Stadtwerke Gießen presented positive figures at its annual press conference on 21 July. The slight decline in the annual result is partly due to the mild winter at the beginning of 2014 and the lower demand for heating. In contrast, the company achieved an increase in electricity sales.There were also a number of other milestones last year and in the first half of 2015.
Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) once again closed the 2014 financial year with a positive result. Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board Astrid Eibelshäuser and the two new SWG Executive Board members Jens Schmidt and Matthias Funk presented the figures at the annual press conference on 21 July. Stadtwerke Gießen AG was able to generate a surplus of around 6.8 million euros. This represents only a slight decrease of slightly less than 0.5 million euros. The decisive factor here: Due to the comparatively mild temperatures between January and March 2014, natural gas and heat sales were noticeably lower than in the previous year. However, customer numbers rose in all sectors. SWG also increased electricity sales once again - to over 1652 gigawatt hours.
Not only those responsible at SWG, but also the city of Giessen, among others, are pleased with this further good result. As a shareholder, it will receive a distribution of 2.5 million euros.
Stable company
When presenting the balance sheet, the two new SWG Management Board members Jens Schmidt and Matthias Funk expressed their satisfaction. "I have found a well-positioned company. The figures speak for themselves," said Jens Schmidt. In November 2014, the new Commercial Director took over from Manfred Siekmann, who retired after 24 years at the helm of the company. He managed the fortunes of SWG together with the Technical Director Reinhard Paul and together they built the stable foundation on which the company stands today. Reinhard Paul also retired in May 2015. Matthias Funk - previously an authorised signatory and Head of District Heating at SWG - replaced him in this role. At the annual results press conference, he pointed out: "We are clearly on course with our direction." Both Management Board members therefore agree to continue with the long-term "SWG 2020" strategy - including driving forward sustainable energy generation and the expansion of the heating network.
Commitment to Giessen and the region
In 2014, Stadtwerke Giessen once again demonstrated the important role it plays in Central Hesse beyond the topic of energy - including as a premium partner of the State Garden Show. Numerous highlights took place on the SWG stage. These included concerts by the "Big Band der Bundeswehr" and the "Drei Stimmen". "Stadtwerke Gießen will continue to be involved in events such as the State Garden Show and the State Gymnastics Festival in the future. The same naturally applies to our involvement in the Tour of Hope or established events such as the Fire Brigade of the Future competition," Jens Schmidt assured us.
Energy services continue to be successful
Looking to the future, Matthias Funk revealed that the topic of energy efficiency will play an increasingly important role. That is why SWG wants to set a good example and received the certificate for an energy management system in accordance with DIN EN ISO 50001 at the beginning of 2015. "Specifically, we are planning to reduce our energy consumption by 1.3 per cent every year," explained Matthias Funk.
An ambitious goal, but SWG has the necessary expertise. And more and more private households and companies - in the region and beyond - are also benefiting from this expertise.
In 2014, Stadtwerke Gießen once again recorded successes in the still relatively new energy services business area under the name "En5". These include the modern heat supply for 45 residential units in Langen and the heat supply for 80 residential units in Roßdorf near Darmstadt. A total of 99 business customers - primarily nursing homes and residential homes for the elderly, hospitals and housing associations - took advantage of the energy experts' experience and concluded heating contracts. Heat sales rose from 46 to 49 million kilowatt hours (kWh). "We are particularly pleased that our service is now also finding favour nationwide," explained Jens Schmidt. In fact, Stadtwerke Gießen is now cooperating with the Viamedica Foundation and the Bosch company. The aim of the co-operation is to gain further customers throughout Germany for heat contracting with SWG.
SWG's energy services have also met with great interest in the private customer segment. "Whether hydraulic balancing, energy certificates or thermography - our customers are increasingly making use of our employees' expertise," Matthias Funk was pleased to report. "The transformation from energy supplier to energy service provider is therefore already well advanced." At the same time, the company also recorded some major sales successes in the electricity and natural gas sectors. New customers include, for example, Fielmann AG, Remondis SE & Co KG, the Werra-Meißner district and AOK Hessen.
More and more green electricity - also in the tank
SWG has not changed its goal of producing around 50 per cent of "Giessen's green electricity" in its own combined heat and power plants by 2020. This target is ambitious, but achievable. Stadtwerke Giessen already produces just over 40 per cent of Giessen's green electricity itself. As the building permit for TREA 2 was recently received, this figure is likely to rise soon. The ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled for August 2015. The plant, which will incinerate treated waste, is scheduled to go into operation in 2017. Based on cogeneration, it will generate around 75 million kWh of heat and around 40.6 million kWh of electricity. Compared to separate electricity and heat production, TREA 2 will save almost 28,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. In addition, TREA 2 will reduce the primary energy factor for district heating in Giessen to below 0.20 from the day it goes into operation. SWG already achieved a record value of 0.36 for 2014. The primary energy factor describes the ratio of fossil fuels used to the thermal energy generated. 0.36 means that SWG only has to use 0.36 kilowatt hours of natural gas for every kilowatt hour of heat. One reason why the figure fell for the sixth time in a row in 2014 is that SWG has converted numerous combined heat and power plants in the city area to run on biogas.
Since last year, drivers of electric cars have been able to charge up with electricity from these plants in SWG's visitor car park in Lahnstraße and in front of the town hall in Pohlheim-Watzenborn. The company has installed charging points there. In this context, Jens Schmidt speaks of another building block in the company's "sustainable strategy".
Looking ahead
During their presentation, the two SWG Management Board members also took a look into the future and spoke about the challenges ahead. These included the advancing digitalisation in all areas of life. Jens Schmidt explained: "We want to intelligently flank our existing business model and supplement it with innovative developments. This also requires us to cooperate more closely with experts from other areas. One idea is therefore to support young creative minds and start-ups and work with them on new products."
Customers in the local transport sector could potentially also benefit from this. SWG wants to launch further services in this area over the next few years. "Our aim is to advance Giessen and the region in terms of mobility - step by step," said Matthias Funk.
He then referred to one of the biggest hurdles that will have to be overcome in the coming years - the switch from L-gas to H-gas. Background: In Germany and the Netherlands, natural gas production is constantly decreasing. The quantities of L-gas that are lost must be replaced by higher-quality H-gas from the Middle East or Russia. This requires adjustments to many plants - a huge infrastructure project for the German gas industry. Around 35,000 gas appliances are affected in the network area of SWG subsidiary MIT.N. The conversion is scheduled for 2019 and 2020. The two SWG board members point out: "It doesn't mean that every older boiler has to be replaced. In most cases, the conversion will probably be limited to minor work."
21.07.2015