Annual Report 2020
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ANNUAL REPORT 2020 Creos Luxembourg S.A. Registered as a société anonyme (public limited company) under Luxembourg law with capital of EUR 198,851,260 Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register B 4513 Legal headquarters: 59-61, rue de Bouillon, L-1248 Luxembourg Annual General Meeting of 11th May 2021 Reports presented to the annual general meeting of shareholders by the Board of Directors and the independent auditor Reports and annual accounts for the 2020 financial year Table of contents 1. STRATEGY AND OUTLOOK 7 Interview: A year marked by resilience 8 Shareholder structure 14 Key figures 14 Mission 15 Corporate governance 16 Highlights 2020 18 SuperChargy report: Creos gives electro-mobility a boost 22 Human resources: A workforce and careers in constant evolution 28 Health and safety: Well-trained employees are our capital 30 2. ACTIVITY 33 Electricity 37 Evolution of the electricity grid 41 Evolution of the national load 42 Electricity consumption 44 Injections into the electricity network 46 Evolution of the peak and network demand 47 Network reliability 48 Natural gas 51 Evolution of the natural gas grid 54 Volume transported 56 Demand on the Luxemburgish market 56 Evolution of the network peak 58 Breakdown of flows per point of interconnection 58 Subsidiaries, equity interests and partnerships of Creos Luxembourg 61 3. MANAGEMENT REPORT OF THE BOARD AND ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 69 Management report of the Board 70 Annual accounts 76 Independent auditor's report 91 Strategy and outlook 7 1. Strategy and outlook “Our major role is to prepare the country for its energy revolution. In the future, we will have to strengthen our power lines even more and find an alternative for our natural gas networks. This could be hydrogen.” Mario Grotz, Chairman Strategy and outlook 9 Interview with Mario Grotz, Chairman, and Marc Reiffers, CEO A year marked by resilience IF 2020 WAS UNFORTUNATELY A CRITICAL YEAR FOR MANY COMPANIES BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC, THIS WAS NOT THE CASE FOR CREOS. IN SPITE OF SOMETIMES DIFFICULT CONDITIONS, THE NETWORK OPERATOR WAS ABLE TO INITIATE NUMEROUS PROJECTS SUCH AS PROJECT 380, THE RELOCATION OF THE DISPATCHING IN BETTEMBOURG, THE EXTENSION OF THE LUXEMBOURG CITY TRAM LINE, THE INSTALLATION OF ULTRA-FAST CHARGING STATIONS AND THE NEW MYCREOS PORTAL. ACCORDING TO ITS CEO AND CHAIRMAN, THIS IS PROOF IF PROOF BE NEEDED THAT CREOS IS A SOLID BUSINESS THAT CAN RELY ON ITS EMPLOYEES WHEN THE SITUATION REQUIRES IT. What impact has the health crisis had on the Among these investments is project 380, which operation of Creos? was launched in the second half of 2020. Can you tell us more about the objectives and challenges Marc Reiffers: Our company has always been prepared to deal with crises, whatever they may of this project? be. This pandemic clearly took everyone by M.R.: In collaboration with the German transmission surprise but we adapted quickly and continued system operator Amprion, we plan to install a functioning almost normally. As we equipped 380 kV extra-high voltage line from Bertrange via all our administrative staff with new laptops in Bofferdange to Aach (near Trier in Germany) and 2019, they switched to teleworking mode within a new transformer station near Bofferdange. This just two days. Our teams in the field managed to project will update the existing infrastructure. It close construction sites and reopen them in a very dates back to the 1960s and will soon no longer be short time at the end of the first lockdown. We able to guarantee security of supply and meet the have limited the risks of contamination as much as ever-increasing demand for electricity. possible by asking our technicians to go directly to the construction sites without going through our Four phases are planned, each with a deadline: workshops. In this respect, the remarkable work the Bofferdange-Aach section in 2026, construction carried out by the Facility Management and HSE near Bofferdange of a new transformer station (Health, Safety & Environment) departments is to be compatible with the new lines in 2026, the commended. They have made great effort to ensure Bofferdange-Bertrange section in 2027, and the that health measures are respected. dismantling of the old 220 kV high-voltage lines by 2028. The impact on the environment will be Mario Grotz: The Creos staff has achieved a real minimised as much as possible. On both sections, tour de force! We managed to make up a large part almost 170 pylons and 50 kilometres of overhead of our backlog while all of our sites were closed lines will eventually replace some 225 pylons and down for more than 5 weeks. The amount of our 75.4 kilometres of overhead lines. As far as possible, investments in 2020 even exceeded that of 2019, the new lines will follow existing routes, except which was already a record year at 147 million euros. where these are too close to residential areas. So the municipalities of Lorentzweiler and Steinsel will be bypassed and all the existing 65 kV and 220 kV lines will disappear from the Alzette valley. “As a TSO, our mission is to design, plan and manage the future national IT platform for energy data (…). It will constitute the next step in the digitalization process implemented in order to satisfy the interests of customers and market operators.” Marc Reiffers, CEO Strategy and outlook 11 M.G.: It is important to specify that this route The tram line has been extended to Central is provisional. Our legislation requires an Station with four new stops since 13st December environmental impact study to be carried out. This 2020. What was the role of Creos in this study, carried out by an independent, accredited extension? bureau of experts under the direction of the Ministry of the Environment, will aim to work on all the M.R.: The construction began in December 2018 information gathered from the other ministries, and was divided into several phases. The main part administrations, municipalities and citizens of our work was to plan and coordinate the laying concerned. Alternative routes may be proposed of cables for the tram's electricity supply and, if and analysed before the final route is chosen. The necessary, to relocate electrical cables and natural results of this study are not expected before the gas pipes in our network. We invested €6.3 million end of 2021, with the actual work expected to begin in this project of modernising and upgrading our in 2023. networks. I would also like to congratulate our staff at the Luxembourg City Centre, who managed The first phase of the relocation of the to meet deadlines despite the health crisis that dispatching in Bettembourg took place in the paralysed the site for several weeks. autumn of 2020. It is planned for the dispatchers to follow the administrative and workshop staff in The first ultra-fast charging stations were the first quarter of 2021. How is this new building unveiled in the Kirchberg Campus car park on th different from the one in Heisdorf? 20 January 2021. Why such stations, how many will be deployed and within what timeframe? M.R.: All the dispatching areas are on the same level. The dispatchers will be able to interact more easily M.R.: An ultra-fast charging infrastructure will be with each other and will become more efficient. introduced throughout the country by 2023 in Their working conditions will improve: they have order to promote electro-mobility for long-distance more space and larger, better quality screens. There travel. It will soon be possible to recharge an will be greater security, both physically and in terms electric car to 80% in just 20 minutes. A total of 88 of information technology. The ecological aspect SuperChargy direct current (DC) stations will be has also been taken into account. The building has installed in the main areas of road and motorway been built according to the latest standards and is services, as well as in some Park & Ride (P+R) car more energy efficient. parks, i.e. in 19 locations. About one-third of them will allow charging at up to 160 kW and the other The proximity of LuxConnect's data centre is two-thirds will deliver up to more than 320 kW per also a significant advantage. It will allow our new outlet, depending on the vehicle's capabilities. By dispatching centre to be part of its 24/7 surveillance comparison, the current Chargy stations have a perimeter, to be closer to our servers and to benefit maximum capacity of 22 kW. from a continuous supply without any risk of interruption, whether for electricity, heat or cold. Some of the selected sites are ready for installation now. Others will need additional work such M.G.: The construction of the building has also as strengthening the lines and/or resizing the been unique in the way it was managed and transformers. The two 160 kW high-speed charging designed. The dispatching teams were involved stations at the Kirchberg University car park and in all discussions from the outset, whether in the soon to be followed by a third one of 320 kW will choice of site or the definition of technical concepts. be in the test phase during the first quarter of They were able to express their opinions and needs 2021. After these tests, any readjustments will be at each stage in the project. It is therefore no undertaken, and actual deployment can begin with exaggeration to say that the Bettembourg site has the P+R in Junglinster. been a success from all points of view: functional, architectural, ecological and, above all, human.