Highlights 2020

“Welcome to the EnBW HyperNetwork” was the name of corporate campaign in summer 2020. The slogan says it all: We operate the largest charging network in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and the largest quick-charging network in Germany. This also impressed the renowned testing magazine Connect: In their charging network test, they named EnBW mobility+ as the best electromobility provider in Germany.

Thanks to the further development of the charging infrastructure, in some cases with our national and international cooperation partners, we are continuously expanding in the area of electromobility. We have thus invested around €10 million in the realization of the “Urban Quick-Charging Parks in Baden-Württemberg” (USP-BW) project, for which the State of Baden-Württemberg is providing around 30% of the funding. The first of 16 urban quick-charging parks in the state was already opened in Stuttgart city center in September.

To also bring the mobility transition to rural areas, “twist,” a startup from EnBW and Bridgemaker, is offering car sharing services with e-cars to local authorities. The pilot city for the e-sharing service will be Ehningen, located to the southwest of Ulm.

We began to resolutely align our business model towards sustainability criteria back in 2013 and have taken a leading role in reshaping the energy sector. The main focus has been the rigorous transformation of our portfolio towards renewable energies and the associated expansion of the transmission and distribution grids, as well as sustainable mobility concepts and smart infrastructure solutions. We are now continuing on this course with 25 additional measures that were defined in 2020 to create a comprehensive sustainable corporate strategy.

We are exploring new approaches for the extraction of lithium in Oberrheingraben. In the UnLimited research project, in which we are a lead partner together with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the partners BESTEC, HYDROSION and the University of Göttingen, this highly prized raw material is being extracted from deep geothermal waters in Bruchsal. Germany has so far met all of its lithium needs with imports, but demand is rising steadily as lithium-ion batteries are also in high demand for mobile and portable applications.

The economy and society were dominated by one issue over all others in 2020 – the coronavirus pandemic. We responded to the outbreak at an early stage and had already formed a task force at the beginning of February, which has since remained in close contact with ministries and health authorities. Appropriate countermeasures were defined and implemented in cooperation with the Board of Management. We have only seen a moderate economic impact on earnings in 2020.

Since the beginning of March 2020, the majority of our employees have been working from home. Measures were also introduced for the teams who are responsible for ensuring the security of the energy supply on site. For its comprehensive range of services for the prevention of mental health issues, EnBW was awarded “Excellence status” at this year’s Corporate Health Awards and also received an award in the special category of “Mental Health.”

We are acutely aware of our responsibility for ensuring the reliable supply of electricity, water and gas and the provision of waste disposal services to all citizens at all times. EnBW’s provision of these services was not at risk at any time. In addition, we restored any electricity and gas connections that had been cut off in order to support our customers during this difficult time. We also assumed our social responsibility in other ways by, for example, initiating numerous local and regional aid and donation campaigns and donating face masks to medical facilities.

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One of the key pillars of the sustainable corporate strategy is the expansion of renewable energies. We were thus involved in numerous projects to harness the power of the sun and wind in 2020. The starting point was the completion of the EnBW Albatros offshore wind farm in January. We are also bringing new impetus to the offshore sector in cooperation with the engineering company aerodyn in the Nezzy² research project. The prototype with two wind turbines on a floating platform was tested for the first time in Germany and proved itself even under the extreme weather conditions in the Baltic Sea.

Our wind power portfolio is also expanding onshore. Existing turbines with a capacity of almost 90 MW have been acquired in Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. To reinvigorate the stagnating expansion of wind power in Germany, we have joined the #windforfuture initiative. Among other things, the initiative has issued recommendations on the availability of sites and the handling of regulations relating to the protection of nature.

We also remain active outside of Germany and are pushing forward the expansion of onshore wind power in France and Sweden. Our Danish subsidiary Connected Wind Services (CWS) received two major contracts for the maintenance of onshore wind turbines in Denmark and France.

At the same time, we have already taken a decision to invest in the next two major projects, both of which are also in Brandenburg. Work is set to begin on the “Gottesgabe” and “Alttrebin” solar parks at the start of 2021. The three major photovoltaic projects that make up the solar cluster will save around 325,000 tonnes of CO₂.

The Philippsburg nuclear power plant site (KKP) has become a showcase for the Energiewende. This was plain to see on 14 May when the two cooling towers were demolished. The demolition went according to plan with one tower after the other falling in on itself, initiated by the detonation of several charges in the lower sections of the towers. To avoid spectators gathering to watch the event in light of government regulations with respect to the coronavirus pandemic, we did not reveal the precise date of the explosive demolition in advance. To ensure that as many people as possible could view this visible embodiment of the phasing out of nuclear power, we made a comprehensive range of photos and videos available to the public.

We received the second and final approval for the dismantling of Block 1 of the Philippsburg nuclear power plant on 31 July. KKP 1 is thus the fourth of five nuclear power plants in Baden-Württemberg to have all aspects of its dismantling program approved in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Atomic Power Act. TransnetBW is now constructing a direct current substation (also known as a converter) on the former site of the cooling towers. This converter will act as an important hub in the transmission grid for utilizing renewable energies in the south of Germany that will be transferred from the north.

In December, the waste storage facilities at the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant were the last facilities to be transferred to the state-owned company responsible for the intermediate storage (BGZ) in accordance with the “German Act on Reorganization of Responsibility for Nuclear Disposal.” The waste storage facilities in Neckarwestheim, Philippsburg and Obrigheim that had already been transferred are all intended for the temporary storage of low and medium-level radioactive waste from the operation and dismantling of the EnBW nuclear power plants.

We are continuing our growth initiatives from 2019 in the area of broadband. The bundling of our telecommunications activities in EnBW Telekommunikation GmbH with its subsidiaries NetCom BW and Plusnet has paid off. It has thus been possible to secure a number of contracts in invitations to tender for the expansion of broadband due to the combined efforts of both companies. For example, NetCom BW will be cooperating with Plusnet to connect nine transmitter stations in Baden-Württemberg operated by the regional station Antenne 1 with its studio in Stuttgart.

NetCom demonstrated how quickly a broadband connection can be installed if you find the right partner in its project for the garden and motor equipment manufacturer Stihl. It optimized the company’s performance capabilities in just 10 working days to enable easy access for those working at home. This type of contract normally takes around four to six weeks due to all of the required approvals and work on site.

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Modern districts combine living and working environments in an economically, ecologically and socially sustainable way. We are expanding our engagement in modern and digital infrastructure with our digital district platform.

In various ways: Our transmission system operator TransnetBW and the company TenneT are making a fundamental contribution to the restructuring of the energy system in the SuedLink project by expanding the transmission grids to transfer electricity generated in the windy north to the south of Germany. For the two direct current transmission lines that cover more than 600 km from Schleswig-Holstein to Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, the Federal Network Agency has opened the planning approval process for the first northern sections. Progress is thus being made in a project that is key to the success of the Energiewende.

Work on the 340 km direct current transmission line between Osterath in North Rhine-Westphalia and Philippsburg, which is being realized by TransnetBW together with Amprion in the ULTRANET project, is being carried out at the site of the Philippsburg nuclear power plant. The laying of the foundation stone for the converter station is a major part of the power bridge.

The interest shown by local authorities in investing in the electricity grid demonstrates that these local authorities also view us as a reliable partner. In July, Netze BW was able to report that after just one year 116 local authorities had already decided to participate in “EnBW connects.”

Cybercrime is becoming increasingly professional and international. This complicates and multiplies the tasks of those organizations charged with protecting against and investigating cybercrime. To combat crime and protect critical infrastructure, the State of Baden-Württemberg is working together with our experts. The common aim of this Public-Private-Non-Profit-Partnership (PPNPP) initiative is to improve cybersecurity for cities and local authorities, business and society, public utilities and the healthcare sector in Baden-Württemberg.

The protection of critical infrastructure is ultimately the responsibility of the operators and companies themselves. As an important operator of critical infrastructure (KRITIS) facilities, we have an outstanding level of expertise in this area.

The EnBW gas subsidiary VNG AG, based in Leipzig, was successful in the Europe-wide bidding process to acquire the company Gas-Union GmbH. Gas-Union has been active as a wholesaler and service provider on the natural gas market for more than 55 years. The natural gas supplier based in Frankfurt/Main has a good reputation in the sector due to its high level of customer centricity.

Most of the assets held by Gas-Union in the form of a transmission grid have now been sold, although the company will remain within the EnBW family: the regional gas transmission grid operator Gas-Union Transport GmbH has been transferred to the EnBW subsidiary terranets bw GmbH based in Stuttgart. This merger expands the gas transmission grid operated by the company by around 550 kilometers to a total length of about 2,700 kilometers. The grid operated by Gas-Union Transport will now be integrated into the transmission grid operated by terranets bw.