Germany's energy giant, RWE, saw an increase of €500 million in energy efficiency at the end of 2014 although fluctuating renewable generation created a crisis for the company during the year.
RWE is an international energy company operating in the fields of electricity generation, distribution, supply and trading heavily in Germany, the U.K., Netherlands as well as Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe.
However, Germany's transition to renewable energy production has been creating problems for companies when compared to conventional electricity generation.
In an annual press conference held on March 10, the company's CEO Peter Terium had stated, 'despite all of the good progress, we remain in a difficult situation. The crisis in conventional electricity generation will continue to impact our earnings' situation. We saw in December how strongly electricity generation from renewables can fluctuate.'
'We will further strengthen our efforts to increase our efficiency. We presented an increase in our efficiency program by €500 million and are now aiming for a recurrent impact on the operating result of €2 billion from 2017,' the company spokesperson said in an interview with The Anadolu Agency.
The company also plans to budget €2.5 to €3 billion for 2015 and about €2 billion for 2016 for operating capital. A capacity of 1,000 megawatts from two offshore wind power farms will be added to the total installed capacity of the company in 2015.
Terium underlined in the conference the volatility of renewable energy generation. He said sometimes wind and solar power contributed about two-thirds to electricity requirements; while at other times it supplied virtually nothing. He explained the problem was in keeping conventional power stations in the market in order to be able to guarantee a secure electricity supply at all times.
Additionally, the company's spokesperson stated that the conventional power generation should provide the basis for the security of supply required by society.
'Conventional generation should be at a high-performance capacity as a partner for renewable energy.' he said, adding an increase in energy efficiency is necessary to counteract the consequences of using conventional power generation.
Around 35-45 percent of the company's facilities have not been making money due to renovations and modernization efforts.
Last week, another giant German energy company, E.ON, also announced that their net loss in 2014 was $3.35 billion due to the government's current energy regulation, Energiewende. The Energiewende wants companies to generate energy from renewables. Thus, E.ON divided its operations into two companies in November, 2014; one leading the renewable sector and the second running conventional energy. Due to this division, E.ON had to lower its asset value.
- RWE observing Turkey's electricity market
As part of the company's international partnerships, RWE holds a partnership in Turkey with Turcas Petrol at Denizli Combined Cycle Natural Gas Power Plant. The partnership is a joint venture with RWE holding a 70 percent stake and Turcas Petrol with a 30 percent share. The investment is worth over €500 million.
The spokesperson also said that the establishment of a robust, predictable and cost reflective market design is essential for the development of a liberalized and fluid Turkish electricity and gas market which will attract further energy infrastructure investments in the country.
'We are observing the developments very carefully and the Turkish market remains important for us. RWE may extend partnerships along the way as business evolves,' he concluded.
By Nuran Erkul
Anadolu Agency
nuran.erkul@aa.com.tr