RWE Npower 2007 Corporate Responsibility Report.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
RWE npower Corporate Responsibility Report 19/06/2008 09:40 About us Strategic challenges Who we are, what we do, and how we How we plan to provide a secure, produce energy for our customers. sustainable and affordable energy supply in the future. Meet the CEO Responsible business An interview with our CEO, How we run a responsible business, Andrew Duff. and what we’ve achieved in 2007. This is our fifth full Corporate It has also replaced our traditional printed Responsibility (CR) report. CR report, in order to make the information In this site, we explain how we approach contained in the report more accessible and the different elements of corporate comprehensive. We have, however, responsibility, from our environmental produced a printed summary of what we challenges to how we protect vulnerable achieved in 2007. If you’d like one of these, customers. We also report on what we have please contact us. achieved in the period January to December 2007, and the targets we set ourselves for Finally, the information in this web report 2008 and beyond. has been assured by an independent organisation, csrnetwork. Please read their This site is about RWE npower, part of the report here. RWE Group. It also covers the activities of npower renewables (which became part of RWE Innogy on 1st February 2008), but not the UK operations of RWE Supply and Trading. Archive Disclaimer Glossary of terms Site map http://www.npower.com/rwenpowercr/index.html Page 1 of 1 RWE npower Corporate Responsibility Report - About us 17/06/2008 16:39 Our business Our sites Our history How we produce energy Britain’s brightest energy company Our performance RWE npower is a leading integrated UK energy company and is part of the RWE Group, one of Europe’s leading utilities. We serve around 6.6 million customer accounts and produce more than 10% of the electricity used in England and Wales. We supply electricity and gas to residential and business customers through our retail business, npower, and we operate and manage a flexible portfolio of coal, oil and gas-fired power stations. We also manage a portfolio of cogeneration plant and, through RWE Power International, we sell our expertise in power generation to third parties across Europe. npower renewables, part of RWE Innogy, leads the UK wind power market and are leaders in hydroelectric generation. We’re aware of our responsibilities We recognise the impact that our business has on the world we live in through the burning of fossil fuels, and aim to ensure that we undertake all aspects of our business in a responsible manner. At every stage of our decision making process we consider the social and environmental impacts of our actions. We also take the wellbeing of our employees seriously, as it is their talent, energy and knowledge that enable us to compete successfully in today’s demanding business conditions. It’s not just our employees that make our business a success – from the communities in which we operate to government departments and local liaison committees, all of our stakeholders have a role to play in our success. Archive Disclaimer Glossary of terms Site map http://www.npower.com/rwenpowercr/3_about_rwenpower/index.html Page 1 of 1 RWE npower Corporate Responsibility Report - Our business 17/06/2008 16:40 Our business Generation – a constant supply of energy We use a mix of coal, oil and gas-fired power stations, to generate around 10,000 MW of electricity. Gas. Our combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power stations are highly efficient and emit no sulphur dioxide and lower levels of nitrous oxides than other forms of generation. Coal. We own and operate three of the UK’s largest coal-fired power stations, located in southern England with good access to distribution and rail facilities for sourcing fuel from different suppliers. Oil. Our two oil-fired power stations have short start-up times, which helps to balance demand at peak times. Combined Heat and Power (CHP). We use the heat that major industries would otherwise lose to cogenerate around 2,000MW of energy at combined heat and power plants – saving energy and money. Renewables. npower renewables, part of RWE Innogy, is one of the UK’s leading renewable energy developers and operators, dedicated to generating clean electricity using sustainable resources. It operates around 400MW of wind power capacity at 18 onshore wind farms and the UK's first major offshore wind farm. Its 16 hydroelectric sites have a combined capacity of around 60MW. And it is one of the leaders in the practical application of co-firing biomass at three of our power stations. RWE Power International. Through our collaboration with RWE Power, we offer our expertise in power generation to other power plant owners and operators across Europe. Technology Services. This division delivers strategic and operational services to address the technical, commercial and environmental issues faced by our power generation business and our customers. Retail – supplying the UK at home and work npower, our retail business, is one of the UK’s leading energy suppliers. Serving around 6.6 million residential and business customer accounts, our aim is to deliver competitive solutions, and to give our customers choice: how they communicate with us, how they pay for their energy, how much energy they use, what type of energy they buy, what tariff they choose. We aim to do this through competitive pricing, innovative products and excellent levels of service. npower business is a leading supplier to the UK business market. We serve over 300,000 small to medium sized enterprise sites and around 20,000 industrial and commercial customers at over 100,000 sites. Our Metering and Data Services (MDS) business delivers a range of services to customers throughout the UK, and our home energy service, hometeam, provides boiler installation and gas central heating systems to domestic customers together with boiler servicing and repair. http://www.npower.com/rwenpowercr/3_about_rwenpower/3_1_what_we_do.html Page 1 of 2 RWE npower Corporate Responsibility Report - Our business 17/06/2008 16:40 Archive Disclaimer Glossary of terms Site map http://www.npower.com/rwenpowercr/3_about_rwenpower/3_1_what_we_do.html Page 2 of 2 RWE npower Corporate Responsibility Report - Our history 17/06/2008 16:41 Our history Our company, like our industry, has evolved constantly since the electricity industry was privatised in the early 1990s, when we became National Power, one of the UK’s leading power generators. Over the next ten years we transformed our business by disposing of excess generating capacity. Through the acquisition of Midlands Electricity, Calortex and Independent Energy, we also established a substantial presence in the supply market. In April 2000, our various supply businesses were relaunched under a single brand, npower. By becoming an integrated company with both generation assets and a retail business, we were well placed to operate competitively in the volatile UK energy markets. In 2000 National Power demerged to create Innogy, a leading integrated UK energy company, and International Power. As Innogy we acquired the supply businesses of Northern Electric and Yorkshire Electricity, which increased our customer base to nearly 7 million. In 2002 we were acquired by RWE, one of Europe’s largest utilities and became RWE npower, the UK energy business of the RWE Group. On 1 February 2008 the renewable generation assets of the RWE Group were consolidated in a new operating company, RWE Innogy. In the UK, the renewable business of the Group continues to be known as npower renewables. Archive Disclaimer Glossary of terms Site map http://www.npower.com/rwenpowercr/3_about_rwenpower/3_2_our_history.html Page 1 of 1 RWE npower Corporate Responsibility Report - Our performance 17/06/2008 16:41 Our performance Our results in 2007 were driven by strong performance in the generation business. We are committed to significant expenditure on new power stations, which we need to maintain security of supply and ensure we are delivering on our low-carbon energy targets. Archive Disclaimer Glossary of terms Site map http://www.npower.com/rwenpowercr/3_about_rwenpower/3_3_key_financial_data.html Page 1 of 1 RWE npower Corporate Responsibility Report - Our sites 17/06/2008 16:41 Key (Click to reveal sites) Our sites across the UK Coal RWE npower and npower renewables sites include coal, gas and oil-fired Gas power stations, onshore and offshore wind farms, hydro schemes, offices and Oil technology services sites. These sites are spread right across the UK from Onshore Wind Farms the north of Scotland to the Isle of Wight. Offshore Wind Farms Hydro Sites Combined Heat and Power RWE npower Offices Technology Services Sites npower Core Customer Area Archive Disclaimer Glossary of terms Site map http://www.npower.com/rwenpowercr/3_about_rwenpower/3_4_geographic_presence.html Page 1 of 1 RWE npower Corporate Responsibility Report - How we produce energy 17/06/2008 16:44 How we produce energy Before energy arrives at your home or business in the form of gas or electricity, there’s a chain of events involving all areas of RWE npower. The electricity we generate at our coal, gas and oil-fired power stations and at npower renewables’ wind and hydro stations is sold into the wholesale electricity market through RWE Trading. They also supply our stations with the fuel needed to generate electricity, by buying and selling in the gas, coal and oil markets. The electricity from our power stations is carried around the UK on high voltage transmission lines, owned and operated by National Grid. As this electricity nears its final destination the voltage is reduced and distribution lines deliver it to customers. Gas has a similar journey; it is produced offshore by companies such as Shell and BP.