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Annual Report 2014 15 Axpo Holding AG 2 Axpo Is Renewable – Consistent Implementation of Strategy

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Annual Report 2014 15 Axpo Holding AG 2 Axpo Is Renewable – Consistent Implementation of Strategy Annual Report 2014 15 Axpo Holding AG 2 Axpo is renewable – consistent implementation of strategy In the 2014/15 financial year, Axpo once again successfully implemented its strategy of diversifying its sources of revenue and posted a good operating result. To reduce its dependence on European electricity prices, the company continued to push ahead with the exploration of new business areas and further cut its costs. However, the Swiss production business felt the impact of persistent low prices and more recently also suffered greatly from the weak euro exchange rate. This led to significant write-downs on power plants and energy supply contracts and resulted in a loss for 2014/15. Dear Readers Axpo is investing in safety upgrades and operationally required renovations in existing power plants as well as Remaining profitable in a difficult market environment in projects where subsidies promise a stable return. – to achieve this strategic objective, the Axpo Group has This is mainly the case for the European wind to renew itself from the inside out. Progress has been market. The opening in September 2015 of the Global pleasing, and the Group’s operating performance for Tech I North Sea wind farm, of which Axpo owns 24.1 the 2014/15 financial year was good in spite of the diffi- per cent, was a milestone for the Group. The farm with cult market environment. This is confirmed by EBITDA 80 wind power plants is situated 140 kilometres off of CHF 594 million (previous year: CHF 668 million) the coast. The total installed output of 400 megawatts and operating cash flow of CHF 461 million (previous produces up to 1.4 billion kilowatt hours of electricity year: CHF 765 million), even though these figures are a year, enough to power 445,000 homes. Global Tech I is down on the previous year. However, write-downs of the first offshore wind farm in which a Swiss company CHF 1.3 billion caused the Group to post a loss for the holds a substantial stake. period of CHF 990 million (previous year: CHF 730 mil- Back in July 2015, Axpo announced its purchase lion). It is worth mentioning that the lion’s share of the of the wind farm developer Volkswind GmbH, which is write-downs are due to the euro exchange rate. active mainly in Germany and France. Axpo is thus ex- There are currently no signs that the low wholesale panding its business activities to include the construc- prices for electricity on the European exchanges will re- tion and development of wind farms in order to create cover in the coming years. This means that many power higher added value. Thanks to its hydro power output, plants in Axpo’s fleet are producing electricity at a cost Axpo has long been by far the largest producer of re- above the price achievable on the market. The slump newable energies in Switzerland. in wholesale electricity Cheap coal-fired electricity is prices is being driven Production portfolio as an element making renewable Swiss hydro by politically motivat- of risk – diversification is key power increasingly unprofitable ed subsidies for wind Axpo’s production portfolio comprises power plants and is damaging the climate. and solar power, low and energy supply contracts with a volume of 25 billion prices for coal and CO2 kWh. In earlier years, 17 billion kWh were earmarked to certificates and the supply the cantonal utilities of Northeastern Switzer- stagnating economy in land. There is now no guarantee that these utilities will Europe. Cheap coal-fired electricity is making renewable take this energy, forcing Axpo to provide electricity to Swiss hydro power increasingly unprofitable and is dam- its customers in Switzerland and in Europe at market aging the climate. prices. Regional and cantonal suppliers, however, con- tinue to benefit from the market for smaller consumers Wind as second line of business down to individual households. This market has not yet for renewable energies been opened up and is still governed by regulated prices In such a distorted market, the only forms of energy that based on the supplier’s production costs. are still profitable are those that attract subsidies. As in- vestments in new power plants have to bear this in mind, Continued on page 3 Annual Report 2014 15 Axpo Holding AG 3 Robert Lombardini, Chairman of the Board of Directors Andrew Walo, CEO Continued from page 2 – Decentralised production, mainly by solar but also by wind and biomass plants, is set to increase further Axpo is active in six business segments, each with thanks to the cost-covering remuneration payable by its own drivers of risk and return. For historical reasons, electricity customers. conventional electricity production, which is directly – Supported only hesitantly by the federal govern- influenced by the wholesale energy price, accounts for ment’s policies, renewable domestic hydro power, two-thirds of the Group’s portfolio. Trading and sales, the the most effective and efficient form of renewable regulated grid business and subsidised electricity pro- energy, will continue to be sidelined by cheap coal- duction (wind, biomass) make up the remaining third. fired electricity from Europe that is harmful to the Axpo’s big production portfolio is a risk given environment. the excess capacity currently flooding the European – Switzerland’s tried-and-tested nuclear power plants market. Axpo has a are absolutely essential if a credible energy strategy The Limmern pumped-storage well-defined strate- is to be delivered. They should remain operational for power plant, a once-in-a-gener- gy to counter falling as long as they are safe. The current laws and super- ation undertaking, has reached European whole- visory regime offer the best possible guarantee for a sale prices. Firstly, it high degree of safety, as they provide the operators the home straight, with the first is opening up new with sufficient incentive to keep on investing in safety machine groups going on line. business fields that measures. do not depend di- rectly on electricity But many questions remain unanswered. Can Switzer- price trends, and secondly, it also has to reduce the risk land produce enough electricity to maintain a healthy associated with its big production portfolio. degree of independence? How can we connect to Most of Axpo’s power plants currently produce the European electricity system? Will the market be electricity at a cost above the price achievable on the mar- opened up? And, if so, when? There is a great deal of un- ket. As much as 80 per cent of these costs are now out of certainty surrounding an issue where reliability should Axpo’s direct control (levies, taxes, previously invested really be the primary objective. funds). Two years ago Axpo introduced a comprehensive cost-cutting programme, planning to reduce its actual Limmern pumped-storage power plant operating costs sustainably by CHF 200 million per year comes on line – extensive refurbishment by the end of the 2016/17 financial year. The cost savings at Beznau nuclear power plant made to date are ahead of schedule and it is already clear The two major projects in Linthal and Beznau had a that Axpo will at least reach its target of CHF 200 million. spectacular year. The former, a once-in-a-generation undertaking, has now reached the home straight, with A Herculean task for Switzerland’s the first machine groups going on line. Bringing this energy policy CHF 2.1 billion project to fruition on time and on Politically, the 2014/15 financial year was dominated budget is no mean feat. by issues including the Federal Parliament’s debate on Three major projects to improve safety were com- the Energy Strategy 2050. Some trends are already clear, pleted at the Beznau nuclear power plant. The installa- even before the resolution of differences procedure has tion of an upgraded emergency power supply and a new been instigated. information system as well as the preventive replace- Annual Report 2014 15 Axpo Holding AG 4 ment of the closure heads on both reactor pressure ves- New Chairman of the Board of Directors sels may have posed technical and logistic challenges, An era is coming to an end for the Board of Directors of but they will guarantee safe operation at Beznau until Axpo Holding AG. Robert Lombardini (66), Chairman 2030. The Beznau nuclear power plant has always met of the Board since 2004, is retiring on age grounds. The all of ENSI’s requirements and also passed the EU’s Board will propose Thomas Sieber (52), from Glarus, 2012 stress test with flying colours. Beznau is a shining currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Salt example of how a nuclear power plant can be improved Mobile AG, as his successor to the Annual General on an ongoing basis with continuous safety upgrades. Meeting on 11 March 2016. Our preliminary assessments show that even the The highlights of Robert Lombardini’s time in minor irregularities discovered in the steel wall of the re- office include the merger of NOK, EGL and CKW -un actor pressure vessel of Unit 1 will not jeopardise contin- der the Axpo umbrella, the establishment of the Euro- ued safe operation. The supervisory authority’s detailed pean trading business, the expansion of the Limmern review and verification process will continue until 2016, pumped-storage power plant, the development of the but is already showing that the control features are work- TAP natural gas pipeline, the stake acquired in the Glob- ing and that safety always comes first. al Tech I North Sea wind farm, and the renovation of the hydro power plant fleet. Award for Axpo’s trading activities In the past financial year, the employees once – success for CKW again demonstrated a pleasing level of dedication and The expansion of the European origination business, identification with the company in a time of radical mainly in the SME and wind energy segments is proceed- change and many unanswered questions.
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