The value added corresponds to the company’s performance net of input costs, such as costs of materials, other expenses and other taxes, and less depreciation and amortisation. In the year under report, the adjusted value added of the MVV Energie Group rose year-on-year by 4% from Euro 825 million to Euro 859 million. This increase was chiefly due to the growth in the company’s performance, which more than compensated for the increase in input costs. The rise in the company’s performance was driven above all by sales.

At 38%, a large share of our value added benefited our employees (previous year: 39%). Of the value added for local, regional and national authorities, a sum of Euro 228 million, largely consisting of energy taxes, is attributable to the Federal Government (previous year: Euro 197 million). This corresponds to a 27% share (previous year: 24%). The remaining Euro 113 million (previous year: Euro 116 million) is attributable to local authorities (taxes and concession fees). Their share of value added amounts to 13% (previous year: 14%). Lenders account for 7% of the value added (previous year: 8%). Like in the previous year, our shareholders received an unchanged 7% share of value added. The remaining 8% share, also unchanged on the previous year, remains at the MVV Energie Group to finance the company’s further growth.

Our Ecological Responsibility

The energy turnaround adopted by the Federal Government has significantly upgraded the role to be played by renewable energies in terms of energy generation. Not only that, measures aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions have also risen further in significance. As a traditionally emissions-intensive sector, the energy industry has a particular responsibility to find credible answers to the large number of questions arising on account of the Energy Turnaround Package. Climate change, finite resources, political dependencies and rising fossil fuel prices require us to completely rethink our approach to energy – from generation via supply through to consumption. It is clear that we aim to cut CO₂ emissions and find new solutions enabling us to offer a reliable, efficient, economical and environmentally friendly supply of energy to households, industry, business, retailers, hospitals and schools in future as well. A further important topic for the future involves ensuring an adequate supply of clean drinking water.

As an "Energiser of the Future", we are making forward-looking investments in energy supply forms that spare resources and help protect the environment. With our research and development measures and our innovative, forward-looking products and services, we are already working today to prepare tomorrow’s energy supply.

Consistent with the wishes of a great majority of the population, the Federal Parliament and Federal Council have resolved a rapid exit from nuclear energy. The politicians aim to enable Germany to develop a climate-neutral energy supply based on renewable energies by 2050. As a share of gross electricity consumption, renewable energies should rise from 16.8% in 2010 to 35% by 2020, 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. This transformation process involves enormous economic, social and technological challenges.

Exploiting the challenges presented by the energy turnaround

The municipal utility and energy companies at the MVV Energie Group are making important contributions towards meeting the climate protection requirements involved in the energy turnaround. To this end, we have set ourselves specific targets:

• The MVV Energie Group will invest around Euro 1.5 billion by 2020 to expand the use of renewable energies, district heating, cogeneration, the generation of energy from waste and efficient energy-related services
• We aim to significantly raise the share of the electricity generated from renewable energies at the MVV Energie Group from its current level of 20%
• In Mannheim, the share of households we supply with district heating should increase from 59% in 2010 to 70% by 2020
• Stadtwerke Ingolstadt will invest around Euro 30 million by 2020 in expanding district heating
• Energieversorgung Offenbach (EVO) is increasingly relying on wind power and the regional resource of timber in its use of regenerative energy for proprietary generation
• In its energy and climate protection concept, Stadtwerke Kiel is building on energy savings, energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources.

Expansion of renewable energies, climate-friendly generation and energy-related services

To achieve the ambitious climate protection requirements involved in the energy turnaround, we have initiated specific measures. These are set out below.

Increasing volumes of electricity generated from renewable energies and cogeneration

In its generation of electricity and heating energy, MVV Energie is increasingly drawing on renewable energy sources and cogeneration, which enables the fuels consumed to be put to efficient use.

Overall, the MVV Energie Group generated total electricity volumes of 3 896 GWh in the year under report (previous year: 3 848 GWh). Of this total, 3 765 GWh was attributable to Germany (previous year: 3 745 GWh) and 131 GWh (previous year: 103 GWh) to our Czech subgroup, which thus contributed a 3.4% share of the total electricity generated at the MVV Energie Group in the year under report (previous year: 2.7%). Energy generation volumes at our shareholdings have been accounted for in line with the respective percentage shareholdings. As in the previous year, to ensure comparability of the MVV Energie Group’s electricity generation figures with the German average figures, the electricity generation data for the Czech subgroup does not include.

The volume of electricity generated by our Group from renewable energy sources in Germany rose year-on-year by 10% to 768 GWh. As a percentage of the Group’s slightly higher total electricity generation volumes, the share attributable to renewable energies thus grew from 19% in the previous year to 20%. Increases were seen in particular in proprietary generation volumes at our waste incineration and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plants (biogenic share) and in wind power. The higher share of biogenic volumes from waste and RDF power plants is chiefly due to the first full year of operations with the new boiler no. 6 and new turbine at the Mannheim location. The higher wind power volumes are due above all to the first full year of generation at Plauerhagen Wind Farm. The electricity generated in photovoltaics systems relates in particular to the systems in place at the Offenbach, Solingen and Ingolstadt shareholdings.

A total of 1 045 GWh of electricity was generated using cogeneration in the year under report, 6% more than in the previous year. The share of our total electricity generation volumes in Germany attributable to cogeneration thus grew year-on-year from 26% to 28%.

If we combine the shares of electricity volumes generated from renewable energies and cogeneration, then 48% of the electricity we produced in the year under report was attributable to environmentally-friendly and efficient renewable energies and cogeneration, as against 45% in the previous year. The national average for gross electricity volumes generated from renewable energies and cogeneration, by contrast, amounted to 31% in the 2010 calendar year, as against 27% in the 2009 calendar year.

The share of our total electricity generation attributable to other electricity generation fell year-on-year from 55% to 52%. This figure mainly includes electricity generated in turbines driven by hard coal at the large power plant in Mannheim (GKM) and the jointly owned power plant in Kiel (GKK).We are optimising electricity production at both of these power plants to account for the development in prices on fuel and electricity markets.

CO₂-emissions down on previous year

The heating and electricity generation plants subject to emission trading at MVV Energie in Germany emitted around 3.3 million tonnes of CO₂ in the 2010 calendar year (previous year: 3.4 million tonnes). This figure is partly based on estimates. The yearon- year drop in CO₂ emissions was mainly due to lower volumes of electricity generated at the GKM and GKK power plants in Mannheim and Kiel, both of which are fired by hard coal.

Wind power business expanded

In 2010/11 financial year, we generated 36 GWh of electricity from wind power and fed this into the public grid, thus significantly exceeding the previous year’s figure (5 GWh). As of 30 September 2011, installed wind power plant capacity totalled 20 MW (previous year: 16 MW).

The wind farm in Plauerhagen was in full-year operation for the first time (installed capacity: 16 MW). Furthermore, operations at the wind farm in Massenhausen also began in February 2011 (installed capacity: 4 MW).

Generation volumes and capacities at our wind farms are set to rise substantially in the 2011/12 financial year. In July 2009, Energieversorgung Offenbach joined forces with the juwi Group, Wörrstadt, to found the Offenbach-based subsidiary Cerventus Naturenergie GmbH. All in all, this company intends to implement wind power projects in Hessen and neighbouring states with a total nominal output of 100 MW in the coming years. One key milestone here involves the 23 wind turbines currently under construction in five districts at the Kirchberg location in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz. These plants have a total installed capacity of 53 MW and are expected to enter service by December 2011. With an annual electricity generation volume of 125 GWh, they can cover the requirements of around 35 000 households. These plants will enable around 100 000 tonnes of CO₂ a year to be avoided. The MVV Energie Group’s electricity generation from wind power will thus increase to an installed capacity of 73 MW and a total generation volume of 160 GWh a year. This corresponds to the annual electricity needs of around 45 000 households. Further wind power projects are currently in the planning stage.

Generation from biomass on the increase

Biomass power plants, biomass cogeneration plants and biogas plants accounted for 56%, and thus the largest share of the electricity volumes generated from renewable energies in the year under report. When it comes to generating energy from biomass, our Group is one of the German market leaders. We operate biomass power plants at various locations. The biomass power plants in Mannheim and Königs Wusterhausen near Berlin form part of our environmental energy business. Furthermore, we are also the co-operator and operations manager at the biomass power plant in Flörsheim-Wicker near Wiesbaden. Our biomass power plants use waste timber as their fuel. Overall, we operate twelve biomass plants in total in our Group’s environmental energy and energy-related services business fields. These plants deployed around 0.4 million tonnes of solid biomass for energy generation in the 2010/11 financial year, using this to generate around 417 million kWh of CO₂-neutral electricity. Compared with electricity generated from fossil fuels, these efficient power plants thus enable us to save fossil fuels and reduce our carbon dioxide emissions.

At its biomass heating energy and biomass cogeneration plants, our MVV Energiedienstleistungen subgroup mostly uses fresh timber, wood chips and wood pellets as fuels. Our value chain also includes manufacturing fuels. We secure a permanent adequate supply of fuels by concluding long-term contracts with timber suppliers.

Our cogeneration plants in Gersthofen and Kornbach work with treated commercial waste. The biomass cogeneration plant in Mertingen uses local timber to generate steam for the dairy plant operated by Molkerie Zott and electricity for 2 500 households. In cooperation with Stadtwerke Ludwigsburg- Kornwestheim, our MVV Energiedienstleistungen GmbH subgroup supplies ARENA Ludwigsburg with heating energy from biomass. In Breuberg, we operate the biomass heating energy plant at the AHG Klinik Hardberg hospital. Here, we have also taken over maintenance of the new heating system, the local heating grid and in-house wards for a total term of 15 years.

MVV Energiedienstleistungen GmbH will be supplying Tübingen University Hospital (UKT) with environmentally-friendly heating energy. Here it planned to convert UKT’s 40 year-old heating energy plant to operations with wood pellets by the end of 2012. Previously, the plant was powered by oil and gas. Improving the hospital’s energy efficiency and using timber will enable us to cut its CO₂ emissions by up to 20 000 tonnes a year, or by up to 98%. This trailblazing concept will also enable our customer to reduce its energy costs by around 20%.

In its use of renewable energies, Energieversorgung Offenbach (EVO) is also increasingly relying on the local resource of timber and on expanding its biomass-powered decentralised energy supply. At the new wood pellet plant, where operations were officially launched in May 2011, wood shavings and waste timber are processed into 65 000 tonnes of pellets a year. If need be, the plant can double its capacity.

The neighbouring biomass cogeneration plant supplies the heating energy to dry the timber. Up to 50 000 tonnes of hard coal will be replaced by industrial pellets generated at this plant in the 2011/12 heating period. As a result, EVO’s cogeneration plant will be able to avoid CO₂ emissions of up to 80 000 tonnes a year.

EVO also plans to launch a unique regional business cycle in cooperation with Hainburg District Council. Pressed into pellets, the waste timber from the council’s landscape management activities will in future be used as a fuel in the heating systems of around 100 detached houses. Energieversorgung Offenbach is now operating a total of 40 local heating networks in the Rhine/Main region. In 22 of these grids, the heating energy is generated with natural gas, while 18 of the local heating grids use energy generated from wood pellets. In Raunheim in the state of Hessen, Energieversorgung Offenbach has launched operations with one of Germany’s largest pellet heating systems. With a thermal output of 4.4 MW, this generates sufficient heating energy to supply around 2 600 apartments via a local heating energy network.

Investment focus on biogas and biomethane

We have been investing in the biogas business more intensively since the 2007/08 financial year, and here in plants with output of between 500 kW and 1 000 kW. Our MVV Energiedienstleistungen GmbH subsidiary now operates four biogas plants – in Oehna / Brandenburg, Mechau/ Sachsen- Anhalt, Karow/ Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Vosshöhlen / Schleswig-Holstein. As in the previous year, these generated a total of around 16 GWh of electricity in the year under report and fed this into the respective public grid. We also use the waste heat arising upon electricity generation to provide nearby industrial and commercial companies with inexpensive process and heating energy.

Since the year under report, we have also been making targeted investments in biomethane projects. The German Energy Agency (dena), a competence centre for energy efficiency, renewable energies and smart energy systems supported by the Federal Republic of Germany and private investors, sees biomethane as one of the most efficient forms of bio-energy, and one that offers great climate protection potential. Following treatment and having been fed into the grid, bio-natural gas can be distributed across Germany and used in decentralised heating energy/steam generation at bio-cogeneration plants or as fuel for natural gas vehicles in the transport sector. This opens up numerous options for us in terms of offering a sustainable range of products.

In July 2011, we acquired a stake in our first biomethane feed-in plant in Klein Wanzleben in the state of Sachsen-Anhalt. Starting in summer 2012, this plant will generate 63 million kWh of biogas a year and feed this into the natural gas grid. Our partners here are the project developer RES Projects and the listed companies KWS SAAT AG and Nordzucker AG. We aim to expand this business field on the basis of this cooperation project. To exploit synergies, we plan to develop a regional cluster of several plants.

Energy-efficient generation and waste disposal using cogeneration

In Germany, we operate waste-fired energy plants at our locations in Mannheim, Offenbach and Leuna.We safeguard capacity utilisation rates at our waste incineration and biomass plants by working with efficient materials flow management pooled at MVV Umwelt Ressourcen GmbH. We exploit the energy potential harboured by household and commercial waste. With the energy thereby released, we generate industrial steam, electricity and district heating using efficient, environmentally-friendly cogeneration. As in the previous year, our companies dispose of the non-recyclable waste for 21 local authorities in Germany with a total population of around 4.9 million inhabitants in their catchment areas. Furthermore, our energy from waste plants also use industrial and commercial waste.

The largest energy from waste plant we operate is at our Mannheim location. Since launching operations with boiler no. 6 in December 2009, we have been able to dispose of 650 000 tonnes of waste a year in Mannheim. Compared with before, the greater energy efficiency of boiler no. 6 and the new turbine enable us to achieve a higher electricity yield. We will further enhance our energy efficiency with our Optima investment project, scheduled for gradual implementation by mid-2012.

Following separate, pan-European tenders, the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg and the Rhine/Neckar district awarded the contracts to incinerate their waste to our subsidiary MVV Umwelt Ressourcen GmbH. The previous contracts are due to expire in December 2012. The new contracts, with a term of at least six years, will come into effect in January 2013 and secure a supply of around 200 000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste a year. We will continue to guarantee the economically and ecologically efficient disposal of waste for the entire region. The geographical proximity of our energy from waste plant also means that long-distance transport harmful to the environment can be avoided.

Our longstanding experience in the environmental energy and disposal business has also been internationally recognised with our successful entry into the British waste market.We have won the contract to plan, build and operate a waste-fired cogeneration plant in the coastal city of Plymouth in the south of the UK. From 2014, this modern energy from waste plant should incinerate around 245 000 tonnes of household, commercial and industrial waste a year to generate electricity and heating energy. The power plant will have a net electricity output of 22 MWel and a thermal energy output of around 23 MWth.

In July 2011, our Czech subgroup MVV Energie CZ a.s. took over a waste-fired cogeneration plant in Liberec, a city of around 100 000 inhabitants in northern Bohemia. In the previous year, around 98 000 tonnes of municipal waste were incinerated at the Termizo plant in Liberec, which generates 8.2 million kWh of electricity and around 194 million kWh of heating energy a year. The heating energy is distributed in Liberec by the district heating company Teplarna Liberec, a 70% subsidiary of MVV Energie CZ.

District heating grid expansion progresses

At our Mannheim location, we are increasing the density of our district heating grid in individual districts and further expanding the grid as a whole. Via a new 21 kilometre transit pipeline from Mannheim to Speyer, we have been supplying Stadtwerke Speyer since the 2010/11 heating period with environmentallyfriendly district heating produced using highly efficient cogeneration at the large power plant (GKM) in Mannheim. Since October 2011, we have also been supplying customers in the district of Brühl via the new district heating pipeline.

At Energieversorgung Offenbach AG (EVO), one focus of the expansion in the district heating grid involves the town of Heusenstamm. Having already connected the swimming pool and Campus Heusenstamm business park to the grid, in the year under report EVO added two schools and several homes and apartment blocks via a 1 200 metre pipeline.

Ingolstadt has witnessed the implementation of Bavaria’s largest waste heat and district heating project. Stadtwerke Ingolstadt Energie GmbH invested around Euro 23 million in expanding its district heating grid and converting and extending existing plants. Here, waste heat from the Petroplus Ingolstadt GmbH refinery and the energy from waste plant operated by the City of Ingolstadt is used to supply district heating to numerous large customers, including Audi AG. In future, private customers will also benefit from the district heating generated in this resourceefficient, environmentally-friendly way. Thanks to the expansion to the district heating grid completed in June 2011, the volume of district heating fed into the grid is set to rise by 130 million kWH to up to 300 million kWh a year.

Stadtwerke Kiel is also investing Euro 11 million in modernising its local district heating supply. In coming years, the district heating grid will be converted from heating steam to more up-to-date heating water technology. The subgroup plans to acquire further district heating customers in inner-city districts.

Efficient energy-related services

One key factor in protecting resources and cutting CO₂ emissions is energy efficiency. Outdated plants and buildings harbour considerable savings potential. The will to modernise these plants and buildings is even greater when economic benefits are involved. Industrial and commercial companies can tap their energy savings potential by financing modernisation measures with the energy costs thereby saved, as can local authorities and municipalities. In our contracting business, we specialise in efficiency enhancement and energy optimisation measures that also pay off for our customers. As examples of this, we can refer to several projects our energy-related services subgroup is currently implementing in the Rhine/Neckar metropolitan region. We have taken over the supply of utility energy and energy management for the SAP ARENA in Mannheim. We also perform energy supply contracting for the Wirsol Rhein- Neckar-Arena in Sinsheim. We supply the Miramar leisure pool inWeinheim with ecological geothermal heating energy.Within the framework of a savings contracting agreement, we are also supplying eight schools in the Neckar/Odenwald district.

Living environmental and climate protection

As well as focusing our growth investments on renewable energies and technologies intended to raise energy efficiency levels, we also attach high priority to active environmental and climate protection in our existing business. This not only involves initiating ongoing measures to improve environmental and climate protection within our company. Over and above these, we also offer close support to sustainability projects in our core regions.

Safeguarding a sustainable water supply

No other foodstuff is checked as often as drinking water. Our companies operate the local water supply in Mannheim, Kiel, Offenbach and Solingen. To ensure consistently high drinking water quality, the entire water supply system and water quality are systematically checked and investigated by our laboratories – from wells via grids through to our customers’ house connections. We perform investment and scheduled maintenance measures at our waterworks and on our water grids to maintain the infrastructure on a long-term basis. The drinking water our companies supply falls many times short of the threshold values set out in the relevant drinking water ordinance.

With extensive measures to protect groundwater and bodies of water, we are helping to safeguard drinking water for future generations as well. The catchment areas surrounding our drinking water acquisition plants are therefore signposted as drinking water protection areas. These protected zones are subject to preventive groundwater protection measures. No harmful substances may come into contact with the water. Any damages arising must be remedied as quickly as possible. This is also consistent with the precautionary principle set out in the EU’s Water Framework Directive and associated Groundwater Directive. Our companies monitor compliance with these strict regulations.

Environmental protection investments and expenses

According to the investments survey by the Federal Statistics Office, we invested Euro 5.1 million in environmental protection at our locations in Mannheim, Leuna and KönigsWusterhausen in the year under report. At around 67%, the main share involved waste disposal optimisation measures. Air pollution measures accounted for a share of around 33%, while water protection and noise control accounted for less than 1%.

Current expenses for environmental protection measures in the environmental energy business amounted to Euro 89 million. As in the previous year, waste disposal accounted for around 60%, air pollution measures for around 40% and water protection and noise control for less than 1%.

We support sustainability initiatives

As an "Energiser of the Future", we aim to play an active role in converting the energy system. Among other measures, we are participating in the development of specific solutions for the future energy supply and efficient energy use at the Business Sustainability Initiative (WIN) in Baden-Württemberg, where numerous companies and state associations and ministries work together. The effects of demographic change for companies in the region, and its implications for future jobs, form a further focus of activity at this initiative.

Furthermore, we are also taking part in the climate protection programme of the City of Mannheim. This includes expanding district heating and improving the energy efficiency of public sector buildings. Our Climate Protection Fund forms part of this programme. Together with the City of Mannheim and the Climate Protection Agency, we are promoting select projects over ten years with a total of around Euro 10 million. The measures supported include installing so-called micro-cogeneration plants at customers in areas mainly supplied by gas. The Climate Protection Agency also advises small and medium-sized companies, schools, associations and individual citizens as to how to save energy, enhance energy efficiency and use renewable energies.

Energieversorgung Offenbach is supporting the climate protection concept of the City of Offenbach. This involves reducing CO₂ emissions by making greater use of renewable energies and expanding district heating based on efficient cogeneration. Emissions are to be reduced from 1.2 million tonnes in 2005 to under 800 000 tonnes by 2020.

Ecological products in demand

One aspect of our "Energising the Future" mission involves offering green electricity products to customers at all of our locations. By 30 September 2011, around 96 000 private customers in Mannheim, Offenbach, Kiel, Ingolstadt, Solingen and Köthen had taken up this offer. Customers with green electricity tariffs thus account for 15% of all household customers at the MVV Energie Group. We also assist retail, commercial and industrial customers in converting to environmentally-friendly green electricity as an option accompanying all basic electricity products.

MVV Energie’s green product range also includes environmentally- friendly NATURA Biogas, which enables our customers in Mannheim and the surrounding region to heat their houses and apartments. By opting for this product, they also meet the requirements of the Utilisation of Renewable Heating Energy in Baden-Württemberg Act (EWärmeG) in force since 2011 without having to convert their heating systems.

Alongside SECURA Ökostrom green electricity, SECURA Energie GmbH, a majority shareholding of the MVV Energie Group, also offers SECURA Naturgas, a CO₂-neutral natural gas product, on a nationwide basis.

Research and Development

Given the energy turnaround called for by politicians and society at large, smart energy use has become an increasingly important factor. Discussions here are focusing on the question as to how energy generation and energy consumption can be intelligently balanced. Grid operators also face new challenges due to the increasing volumes of regenerative energies fed into mediumvoltage and low-voltage grids. Significantly greater grid automation will be required in these voltage ranges. MVV Energie was early to recognise this factor. With various research and development (R&D) projects described below, such as “Smart Grid” and “Model City Mannheim”, we have played an active role in influencing these developments. After all, as an “Energiser of the Future”, our aim is to help shape these necessary changes.

Major R&D projects

• MODEL CITY MANNHEIM (term: 2008 to 2012): Mannheim-based solution model involving practical trials with smart energy grids and regional energy markets using renewable energy plants and achieving high energy efficiency levels
• CALLUX (term: 2008 to 2015): Practical trials promoted by Federal Government for house fuel cell heating systems in cooperation with other energy suppliers and heating system manufacturers
• FUTURE FLEET (term: 2009 to 2011): Development of charging infrastructure for company car pools in the forward-looking field of electro-mobility
• SMART METERING (term: 2007 to 2011): Cross-utility use of smart meters to enhance efficiency and transparency of energy consumption
• MICRO-COGENERATION (term: 2006 to 2012): Field trials of various small cogeneration systems for use in private households, technical and economic feasibility evaluation
• SMART HOUSES/SMART GRID ((EU project, term: 2008 to 2011): Development of an energy system actively integrating „smart houses“ to significantly enhance supply efficency and sustainability
• DISTRICT HEATING TRANSPORT (term: 2010 to 2013): Identification of potential cost savings in district heating transport to support effective expansion of cogeneration

Our Social Responsibility

Employees

Our employees are tremendously important to us – not least due to our aim to "energise the future". Their work and commitment represent a key pillar of our company’s success, especially in a difficult overall market climate.

Promoting diversity at our company

Given demographic change, competition for high-quality employees is set to intensify significantly in future. Not only that, employers are also called on to successfully manage changes in their workforces’ qualification and age structures.

We are meeting these challenges with sustainable personnel management. Among other objectives, our forward-looking personnel activities aim

• To promote social diversity and equality of opportunity
• To improve the structural framework for women in terms of their training and working lives, thus making targeted efforts to qualify women for management positions
• To structure recruitment and training processes so as to retain a well-balanced age and qualification structure
• Despite its rising average age to keep the workforce fit and motivated in terms of its performance and innovative capacity and its willingness to accept change.

Our Commitment to Society

Young talent as focus of regional sponsorship

As energy suppliers, we maintain close links at our locations with the surrounding regions and the people who live there. Providing targeted support to projects in the fields of sport, culture, science and welfare forms part of how we see ourselves and our responsibility towards society. Here, we focus in particular on promoting young people. As "Energisers of the Future", we are committed above all to ensuring that children and young people receive support and are promoted in their development.