Annual report 2008/09 - Axpo Group

Annual Report Axpo Holding AG
70 – 71
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
Glossary
Balancing energy
Energy needed in the electricity delivery
system to deal with unforeseen load
fl uctuations and power plant outages.
Balance group
A virtual structure that groups together
electricity suppliers and customers;
the costs that arise from balancing
the energy that is generated and the
energy that is consumed are offset
within the same balance group.
Base load energy
The energy that must be provided by
electricity suppliers throughout the
day (24 hours) in order to cover basic
demand. The demand for base load
energy in Switzerland is around 6000
megawatts (MW) in summer, and around
8000 MW in winter.
Cost-covering remuneration for
feed-in to the electricity grid
The cost-covering remuneration for
feed-in to the electricity grid (CRF)
has been in force since 1 January 2009
as a measure to promote renewable
energies. It is raised by a surcharge of
a maximum of 0.6 cents per kilowatthour
on the transmission costs of the
high-voltage grids and paid out to
producers of electricity from renewable
sources (hydropower up to 10 megawatts,
photovoltaics, wind power,
geothermal energy and energy from
biomass and biomass waste).
Deep geological repository
A repository for the safe disposal of
highly radioactive waste in deep and
stable geological formations. In Switzerland,
the Federal Nuclear Energy
Act requires the disposal of all radioactive
waste in deep geological repositories.
Electricity Supply Act (StromVG)
This federal act governs the liberalization
of the electricity market in Switzerland.
Energy effi ciency
The percentage of total energy that is
consumed in useful work and not
wasted (e.g. room of a house). Energy
effi ciency is said to increase when
the same output is achieved with lower
energy expenditure – for example,
by using energy-saving light bulbs.
Environmental Product Declaration
(EPD)
An EPD is an environmental declaration
for products. The aim is to
provide verifi able information on the
environmental impact of products.
Extra-high voltage grid
The Swiss extra-high voltage grid,
around 7000 kilometres in length,
connects the power plants in the
Swiss plateau and the Alps with the
conurbations. It also connects Switzerland
with Europe. Currently owned
by the major electricity producers, it
will be transferred to Swissgrid by
1 January 2013 at the latest.
Federal Electricity Commission (ElCom)
ElCom is the independent state regulatory
authority for electricity. It
monitors compliance with the electricity
supply laws and energy laws.
Geothermal energy
Using the heat of the earth to generate
energy. Geothermal energy is a renewable
energy, as the earth’s heat reserves
cannot be exhausted and no
waste gases or climate-damaging CO2
are released by the generation of energy.
Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
The standard unit of electrical energy.
A watt-hour (Wh) is the energy that
a machine with an output of one watt
uses or produces in one hour.
1 watt = 1 joule per second.
1000 watt-hours (Wh) = 1 kilowatt-hour
(kWh); 1000 kWh = 1 megawatt-hour
(MWh); 1 000 000 kWh = 1 giga watthour
(GWh); 1 000 000 000 kWh =
1 terawatt hour (TWh)