Annual report 2008/09 - Axpo Group

effi ciently. Competitors can be compared
and effi cient methods can be rewarded.
Other countries in Europe
have had good experience with such
systems in the past.
…and secondly?
The second issue concerns provisions
in the law and the ordinance that have
little to do with the liberalized electricity
market. These relics from the monopolistic
era should be eliminated,
as they neither provide incentives for
investment nor contribute to effi ciency
gains.
This year the theme of the annual report
is “Energy is the future”. What are
the future challenges faced by the
energy industry in Switzerland?
I identify three main challenges: fi rstly,
climate change and the related
reduction in CO2 emissions, secondly,
the careful husbanding of resources
with the focus on “energy effi ciency”,
and thirdly, fi nding answers to the
question of whether there is suffi cient
production capacity to meet our fu-
ture electricity needs. It goes without
saying that these three aspects are
intimately linked.
How?
“CO2-free” electricity is a beacon of hope
in the fi ght to protect our climate. It
can reduce reliance on fossil fuels, for
example by switching to electric cars
or replacing oil-fi red heating systems
with electric heat pumps. As this
would, of course, increase electricity
consumption, we fi nd ourselves on the
threshold of a phase that will require
large investments to meet future electricity
needs and protect our climate.
Different energy systems are in competition
as far as the future of energy
production is concerned. From Axpo’s
point of view, what type of electricity
holds the most promise for Switzerland?
For electricity to make a positive contribution
to the protection of our climate,
it should be produced with the lowest
possible CO2 emissions. Thanks to
large-scale hydropower and nuclear energy,
this is already the case for Switzerland.
I believe that this will also be
the requirement in the near and distant
future. These two pillars of the low-CO2
production of electricity will be increasingly
supplemented with electricity
from new renewable energy sources.
In Switzerland, the share of new renewables
in the electricity mix is negligible,
while other countries are more advanced
in this area. Is this assumption wrong?
This is also related to the geographic
and topographic features of a country.
As an alpine country, Switzerland has
distinct advantages in the fi eld of hydropower,
and these have been exploited
for a long time. A country such as Denmark
has much potential for wind
power, while countries with many hours
of sunshine, such as Spain, Greece
and Italy, are well-positioned to take advantage
of modern solar technology.
Critics say that Axpo could focus more
consistently on renewables. Why
does Axpo not simply invest in foreign
projects?
First, I have to emphasize that Axpo
does in fact focus on renewable energies:
we are the Swiss market leader
in large-scale hydropower as well as
new renewable energies. Until 2015
we will invest more than three billion
Swiss francs in large-scale hydropower,
and in the past three years we
have already invested half a billion
Swiss francs in new renewable energies.
By 2030 we will have invested
a total of three billion Swiss francs. We
are also involved in projects abroad,
including wind power projects in Northern
Europe and solar and biomass
projects in Southern Europe.
Heinz Karrer, CEO Axpo Holding AG
“Low-CO2 electricity is a
beacon of hope in the fi ght
to protect our climate. We
must curb the use of fossil
fuels. As a result, electricity
consumption will rise –
which is why we are facing
large investments.”
Axpo is committed to climate
protection: read more on this
topic on page 30 of this annual
report.