Annual report 2008/09 - Axpo Group

Annual Report Axpo Holding AG
58 – 59
Editorial / 2–3
Interview with the CEO / 4–6
Strategy / 8–10
Markets and perspectives / 12–18
Success factors / 22–29
Corporate governance / 32–47
Annual report / 50–65
With 167 million kWh of
electricity produced by
small-scale hydropower,
biomass and biogas,
Axpo AG has established
itself as the largest producer
of electricity from
new renewable energies
in Switzerland.
More information is available at
www.axpo.ch/kompogas
Axpo AG grids
Length of cables in km (confi guration)
46
60
572
0 20
380 kV
220 kV
150 kV
110 kV
50 kV
16 kV
1048
904
More information on the national
grid company Swissgrid is available
at www.swissgrid.ch
1414
1500
As part of its project business, Axpo AG
builds facilities and power plants for
itself as well as for third parties. In the
reporting year, the following projects
were implemented successfully:
− Refurbishment of the Lotzwil hydropower
plant and renovation of the
small-scale hydropower facility at the
Kollbrunn power plant.
− Commissioning of three new facilities
of Axpo Kompogas AG in Switzerland.
− Successful conclusion of several
projects by Axpo Contracting AG
(formerly easyTherm AG) in the fi elds
of indoor climate, process energy
and district heating networks.
− Construction and commissioning
of two biogas plants by Axpo Genesys
AG.
Axpo Kompogas AG strengthened
its position even further in the 2008/09
fi nancial year. The focus fell on the
construction of plants for third parties,
in particular in other countries.
Electrical Grids division
Under the new Electricity Supply Act,
ownership of the transmission grid
must be unbundled with effect from
the beginning of 2009 and transferred
to the national grid company Swissgrid
by 1 January 2013 at the latest. The
Electrical Grids division implemented
the fi rst step in this process in the
2008/09 fi nancial year by transferring
ownership of Axpo AG’s transmission
grid to Nordostschweizerische Kraftwerke
Grid AG (NOK Grid).
The main regulatory topic was
the determination of the tariffs for
the use of the transmission grid and system
services. After the electricity producers
published their – partly much
higher – tariffs for 2009 in May 2008,
the Federal Electricity Commission
ElCom initiated a review procedure.
Axpo AG, as transmission grid owner
and provider of system services, was
also affected by this review procedure,
and between August 2008 and March
2009 it had to answer several enquiries
by ElCom and submit large
volumes of data.
The publication of the tariffs in
autumn 2008 triggered a heated debate.
Politicians fi led a large number of
motions and proposals targeting the
electricity industry, most of which were
approved by a large majority. Some
people even called for the revision of
the Electricity Supply Act. In reaction
to these demands, the Federal Council
revised the Electricity Supply Ordinance.
The most important changes included
the reduction of the capital
earnings rate by 1 % for facilities that
were commissioned before 2004, the
capping of system services, the passing
on of cost increases to power plants
with a large output, and the introduction
of a penalty of 20 % on synthetically
valued grids.
The Electrical Grids division developed
a new tariff schedule for the
110/50 kV grid that will be introduced
in 2010. This is similar to the schedule
for the transmission grid, and includes
three price components, i.e. a basic
price, a customer price and a unit price.
The customer price will be based on
the gross energy used instead of the net
energy used. The gross energy includes
all energy drawn by the end customer.
The new tariff schedule allows Axpo
AG to pass on the costs for the crossregional
transmission grid to the
cantonal and municipal utilities responsible
for the costs in a transparent
manner.