Strebl: “Record investment program for an affordable, independent and sustainable energy supply” – electricity and gas prices fall significantly in the summer
Vienna (OTS) – Wien Energie is planning the largest investment program in its company history: The company wants to invest around 2.6 billion euros in independent and climate-neutral energy supply by 2029. 351 million euros will also flow into relief measures for customers in 2024. “Wien Energie invests every euro in the best customer price, in independence from Russian natural gas and in renewable energies. This is the only way we can ensure that our customers’ lights stay on and their homes are warm in a safe, affordable and sustainable manner in the future.”explains Michael Strebl, Chairman of the Wien Energie Management Board. “We will reduce our energy prices even further in the summer, put together new offers and are also implementing a record investment program for more independence and climate protection.”
The energy market slowly calmed down in 2023, but the overall geopolitical situation remained tense. These developments also have a strong impact on Wien Energie’s balance sheet figures. Wien Energie’s sales fell by around 20 percent to around 4.7 billion euros in the previous year compared to 2022. The reason for this was primarily the lower prices on the international energy markets, which also led to lower material costs. According to the international accounting standard IFRS, Wien Energie’s annual result for the 2023 financial year is 598 million euros. The result results primarily from the successful marketing of electricity from the power plants on the energy market. A large part of this (around half) comes from exceptionally high accounting effects. According to UGB, Wien Energie’s result is 294.8 million euros, lower than in the previous year.
Significant relaxation in energy prices for customers
Wien Energie has already reduced electricity and gas prices on April 1st and is taking another step to ease the burden for electricity and gas customers in the summer. The majority of customers of Wien Energie Vertriebs GmbH and Co KG are currently in a price guarantee until summer 2024. According to current forecasts, Wien Energie can significantly reduce electricity and gas prices again in July.
According to the current forecast, for customers whose price guarantee expires in summer 2024 and who have not committed themselves, the electricity price will automatically fall by 55 percent due to the positive index development. Anyone who accepted the offer with a one-year commitment last year and has therefore had a very good electricity price for a year will benefit from an automatic reduction of an estimated 6 percent. Customers don’t have to do anything about this. For even more savings, Wien Energie is putting together a new electricity offer: Anyone who commits to another year will benefit from even cheaper electricity prices. Wien Energie will provide comprehensive information about this offer from July. Gas prices also fall noticeably in the summer, probably by around 10-20 percent, depending on the contract.
Wien Energie’s electricity and gas prices are among the cheapest offers of all state energy suppliers. Wien Energie is investing around 50 million euros for the additional pricing measures. In addition, Wien Energie will again provide 12 million euros in 2024 for a social package that will support customers in difficult financial situations through social institutions.
When it comes to district heating, Wien Energie GmbH is continuing the relief measures from the previous year and has reserved 140 million euros for this this year. The costs for district heating in the price notice are therefore at the level of the consumer price index development since 2016 and correspond to the general inflation development. Compared to Austria, the district heating price in Vienna is in the bottom third.
2.6 billion euros: record investment program planned until 2029
In 2023, Wien Energie invested over 320 million euros, making it the year with the highest investment in the last decade. Wien Energie wants to implement a record investment program over the next five years. Of the planned 2.6 billion euros, around one billion will flow into the expansion of solar, wind and hydropower. Wien Energie is investing around 800 million euros in renewable heat generation and circular economy and around 260 million euros in the expansion of district heating, district cooling and decentralized generation. A further around 260 million euros will flow into digitalization, innovation, e-mobility and telecommunications and around 320 million euros into security of supply.
Energy production fell slightly in the previous year
Overall, Wien Energie generated around 17 percent less electricity last year at 5,475.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) than in 2022. Heat generation also fell by around 6.3 percent to 5,427.4 GWh. The reason for the declining production figures is primarily the lower use of combined heat and power systems due to market conditions and the warm weather conditions. In contrast, electricity generation from renewable energies was able to be expanded significantly: in 2023, Wien Energie generated 1.3 terawatt hours, around 13 percent more electricity from solar, wind and hydropower than in the previous year. In addition to the weather conditions, the main reason for this is Wien Energie’s high investments in renewable energy expansion.
Massive investments in renewable electricity production and heat transition planned
Wien Energie will have built around 60 photovoltaic systems in 2023, including around 50 directly in Vienna. In addition, the energy service provider has acquired a new hydroelectric power plant and another is currently under construction. In the area of wind power, Wien Energie has also increased the further development of existing power plants and continued the planning of three wind farms. Wien Energie has a lot planned for 2024: “Numerous photovoltaic projects with an output of over 38 megawatts are scheduled to be built in 2024: We want to build around 70 large-scale photovoltaic systems again this year and start building the Ebreichsdorf wind farm in the fall.”explains Karl Gruber, Managing Director of Wien Energie.
Wien Energie 2024 is also working on major projects in the heating sector: the company is currently building another large heat pump at the Spittelau waste incineration plant, which will generate district heating for the equivalent of 16,000 Viennese households in the future. The use of deep geothermal energy is also being further advanced in the “deep” joint venture with OMV. At the same time, Wien Energie is strategically pushing forward the expansion of district heating and is gradually connecting numerous more households to district heating – for example in the district heating pioneering areas.
Service offensive successful – waiting times for customer service have fallen significantly
In the previous year, Wien Energie implemented numerous measures in customer service in order to be able to process the massive increase in customer inquiries in the best possible way. The company has hired around 200 new employees, opened a new service center and massively expanded its opening hours. These measures are effective: “We want to provide our customers with the best possible support with their concerns. Thanks to the service offensive, we were able to reduce waiting times in customer service by up to 75 percent. Today, on average, you only wait 4 minutes on the phone at Wien Energie, and around 10 minutes in person at the service centers,” explains Alma Kahler, Managing Director of Wien Energie.
Kahler has been part of the Wien Energie management since the beginning of April and is responsible for sales and marketing, Wien Energie customer service, IT as well as finance, controlling and procurement and corporate risk.
Supply assured – further gas diversification measures planned
Wien Energie’s numerous climate protection projects are the basis for ensuring an affordable, sustainable and secure energy supply for the people of Vienna in the long term. But in the short term, Wien Energie is also working hard to make Vienna independent of Russian natural gas. The challenge: There is currently no binding labeling system at either the Austrian or European level that makes the origin of natural gas transparent. In addition, Wien Energie itself is not a gas importer. The procurement of natural gas of non-Russian origin is therefore only possible through individual supply contracts, under which our trading partners procure these quantities separately. Last year, Wien Energie purchased 2.5 terawatt hours of non-Russian natural gas. The company is also working on diversification for the coming heating season and is already in discussions with trading partners.
In any case, the supply for Vienna is guaranteed: the storage facilities were completely full at 95 percent at the start of the storage season at the end of March. Thanks to last winter’s mildness, Vienna is in a good starting position for the coming 2024/25 heating season.
Download annual report at: www.wienenergie.at/jahrebericht-2023
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Questions & Contact:
Lisa Grohs
Head of Communications Management Vienna Energy
Phone: 0664 623 2005
E-Mail: lisa.grohs@wienenergie.at
Alexander Hoor
Company spokesperson Wien Energie
Phone: 0664 884 801 81
E-mail: alexander.hoor@wienenergie.at
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