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Eurogrid Gmbh Consolidated Financial Statements and Management Report

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Eurogrid Gmbh Consolidated Financial Statements and Management Report Group management report and consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2020 Eurogrid GmbH Berlin Translation from the German language Group management report of Eurogrid GmbH Background of the Group Purpose of the Company The Eurogrid GmbH Group (the “Group”) comprises Eurogrid GmbH (“Eurogrid”) as well as 50Hertz Transmission GmbH (“50Hertz Transmission”) and 50Hertz Offshore GmbH (“50Hertz Offshore”; together with 50Hertz Transmission also referred to as “50Hertz”) as affiliates of Eurogrid, also including the equity investments of 50Hertz Transmission. Equity investments include that in Elia Grid International NV/SA, which is accounted for as an associate using the equity method. The three affiliates have their registered offices in Berlin, while Elia Grid International NV/SA, in which 50Hertz Transmission holds a direct interest, has its registered office in Brussels. A group non-financial statement has been added in a new separate section of the group management report of Eurogrid. This part of the management report applies the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Cooperation within Elia Group As listed holding company and ultimate management company, Elia Group NV/SA (“Elia Group”) holds all shares in Elia Transmission Belgium NV/SA (“Elia TSO”) as well as in Eurogrid International NV/SA (“Eurogrid International”) and thus indirectly in Eurogrid and 50Hertz Transmission and Elia Grid International NV/SA. Elia TSO is the Belgian transmission system operator (TSO). Under the Elia Group name, Elia TSO and 50Hertz, as two strong European transmission system operators, work closely together along with all the other group companies. Organisationally, the cooperation within the Group is enhanced by establishing shared group functions, in particular for IT, procurement, strategy, group controlling and EU affairs. As far as their financing activities and refinancing on the capital market are concerned, the two national parts of the Group are independent of one another due, amongst other things, to the regulatory framework; there are no cross-border financing relationships. Eurogrid Elia Group holds all of the shares in Eurogrid International, which in turn has an 80% shareholding in Eurogrid. KfW indirectly holds the remaining 20% share in Eurogrid via its wholly owned subsidiary Selent Netzbetreiber GmbH (“Selent”) with registered offices in Frankfurt am Main. Eurogrid holds 100% of the shares in 50Hertz Transmission, which in turn wholly owns 50Hertz Offshore. A profit and loss transfer agreement is in place between the companies along the investment chain. 50Hertz Transmission also holds interests in additional companies such as Elia Grid International SA, European Energy Exchange AG (“EEX”), Joint Allocation Office S.A. (“JAO”), TSCNET Services GmbH (“TSCNET”) and Coreso SA (“Coreso”). Eurogrid together with its subsidiaries 50Hertz Transmission and 50Hertz Offshore are included in the consolidated financial statements of Elia Group as affiliates. Due to the capital market orientation, the consolidated financial statements of Elia Group do not have an exempting effect. Eurogrid therefore prepares its own consolidated financial statements. The purpose of Eurogrid is the acquisition, holding and operation of equity investments, primarily the investment in 50Hertz Transmission. In fiscal year 2020, Eurogrid primarily arranged and secured the financing of 50Hertz’s construction and operating activities. As part of the Group’s uniform financial management, there is a cash pool agreement in place which contains the current business accounts of Eurogrid, 50Hertz Transmission and 50Hertz Offshore. The EEG account managed by 50Hertz Transmission is separate from this. 50Hertz Transmission and 50Hertz Offshore As TSO, 50Hertz Transmission operates the extra-high-voltage grid in northern and eastern Germany with a network grid length of around 10,380 km. In this connection, the company is also responsible for maintenance and needs-based expansion as well as for maintaining the balance of generation and consumption within the balancing zone’s whole electricity supply system. The business activities of 50Hertz Offshore comprise the planning, construction and maintenance of electricity lines as well as the associated plants and facilities for connecting offshore wind turbines/farms primarily erected in the Baltic Sea to the grid. 50Hertz Transmission performs the accounting of the legal provisions of the EEG [“Erneuerbare- Energien-Gesetz”: German Renewable Energy Act], the KWKG [“Kraft-Wärme- Kopplungsgesetz”: German Combined Heat and Power Act] and particular surcharges pursuant to the EnWG [“Energiewirtschaftsgesetz”: German Energy Industry Act] as well as the StromNEV [“Stromnetzentgeltverordnung”: Ordinance on Electricity Network User Charges]. These transactions do not have any impact on profit/loss of the TSO; however, their cash effects have a considerable influence on the consolidated statement of financial position. Management system The supervisory board of Eurogrid is responsible for monitoring the German group activities. This supervisory board also performs the function of an audit committee under Sec. 324 HGB [“Handelsgesetzbuch”: German Commercial Code]. The operational management of the Group is performed by the management of 50Hertz Transmission as the Group’s leading company. The central performance indicators for group management include both financial and non- financial elements; they are based on the Group’s objectives (competitive and sustainable result, high efficiency, occupational health and safety and value-based corporate culture, needs-based grid expansion, high level of supply reliability) and are recorded and continuously analysed using a performance indicator system containing various dimensions. Financial performance indicators are the after-tax result in accordance with IFRS, an absolute value for operating onshore expenses (OPEX value onshore) reflecting the efficiency value of 50Hertz; OPEX primarily contains personnel expenses and non-energy-related expenses, as well as the investment behaviour for the transmission grid. The investment behaviour for the transmission grid is managed by the achievement of specific milestones, the value added of the projects, the level of capital expenditures per year and taking into account the quality of the project management. For these financial indicators, a contribution to the group targets has also been taken into account within Elia Group since 2020. In occupational health and safety, the non-financial performance indicators take into account the accident rate, accident severity and employee availability as well as grid availability as a technical performance indicator. The financial position of the Group is assessed by means of rolling liquidity planning which primarily takes into account, assesses and manages the status of investment accounting. Eurogrid has a funding and dividend policy that outlines the cornerstones of the Group’s separate financing strategy. The policy requires in particular an accumulated distribution rate of up to 70% of net earnings in order to ensure sufficient internal financing within Eurogrid. The aim is to initially secure a stable rating for the duration of the third regulatory period by having a sustainable financing structure in place. Industry-specific environment Strategic direction of business As a company with a great social responsibility for the success of the energy transition, the political conditions in Germany and Europe are of enormous importance for the activities of 50Hertz as a regulated company in a natural monopoly. As a consequence, 50Hertz engages in intense dialogue with political decision-makers. In particular, political decisions regarding the withdrawal from various forms of energy generation as well as at the same time the particular promotion of renewable forms of energy generation has posed constant challenges for the company legally responsible for the electrical system for years now, challenges which 50Hertz has taken up actively and innovatively. It is thus the Company’s new strategic aim to cover the entire electricity consumption in 50Hertz’s grid area with 100% renewable energy by 2032. In order to be able to integrate the large volumes of renewable energy into the grid securely and efficiently, 50Hertz develops and operates an increasingly complex system and is putting the digital transformation to good use in the process. The quicker, data-based decisions, automations and simplified processes this enables creates opportunities for action to be taken in order to meet the expectations of new players along the value added chain, the changing needs of consumers, an evolving legal framework as well as the increasing expectations of external partners towards the joint development of future solutions. Economic and political environment As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, fiscal year 2020 witnessed significant declines in GDP compared to prior years. According to the Federal Statistics Office, there was a sharp drop in economic output of around 5% for 2020, a level last seen during the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. As documented in the BDEW’s [“Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft”: Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry] 2020 annual report, the pandemic also had a considerable impact on electricity supply; at just 564 billion kWh, gross electricity generation decreased 6.5%, gross domestic electricity fell by 4.4% to 544 billion kWh
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