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SUSTAINABILITY REPORT2014

CREATING VALUE FOR OUR REGION

EWE SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2014

THE MAGNIFYING GLASS

indicates more detailed information

on the subject

GEO PIN

indicates the locations of introductions

to sections and subjects

GRI INDICATORS AND

EWE PROGRESS CRITERIA

>> G4-XX and >> EWE-FKXX refer to reported

GRI indicators or to our EWE progress criteria.

A detailed overview is available

in the GRI Index from p. 82 onwards.

The hook þ indicates the start and end

of information in the text that is subject

to review by auditors (p. 92).

1CONTENTS

FOREWORD 8

COMPANY PROFILE 10

SUSTAINABILITY –

PART OF OUR GROUP STRATEGY 15

OUR AREAS OF ACTION 23

Security of supply and network stability 24

Innovation and product responsibility 29

Climate protection and generation 34

Environmental management and resource efficiency 40

Regional responsibility 44

Supply chain 50

Market and transparency 54

Health and occupational safety 58

Employees and education 63

Data protection and information security 68

ABOUT THIS REPORT 72

FACTS AND FIGURES 74

Appendix of indicators 75

GRI Index 82

Glossary 90

Independent auditor’s report 92

CONTACT AND PUBLICATION DETAILS 94

CONTENTS

We believe that acting responsibly is a basis for long-term corporate success.

Our sustainability strategy defines specific targets in ten areas of action

that we want to achieve by 2020. This enables us to systematically pool

and strengthen our activities.

This report is our first comprehensive overview of what we mean by

sustainability and regional responsibility – and how we put them into practice.

2EWE SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2014

Providing high-speed internet to rural areas with low population density

is a challenge. EWE is working together with the people

to tackle this challenge and establish modern infrastructure

even outside urban centres. More information about our area of action

SECURITY OF SUPPLY AND NETWORK STABILITY

is available from page 24 onwards.

More and more members of the public are taking an active role

in the energy turnaround. And EWE is giving them a helping hand.

The EQOO domestic storage system helps them get the most out

of the solar power that they generate themselves.

More information about our area of action

INNOVATION AND PRODUCT RESPONSIBILITY


3

After just 14 months of construction, Riffgat now generates energy for around

120,000 homes. EWE has shown that it is possible to construct offshore wind

farms quickly without compromising the environment or cost efficiency.

EWE makes its expertise in planning, construction and operation available to

other companies. More information about our area of action

CLIMATE PROTECTION AND GENERATION


EWE wants to consistently decrease how much energy it uses over the coming

years. The headquarters for the Turkish subsidiaries Bursagaz and Enervis will use

highly efficient building technology in accordance with the international LEED

sustainability standard. More information about our area of action

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCE EFFICIENCY


4

EWE wants long-term partnerships with its suppliers. One such supplier

is cable manufacturer Waskönig+Walter. Quality, adherence to delivery

time-scales, and environmentally friendly production processes

have fostered a relationship of trust between EWE and this Saterland-based family

company. More information about our area of action

SUPPLY CHAIN


What does the future of energy look like? That’s a question that utility

companies can’t answer without the help of citizens. Under the motto

“The North Gets It Done”, EWE’s 2014 Energy Turnaround Forum gave

the people of the region an opportunity to present and discuss their ideas,

and to develop them until they are ready to implement.


REGIONAL RESPONSIBILITY


5

Reliability is the foundation for any long-term customer relationship.

That’s why EWE wants its three customer advisory boards in Weser-Ems,

Weser-Elbe and Brandenburg to show what private customers want

from their energy provider. The customer advisory boards also help EWE

to inform citizens about the complexities of the energy world.


MARKET AND TRANSPARENCY


Occupational health and safety is extremely important to EWE – a commitment

to safety measures, daily checks, training and proactive risk mitigation prevented

serious accidents during the construction of the gas and steam turbine power plant

in Bremen-Mittelsbüren. More information about our area of action

HEALTH AND OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY


6

95 young adults from all of the EWE regions live and work on the

EnergieCampus in Oldenburg. EWE uses the EnergieCampus for training

workshops, and doesn’t leave residents to their own devices after work. Mentors

support EWE apprentices on-site and help them to organise their free time.


EMPLOYEES AND EDUCATION


EWE stores its customers’ information in Oldenburg. Security at the two regional

data centres is tight, with extensive measures taken to protect images, emails,

account transactions and trade secrets of individuals and businesses against hackers,

theft and fire. These data centres are also subject to Germany’s strict data protection

laws. More information about our area of action

DATA PROTECTION AND INFORMATION SECURITY


7


DEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FRIENDS OF THE COMPANY,

The European energy industry is in upheaval, and EWE is also

undergoing some major changes. Why, in times of constant

change, is it now right to set ourselves up systematically

for a sustainable future? The answer lies in how we see our-

selves – as a predominantly municipally-owned company,

sustainability means acting reliably, responsibly and with a

view to the long term – for our regions, for the people who

live there, and for the environment. The only way to deal with

key challenges like climate protection is hand in hand with

our customers, employees, shareholders and other partners.

And we firmly believe that the only way to achieve long-term

economic success is by taking ecological and social develop-

ments into account in the course of our commercial dealings.

We were quick to integrate energy, telecommunications and

information technology, as these are the key areas of exper-

tise required for sustainable energy supply. For decades now,

we have also been committed to education and science, for

social projects, culture and sport. We are a regular part of

the social life in our regions of Ems/Weser/Elbe, Branden-

burg and Rügen, as well as parts of Poland and Turkey. The

swb group of companies, which is part of the EWE Group, has

been responsible for establishing modern energy supply in

the state of Bremen for 160 years.

We adopted a sustainability strategy in 2014 to combine our

existing activities and launch new ones. We have set our-

selves specific targets in ten areas of action, which we want

to achieve by 2020, and which we will use from now on to

gauge our performance. “Creating Value for our Region”, our

first sustainability report, is our outlet for presenting our

strategy. We want to keep you informed about where we are

and where we’re going.

That’s why we are committed to reducing our CO2 emissions

per generated kilowatt hour by 40 per cent by 2020, com-

pared to 2005 levels. In 2014, we brought the first commer-

cial offshore wind farm in the German North Sea online, with

Riffgat providing electricity to 120,000 homes.

“We firmly believe that the only way to achieve long-term economic success

is by taking ecological and social developments into account in the course of commercial dealings.”

We are investing in modern infrastructure and are conduct-

ing practical research into “smart grids” in order to keep our

networks stable, despite the fluctuating amounts of elec-

tricity being fed into the network from renewable energies.

Our electricity network is one of the most reliable in Germa-

ny, and we want to keep our network downtime below the

national average in future, too.

In order to discover potential energy savings within the com-

pany and to reduce our own consumption, we will introduce

energy management systems in twelve of our companies and

establish a Group-wide energy monitoring system by 2020.

We are also incorporating business partners outside of our

8

FOREWORD

company into our sustainability management system. As part

of this process, we have drawn up a code of conduct, and we

plan for 95 per cent of our strategic suppliers to sign up to it

by 2020.

A study published by the CONOSCOPE research institute in

2014 showed that we are already a significant regional eco-

nomic force. Around half of every euro spent by EWE stays in

the region. Our capital expenditure and the purchases made

by our employees provide around 17,000 additional jobs in

our regions. Our sustainability strategy is a roadmap for how

we can continue to contribute to the development of our

regions.

We are overcoming both this challenge and others by making

sustainability an integral part of our core business. We have

established a Group-wide sustainability management system

that we will expand in the coming years. Our employees help

us every day to achieve the goals we have set ourselves.

It is important for us to make our progress measurable and

comparable. That’s why we have prepared our report in ac-

cordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) G4 Sus-

tainability Reporting Guidelines. An independent auditor has

performed an audit of the report and has raised no objections

in this connection.

Dear reader, we are delighted to present the first EWE sus-

tainability report, and we hope that you will find it informa-

tive. >> G4-01

June 2015

Board of Management

Matthias Brückmann Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Sales

Ines Kolmsee Member of the Board of Management, Technology

Dr. Heiko Sanders Member of the Board of Management, Finance

Dr. Werner Brinker Chief Executive Officer

Nikolaus Behr Member of the Board of Management, Human Resources

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT OF

EWE AG

9


COMPANY PROFILE

10

COMPANY PROFILE

BUSINESS MODEL

With energy, telecommunications and information technolo-

gy (IT), EWE combines the key expertise needed for a modern

energy supply. With more than 9,000 employees and sales

in excess of EUR 8 billion, the Group is one of the largest

municipally-owned companies in Germany. EWE does busi-

ness in the Bremen, Brandenburg, Rügen and Ems/Weser/

Elbe regions, as well as parts of Turkey and Poland >> G4-06.

þ EWE provides electricity to just under 1.3 million cus-

tomers and natural gas to 1.7 million. It also provides tele-

communication services to around 700,000 customers1 >>

þ G4-EU03. The Group can generate its own energy from

renewable and conventional sources, and operates secure

energy and telecommunication networks. Its subsidiary BTC

provides IT products and services.

EWE considers itself a network infrastructure expert and a

pioneer in the field of renewable energies. The company’s

strategy is completely focused on the German energy turn-

around. By combining energy, telecommunications and IT,

EWE has the expertise needed for intelligent energy systems

>> G4-08. The energy supply of the future requires a new

mindset – energy needs are rising and our fossil fuels are

limited. We also have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

to counteract climate change. To do this, we need to strike

an intelligent balance between energy conservation, energy

efficiency and expanding the use of renewable energy

sources. This requires closely knit systems that are able to

flexibly and efficiently provide electricity and heat.

A PIONEER

IN SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SUPPLY

+ One of the world’s first commercial wind turbine

operators in the 1980s

+ Leading member of the consortium involved in

building Germany’s first offshore wind farm, alpha

ventus

+ Riffgat – the first commercial offshore wind farm

in the German North Sea

+ Research and field tests investigating the use of fuel

cells in domestic energy supply since 1998

+ Developed the E3 electric car in 2009 as a test

platform for modern storage technologies

+ Large-scale field test in Cuxhaven investigating

decentralised energy management (eTelligence)

+ Field test for first intelligent local network stations

running since 2013

+ Around 75 per cent of the electricity transported in the

EWE network already comes from renewable energies

1 — Including customers of htp GmbH

11


CORPORATE STRUCTURE

EWE AG is based in Oldenburg, Germany >> G4-03, G4-05.

As the Group’s holding company, it manages the Group com-

panies and their activities. Most of the company is owned by

local government, which holds a 74 per cent stake in EWE

AG. The shares are held by 21 cities and communities in the

Ems/Weser/Elbe region. 26 per cent of the shares are held by

EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG >> G4-07.

As a capital market-oriented public limited company

( Aktiengesellschaft), EWE is subject to the German Stock

Corporation Act. The Group is led by a Board of Manage-

ment which is solely responsible for managing the Group’s

transactions and developing its strategic direction. It takes

action in agreement with the Supervisory Board. The Board

of Management provides the Supervisory Board with regular

information about the company’s course of business, strat-

egy and potential opportunities and risks. The Supervisory

Board monitors the activities of the Board of Management.

In accordance with the German Codetermination Act, (Mit-

bestimmungsrecht), the Supervisory Board has an equal

number of shareholder representatives and employee repre-

sentatives >> G4-34.

The EWE Group is separated into the following business

areas:

+ The Central Divisions/Consolidation business area

mainly comprises EWE AG as the holding company and

other associated companies like swb AG and VNG Ver-

bundnetz Gas Aktiengesellschaft.

+ The Generation business area contains the Renewable

Energies, Conventional Generation, Waste Disposal and

Gas Storage business units.

+ The Infrastructure business area encompasses the

electricity grid, natural gas grid and telecommunications

networks, as well as drinking water/wastewater.

+ The Sales and Trading business area includes the

energy and telecommunications sales entities and the

Group’s energy trading business.

+ The Foreign Business and IT business area, which

brings together the business activities in Turkey and

Poland as well as the Information Technology division.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

EWE offers its customers energy, telecommunications and

IT products and services from a single provider. In addi-

tion to electricity, gas, telephone and internet services, it

also provides its customers with innovative combinations

which bring all three areas together. One example is the

solar- powered EQOO domestic storage system, which

EWE launched in 2014 to respond to widespread customer

demand for self-sufficiency. Households can use EQOO to

generate up to 70 per cent of their electricity from their own

solar panels. > p. 29, Innovation and product responsibility

12

COMPANY PROFILE

GROUP KEY FIGURES

EUR million 2014 2013 Change in %

Sales 8,134.2 8,862.6 -8.2

Operating EBITDA 847.1 983.2 -13.8

Operating EBIT 425.4 497.9 -14.6

EBIT 357.7 410.9 -12.9

Result for the period 146.3 57.2 155.8

Cash outflows for capital expenditure (total) 721.3 573.5 25.8

Cash flow from operating activities 770.3 406.4 89.5

Balance sheet total 9,800.9 10,370.4 -5.5

Shareholders’ equity 2,285.2 2,395.7 -4.6

Equity ratio in % 23.3 23.1 0.9

Employees (Ø) 9,154 9,163 -0.1

þ G4-09

> Please refer to the 2014 annual report of EWE AG for further key figures

þ

13


EWE also provides procurement, marketing and balancing

group management services for electricity and gas through

its Energy Trading division. For example, EWE trades CO2

certificates on behalf of customers and is a leading provider

of direct marketing services for electricity from facilities

governed by the Renewable Energy Act (EEG).

The Telecommunications division provides a full complement

of modern services for private and business customers on the

basis of the Group’s infrastructure in parts of EWE’s regions.

These range from landline and mobile telephone services to

internet connections and TV products to cloud services. It

also provides data centre services and tailored service pack-

ages for business customers.

EWE provides consulting, system integration as well as

application and system management services through its IT

division. Innovative energy software products are a key part

of its product portfolio. These include solutions and innova-

tions related to smart metering and smart grids >> G4-04.

RISK MANAGEMENT

The purpose of the Precautionary Principle, which was adopt-

ed by the United Nations, is to prevent harm to the environ-

ment. Monitoring environmental risks is also important for

EWE. Its subsidiary swb, for example, uses environmental

management systems in swb Erzeugung GmbH & Co. KG

(swb Erzeugung) and swb Entsorgung GmbH & Co. KG (swb

Entsorgung), among other areas >> G4-14.

In addition to addressing environmental risks, EWE also deals

with the consequences of danger scenarios, which could for

example arise as a result of sudden natural disasters. EWE

NETZ GmbH (EWE NETZ) has defined every business process

which would put the company and therefore the security of

supply at risk in a crisis. The company then drew up specific

measures and plans which would be implemented in these

situations.

EWE has established an integrated risk and opportunity

management system for the Group to detect and address

potential risks and opportunities arising from its activities.

This system is used to analyse risks and opportunities on a

regular basis. The Group’s Board of Management and super-

visory bodies are informed of the results of these analyses

on a quarterly basis. > Please refer to p. 66 of the 2014 annual

report for further information

14

SUSTAINABILITY – PART OF OUR GROUP STRATEGY

SUSTAINABILITY – PART OF OUR GROUP STRATEGY 15


MAIN CHALLENGES

ENERGY TURNAROUND

In the light of global warming, one of the main challenges of

the coming decades will be to gradually migrate the energy

supply of Germany, an industrial nation, from a carbon-based

energy supply to one that is CO2 neutral. In spring 2011, the

German government responded to the nuclear disaster in

Fukushima, Japan by setting up the political framework for

revamping its energy supply, dubbed the German energy

turnaround.

Germany’s rural areas will play an increasingly important

role during this reform process. An above-average number of

decentralised renewable generation plants are used in these

areas because of the amount of land available and due to the

weather conditions. A significant amount of this potential is

already being exploited, particularly in the north-west, with

the construction of wind turbines and the use of biomass

and photovoltaic power plants. The amount of electricity

fed in from renewable energies is volatile. Despite this, it is

important to ensure that there is always enough electricity

available. This necessitates new solutions. We have to be

smarter and more flexible in how we coordinate the various

pathways involved in electricity generation, electricity con-

sumption and the load flows in our networks.

IMPACT OF THE ENERGY MARKET

Deregulated electricity and gas markets and the regulation

of network business have decreased the profitability of our

company in its traditional core business. Pressure is growing

on previously stable sources of income. This is exacerbated

by the current situation on the gas market, which is a chal-

lenge to our storage marketing activities, for example. In the

electricity market, the obligation to use electricity from re-

newable energies is having a particularly strong impact on

the market for conventional generation.

DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES

Demographic changes are another significant challenge

which will have a major impact on the German labour market

in future. We want to establish ourselves as an attractive

employer when competing for the best minds. The changes

to the age structure of our customer groups also come with

new requirements and expectations regarding services and

products, and we are preparing for this early on.

OUR GROUP STRATEGY

FOCUS ON THE ENERGY FUTURE

EWE has long believed that creating a sustainable energy

sector is the way forward. We already began investing in

renewable energies back in the 1980s. Because it takes smart,

flexible network load management to use it to its full poten-

tial, we have been building up key expertise for smart energy

systems through our Telecommunications and Information

Technology business areas and integrating it into our busi-

ness model since the 1990s.

The majority of the EWE Group is municipally owned, and

the Group is particularly aware of its responsibility to the

environ ment and people in its regions – as an employer, a

partner to our suppliers, a service provider for our customers,

and a neighbour. We want to remain a reliable partner for a

secure and economically viable energy supply in future. Our

strategy for achieving this is built on three main pillars:

16


Focus: With energy, telecommunications and information

technology, we combine the core fields of expertise under

one roof to provide a forward-looking system of energy

supply. We focus here in particular on activities which repre-

sent a sustainable strategic and operational addition to our

core business.

Concentrated growth: We aim to achieve profitable growth

with business activities, technologies and partnerships that

enable us to actively participate in the transformation of

energy supply in northern Germany. The emphasis is current-

ly on renewable energies and the electricity networks.

We are also more positive about the Offshore business area

than we were two years ago. Our experience with the Group’s

two wind farms (Riffgat and alpha ventus) showed that off-

shore wind energy is more profitable and less risky than

previously thought. We want to use the Group’s expertise

to grow this area going forward. The biogas production and

processing situation is quite different. EWE will be reducing

its involvement in this area in future, partly due to the 2014

amendment to the Renewable Energy Act (EEG).

We have successfully expanded our market position in Turkey

over recent years. The Group and its Turkish shareholdings

have an excellent reputation among customers, business

partners and political decision-makers. EWE will use this

foundation to selectively exploit growth potential among

private customers and in the distribution network.

OUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

Environmentally friendly energy and quality

of life for local people

OUR PROMISE

EWE is a municipal utility company with

a responsibility to our region. We create

sustainable value for our customers,

employees and shareholders and are shaping

the energy turnaround in partnership with

people and companies from the regions.

VALUES OF THE EWE GROUP CULTURE

Entrepreneurial

Forward-thinking

Responsible

Committed to partnerships

Efficient

Varied

EWE MANAGEMENT VALUES

Passion for the customer

Courage for change

Responsibility for the outcome

17


Sustainability and regional roots: We want to fulfil our

responsibilities to the regions and its people by sustainable

entrepreneurship. That’s why we have set up a comprehen-

sive sustainability management system for the EWE Group,

on which we will be reporting on a regular basis in future.

We want to be judged on the basis of the targets and per-

formance figures that we include in these reports. We use

our traditional links with the regions and our many years of

local experience to involve the regions and their people in the

shaping of an environmentally friendly energy supply system.

PRINCIPLES AND GROUP CULTURE

The basis of our success is our integrity in all business rela-

tionships. Because of this, we have set up a code of conduct

for all of our employees to make compliance a key part of our

company. This code of conduct covers compliance with laws

and directives, regulations, internal guidelines, contractual

obligations and voluntary commitments.

The EWE code of conduct was introduced in the German busi-

ness regions at the end of 2012 and in the Polish business

regions in 2014. The management of the Turkish companies

have already approved the code of conduct and will imple-

ment it in due course. > Further information from p. 54 onwards

The approved management values and the Group culture

provide a frame of reference alongside our code of conduct

for our activities and decisions. Our employees come from an

extremely wide range of technical and cultural backgrounds.

We need Group-wide values to use this variety constructively

and pool our expertise in the best possible manner > See box

p. 17; >> G4-56.

OUR SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT

EWE STAKEHOLDERS

EWE has drawn up a sustainability strategy with ten areas of

action to make sustainability an integral part of the Group’s

philosophy. These areas of action cover economic, ecological

and social issues. þ Because our company is involved with a

wide variety of internal and external shareholders, we took

their needs into account when drawing up the strategy.

We started by using a multi-stage process to identify our

main stakeholder groups. Customers, employees, sharehold-

ers, suppliers and NGOs have a particularly important part

to play in terms of our regional roots and have a significant

impact on our company’s success >> þ G4-25.

+ þ EWE considers itself a customer-focused and ser-

vice-oriented company with strong regional roots, which

is why customers are a major stakeholder group for EWE.

+ Employees play a major role in EWE’s success. Their per-

formance, loyalty and satisfaction are a vital part of the

success of the company’s business operations. They are

also involved in implementing the sustainability strategy.

+ EWE is predominantly owned by local government, which

is why shareholders are an important stakeholder group

>> þ G4-24, þ G4-27.

18

4 5 6 7

4

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6

7


MATERIALITY MATRIX

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VERY HIGHMEDIUM HIGH



INNOVATION AND PRODUCT RESPONSIBILITYREGIONAL

RESPONSIBILITY

SUPPLY CHAIN






SECURITY OF SUPPLY AND NETWORK STABILITY — INNOVATION AND PRODUCT RESPONSIBILITY

CLIMATE PROTECTION AND GENERATION — ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

REGIONAL RESPONSIBILITY — SUPPLY CHAIN — MARKET AND TRANSPARENCY — HEALTH AND OCCUPATIONAL

SAFETY — EMPLOYEES AND EDUCATION — DATA PROTECTION AND INFORMATION SECURITY

OUR AREAS OF ACTION

OUR SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

> Our sustainability strategy, p. 21

19


þ Our ten areas of action therefore comprise the main eco-

nomic, ecological and social issues for the EWE Group. We

have allocated a target for each area of action, along with

specific measures and initiatives. We also defined an im-

provement criterion for each area so that our sustainability

can be measured. We aim to use this to identify areas where

we can improve and to help us develop our sustainability

strategy >> þ G4-27.

INTEGRATION IN THE GROUP

The task of strategic management for these activities has been

assigned to the Corporate Development holding function,

which reports directly to the Board of Management. A sepa-

rate Corporate Development unit is the Group-wide point of

contact for sustainability issues. A person from each of the

relevant organisational units has also been assigned to each

area of action. Under their leadership, experts and managers

from individual Group companies work on the challenges in-

volved in each area >> G4-34. We will be expanding our sus-

tainability management system continuously over the coming

years in order to reach our targets and thus implement our

strategy successfully.

+ þ We are committed to partnering with and supporting

our suppliers in order to provide transparent communi-

cation about services and be effective in our organisa-

tion relating to economic, ecological and social issues

throughout the value chain.

+ NGOs represent expectations about economic, ecological

and social issues which are not widely represented in

society as a whole. Because these can result in areas of

action for companies in future, it is important to recog-

nise these issues ahead of time >> þ G4-24, þ G4-27.

MATERIALITY ANALYSIS AS A BASIS FOR THE STRATEGY

þ We have carried out a comprehensive analysis to identify

the main sustainability issues for EWE and its stakeholders.

We incorporated aspects based on the GRI standard and set

thresholds for these aspects within and outside of the com-

pany. We also identified additional content that is relevant

for our business model. We systematically investigated

the expectations of our stakeholders regarding responsible

entrepreneurship by recording them in a survey and weight-

ing them.

We derived the main areas of action for our sustainability

strategy on this basis while taking the importance of these

issues for EWE into account. A materiality matrix shows the

relative importance of each area for our stakeholders and

EWE. A value of 7 represents a very high degree of relevance,

while 4 represents a proportionally lower degree of relevance

> See p. 19; >> þ G4-18; þ G4-26.

1 — An aggregate score from four customer service indicators (customer satisfaction, willingness to recommend our company, likelihood of staying with the company and comparison with competitors) based on the results of the BDEW Customer Focus study (see p. 44, Regional responsibility).

2 — For the energy field3 — The healthy employee rate stands in opposition to the absence

rate. This means that if the absence ratio is 3 per cent, the healthy employee rate is 97 per cent. The absence rate is the ratio of days of absence resulting from incapacity to work to the target number of working days assigned to the reporting period. This also includes annual leave.

20


Area of action Objective by 2020 Measures Progress criterion Target value for 2020 Current status in 2014

1 Security of supply and net-work stability

We are building a sustainable and efficient infrastructure for the people in the region.

+ Implementing the maintenance and reinvestment strategy

+ Expanding crisis and emergency management

+ Supporting the expansion of the regional broadband network

+ Expansion of smart grid research projects and field tests

Power outage durations in minutes per year, per customer in Germany

Better than the average for Germany determined by the German Federal Network Agency (= SAIDI: System Average Interruption Dura-tion Index)

5.5 minutes per year, per customer (Average value from German Federal Network Agency: 15.3 minutes per year, per customer)

2 Innovation and product responsibility

We bring energy, tele-communications and information technology together to create the intelligent energy supply systems of tomorrow.

+ Launch of an innovation portal + Interdisciplinary research and develop-

ment projects + Expanding the range of energy

efficiency products and services

Number of ideas submit-ted via the innovation portal that culminated in a project

10 projects initiated per year

Innovation portal has been designed

3 Climate protection and generation

We are making our ener-gy generation processes more environmentally friendly.

+ Expansion in the use of wind power + Making our power plants more flexible

and more efficient + Bringing the steam turbine power

plant online

CO2 emissions in grams per generated kilowatt hour of electricity

Reduction in CO2 emissions in grams per generated kilowatt hour of electricity by 40% compared to 2005 levels

540 grams per gener-ated kilowatt hour of electricity (equivalent to a 34.8% reduction compared to 2005)

4 Environmental management and resource efficiency

We handle energy re-sponsibly and minimise our consumption within the company.

+ Establishment of a Group-wide energy monitoring system

+ Launch and certification of further energy management systems

Number of companies with ISO 50001-certified energy management systems

Twelve companies certified

4 companies have already been certified + swb Services + Bursagaz + EWE GASSPEICHER + EWE VERTRIEB

5 Regional responsibility

Our activities make a significant contribution to the development of the region.

+ Greater involvement of members of the public in wind farm projects

+ Expansion of the network investment model

+ Continued tailoring of sponsorship commitments to the needs of the region

+ Supporting forums for discussions

Regionality index

Better than the average from the “Customer Focus – Households” (Kundenfokus Haushalte) study published by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW); a minimum of 67 if the average falls below this level

72 (German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) “Customer Focus – Households” study average: 68)

6 Supply chain

We are implementing specific sustainability requirements for our suppliers.

+ Introduction of a supplier code of conduct + Providing purchasers with sustainabil-

ity training + Establishment of a strategic supplier

management system

Proportion of strategic materials and services suppliers who commit to the supplier code of conduct

Over 95% of strategic ma-terials and services suppliers covered

The supplier code of conduct has been developed and will be introduced in 2015

7 Market and transparency

We are a trustworthy service provider for our customers and a reliable contract partner.

+ Implementation of customer service strategy

+ Intensify customer loyalty measures

Customer loyalty index1

742

722

8 Health and occupational safety

We guarantee a safe and healthy working environment.

+ Introduction of leadership curriculum on health management

+ Expansion of training on working hours and self-management

+ Intensification of measures related to stress prevention, healthy eating and fitness

+ Introducing Group-wide Health, Safe-ty, Environment (HSE) policy

Healthy employees rate3

97%

95.3%

9 Employees and education

We are an attractive employer for the region.

+ Development of a brand identity as an employer

+ Establishing a demographic manage-ment system

+ Helping employees to have a healthy work/life balance

Time taken to fill positions

75 weekdays

85.6 weekdays

10 Data protection and informa-tion security

We are a reliable partner in the areas of data protection, information security and unbundling.

+ Introduction of relevant e-learning modules

+ Continued development of a Group-wide information security management system in accordance with ISO 27001 requirements

Proportion of all employees in all relevant companies who have been trained in data protection, infor mation security and unbundling using e-learning modules

> 85% (the maximum proportion in practice)

Resolution on intro-duction of e-learning modules has been prepared

SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY þ

þ EWE-FK01 to EWE-FK10

21


EWE is also represented in scientific associations like the

Association for the Promotion of Science and Humanities

in Germany (Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft

e. V.) and the National Academy of Science and Engineering

– acatech e. V. >> G4-15.

In future, we want to intensify our dialogue with our stake-

holders and establish new formats for communication. Our

aim is to communicate our activities in a transparent and

trustworthy manner and give our stakeholder groups addi-

tional opportunities to share their concerns. In this way, we

want to play an active role in shaping major economic, ecolo-

gical and social developments and find sustainable solutions

with our stakeholders.

STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUE

þ We have been in dialogue with our customers, and with

citizens, scientists, politicians and other stakeholders for a

number of years. For example, we have set up customer and

network advisory boards in our regions and established the

Energy Turnaround Forum to let members of society share

their ideas about the region’s energy future >> þ G4-26.

EWE also initiated the Bullensee Group. This is a group of

renowned scientists and practitioners who meet on a regular

basis to discuss future issues. The experts met for the first

time near the Bullensee lake near Bremen in 2005 and drew

up ten assumptions about the energy supply of the future.

EWE also plays an active role in a variety of industry and

special interest associations. We hold leadership positions

in some, and are involved in projects and working groups for

several others.

EWE is part of the following associations, among others:

+ German Association of Energy and Water Industries

(BDEW)

+ German Association of Local Utilities (VKU)

+ German Association of Broadband Communication

(BREKO)

+ Federal Association for Information Technology,

Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM)

+ German Working Group for Environmentally Friendly

Management (BAUM)

+ Netzwerk Compliance >> G4-16

22

OUR AREAS OF ACTION

OUR AREAS OF ACTION

23



As a regional energy provider, we want to guarantee that our

customers have a secure energy supply. We are bringing the

areas of energy, telecommunications and information technol-

ogy together to prepare for “smart energy systems”, an issue

which is set to be important for the future. The networks have a

decisive role to play in this process as the link between genera-

tion and consumption. Due to our geographical situation, we

are familiar with the special challenges of decentralised gener-

ation structures and integrating renewable energies into the

network infrastructure. Around 75 per cent of the electricity

transported in the EWE NETZ network already comes from re-

newable sources. With network outages of less than six min-

utes per year per customer, the EWE Group’s network compa-

nies lead the field in Germany.

OUR OBJECTIVE

SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE REGION

Our primary goal is to build and operate a sustainable and

efficient infrastructure for people in the region. The reliabili-

ty of the electricity supply is a key yardstick in determining

security of supply and network stability. That’s why we meas-

ure our progress on the basis of power outages in minutes per

customer, per year, resulting from unplanned interruptions in

the German medium and low voltage network. Power outages

lasted 15.3 minutes on average in 2013. þ The figure for EWE’s

network companies is already much lower, at 5.5 minutes in

2014. This figure covers the networks of Group subsidiaries

EWE NETZ, wesernetz Bremen GmbH (wesernetz Bremen)

and wesernetz Bremerhaven GmbH (wesernetz Bremerhaven),

swb’s urban networks >> þ G4-EU29, þ EWE-FK01. We want

to remain better than the national average by 2020.

OUR WAY FORWARD

NETWORK, STORAGE AND GENERATION SOLUTIONS

FOR A RELIABLE SUPPLY

The distinguishing feature of EWE’s network companies’ me-

dium and low voltage network is that almost 100 per cent of

the cables are underground. This makes them less susceptible

to disruption than cables that are laid above ground. This has

a positive impact on the number of power outages in our net-

work, which is relatively low for the nation as a whole.

The EWE network companies are also reliable gas network

operators, with downtime totalling less than one minute per

customer and year. EWE laid the first large-scale natural gas

network in Germany over 50 years ago. We have been expand-

ing our infrastructure consistently ever since. We are currently

expanding the networks in our Polish and Turkish regions. We

are building a new, modern natural gas infrastructure in the

cities of Iznik and Develi.

Natural gas storage facilities make a significant contribution

to the security of our gas supply. With a working gas volume

of around 1.9 billion cubic metres, EWE is one of the major

storage facility operators in the European natural gas market.

We have facilities in Huntorf in the district of Wesermarsch,

in Nüttermoor, in the East Frisian municipality of Jemgum, in

Rüdersdorf near Berlin, and in Bremen-Lesum. These store gas

in caverns which are created in naturally-occurring salt domes

according to strict environmental and safety criteria.

In order to guarantee a secure supply of electricity, conven-

tional power plants will continue to be needed alongside re-

newable sources of energy over the coming decades. These in-

clude the conventional power plant blocks which swb operates

in Bremen and whose flexibility and efficiency has been con-

tinuously improved. > p. 34, Climate protection and generation;

see also Risk management, p. 14

24

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:SECURITY OF SUPPLY AND NETWORK STABILITY

NETWORKS

þ In Germany, our networks supply around

984,800 houses with electricity, 851,100

houses with gas and 32,600 houses with

telephone and internet services

>> þ G4-EU03.

þ Our electricity network in the Ems/Weser/

Elbe and Bremen regions covers 92,500

kilometres.

Our 69,500 kilometre gas network supplies gas

to customers in our German regions, in the

Turkish cities of Bursa and Kayseri, and in parts

of south and west Poland.

15,100 kilometres of our telecommunications

network is copper, with fibre optic cable

accounting for a further 21,200 kilometres. At

36,300 kilometres, our telecommunications

network is one of the largest and most powerful

networks in Germany >> þ G4-EU04.

SMART GRIDS

Network infrastructure operators face the challenge of in-

tegrating renewable energies without endangering network

stability. Smart grids will play an ever increasing role in

overcoming this hurdle. They use information and commu-

nications technology alongside modern control technology

to compensate for fluctuations in the supply and demand of

energy.

EWE NETZ is currently using smart local network stations in

Emsland to test how to feed in more electricity from pho-

tovoltaic power plants and other renewable sources without

expanding the network. These stations control the voltage

automatically, avoiding the increases in voltage which push

the networks to the limits of their capacity. Local network

stations use a transformer to connect the local low-voltage

networks with regional medium-voltage networks, which are

operated at a higher voltage.

As part of the 2009 eTelligence project, EWE conducted field

tests in Cuxhaven to determine how smart decentralised

energy management could work. The ongoing Green Access

research project is developing control concepts to enable

the components in the network to communicate with one

another. As autonomously learning systems, they are de-

signed to adapt to changes like the connection of new elec-

tricity generators and consumers. EWE is working together

with partners from the fields of science and industry to test

how automation solutions like these can be implemented.

> Continue on p. 28

25


“Disastrous”, “terrible”, “unbearable” – these words come

up again and again when council chairmen Heino Neumann

and Wolfgang Siems talk about what the internet used to

be like in the villages of Hollriede and Tarbarg near Wester-

stede. “Everything would just stop working in the afternoon

and evening. Children couldn’t do their homework and the

only way our local fire brigade could communicate with the

new command centre in Oldenburg was by radio,” Heino

Neumann recalled. “We complained about the issues for

years, but things only improved when EWE got involved at

the start of 2014.”

The 300 residents of Tarbarg and 400 residents of Hollriede

now have access to a broadband network with transfer rates

of up to 50 megabits per second (Mbps), as do the 25 houses

along the five-kilometre road connecting the two villages.

Technology that would provide internet access to hundreds

of people in a city was installed just for them.

Ralf von Dzwonkowski, EWE’s municipal supervisor in Ammer-

land, still remembers how it all began. The local associations

invited every high-speed internet provider to an information-

al meeting, and EWE was the only one that came. He quickly

realised that EWE was a local supplier and service provider

that wouldn’t let the residents of Hollriede and Tarbarg be

left behind when it came to internet access. However, it was

also clear that five kilometres of fibre optic cable and three

service area interfaces would be needed to connect the 220

houses in the areas. “Financially, it just wasn’t viable.”

This dilemma was solved when EWE joined forces with the

local residents and the members of the local associations

decided to handle the excavation work themselves. Local Engaging with EWE – council chairmen Wolfgang Siems (left) and Heino Neumann

“It got a lot easier for people to find tenants as soon as we announced that high-speed

internet was on its way.”

BROADBAND EXPANSION: EWE AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

WORKING TOWARDS A SHARED GOAL

Wolfgang Siems

26

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:SECURITY OF SUPPLY AND NETWORK STABILITY

High-speed internet makes communication easier between the local Westerstede fire brigade and its command centre in Oldenburg.

construction companies provided excavators and diesel and

also offered their specialists to cross domestic connections or

tunnel under intersections. EWE kept a close eye on the work.

Having members of the public set up the infrastructure in-

stead of specialist companies was the exception rather than

the rule for the company.

The local associations provided around 4,000 man-hours,

which weren’t enough to make the project economically

viable over the long term. EWE needed a connection agree-

ment from half of the households; these residents would also

have to pay a one-off fee of 200 euros to go towards the con-

struction costs. EWE and the local associations managed to

overcome this hurdle together in just a few weeks.

Broadband availability has spurred development in the

villages. Building plots are selling again in Hollriede and

the Chairman of Tarbarg’s local association Wolfgang Siems

knows that. “It got a lot easier for people to find tenants as

soon as we announced that high-speed internet was on its

way,” he said. “For EWE,” said Ralf von Dzwonkowski, “the

project is tangible proof of what members of the public can

achieve when they work together with their provider. Set-

ting up a broadband connection is worth it economically if it

results in long-term customer loyalty.”

27OUR AREAS OF ACTION:SECURITY OF SUPPLY AND NETWORK STABILITY


> BROADBAND EXPANSION IN RURAL REGIONS

EWE is at the forefront of broadband expansion in north-

west Germany. Over the past few years, we have connected

over 4,000 service area interfaces – cabinets which connect

secondary cables to main cables – to our fibre optic net-

work. We connected over 1,000 in the reporting year alone.

We currently have a network of around 36,000 kilometres.

This puts us in a position to supply over a million households

with high speed internet. We are connecting not only towns

and cities, but also selected rural areas, thereby making the

region more competitive.

We are combining a number of different models to connect

as many households as possible while remaining cost-ef-

fective. A significant proportion of this expansion is being

financed with our own investment. We are also using Euro-

pean subsidies and entering into regional partnerships with

municipalities and districts. þ We invested around EUR

62 million in broadband expansion in 2014 >> þ TC-IO01.

þ We will continue with this expansion over the coming

years. Around another 13,300 residential units in 29 local

network regions will reap the benefits of 32 funding schemes

awarded to EWE subsidiary EWE TEL GmbH (EWE TEL) in

2014 >> þ TC-PA01. Over 220,000 households will be con-

nected to the broadband network in 2015 alone off the back

of our own investment.

POWER OUTAGE TIMES

EUR 62million

was invested by EWE

in broadband expansion in 2014.

5.5 min.

per customer

in 2014

75%of the electricity

transported by EWE NETZ

comes from renewable sources.

28

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:SECURITY OF SUPPLY AND NETWORK STABILITYINNOVATION AND PRODUCT RESPONSIBILITY

INNOVATION AND PRODUCT RESPONSIBILITY

EWE is committed to weaving energy, telecommunications and

information technology together to form intelligent systems

and help shape the energy supply of the future. We focus on

growth opportunities which will provide significant added val-

ue for our stakeholders. We believe that our customers and em-

ployees should shape the energy turnaround instead of just

being passive participants. That‘s why we want to incorporate

their ideas into our innovation management process. Through

our research and development activities, they are brought to

market in the form of sustainable products and services.

OUR OBJECTIVE

BRINGING ENERGY, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND IT

TOGETHER TO CREATE INNOVATIONS

We want to make our company more innovative. That’s

why EWE is developing a virtual innovation portal so that

employees (and later customers) have a system to submit

their ideas. We will measure our progress based on how many

of the ideas submitted through the portal are incorporated

into a project. We intend to work on ten innovative proposals

per year by 2020. þ Until the innovation portal is imple-

mented, employees can write their proposals on cards and

put them in suggestion boxes at any of EWE’s sites. An inno-

vation team of managers from every area was set up in 2013

to evaluate and follow up on interdisciplinary suggestions

related to new markets or technologies >> þ EWE-FK02.

OUR WAY FORWARD

RESEARCHING SMART ENERGY SYSTEMS

Our research and development activities are focused on

preparing for the upcoming changes in the energy industry.

We concentrate on decentralised energy management issues.

We create networks and further the transfer of knowledge

by working together with industrial partners and scientific

institutions.

One example is the “green2store” collaborative project. The

objective of this project is to combine decentralised storage

capacities to form a large virtual storage unit and manage it

centrally. These capacities will be provided to energy traders,

electricity generators and consumers temporarily on demand

without them needing to operate the storage units them-

selves. This represents a better way to use power from renew-

able energies and integrate it into the electricity network. We

will be conducting a technical field test with nine domestic

battery storage units in the Lower Saxon city of Friesoythe

in 2015.

29


AWARDS

EWE AG named

“Best Innovator”

for sustainable innovation management

(2009)

EWE subsidiary E3/DC

presented with the

“pv magazine award top innovation”

(2014)

Offshore wind farm Riffgat recognised as

“Best project of the year”

with German Renewable Award

(2014)

The focus of the research project “Controlled Charging V3.0”

is designing IT systems which use a smart energy manage-

ment system to optimise the process of charging electric

vehicles. The project takes the fluctuating supply of energy

from renewable sources and the current infrastructure into

account, and aims to make good use of the existing infra-

structure while avoiding peak loads and maintaining the

mobility of the user. EWE is developing a controllable home

charging station which takes every issue related to the ener-

gy industry and marketing into consideration – such as com-

patibility with all standardised electric vehicles.

þ We invested a total of EUR 2.6 million in research and de-

velopment in 2014 >> þ EWE-ZA01. The Association for the

Promotion of Science and Humanities in Germany (Stifter-

verband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft e. V.) gave us their

“Innovation through Research” seal of approval for our

activities in 2014.

MAKING ENERGY EFFICIENCY A FOCAL ELEMENT OF

OUR PRODUCTS

We are committed to providing products, services and tech-

nologies which are environmentally friendly and tailored

to the requirements of our customers. EWE developed the

EQOO domestic storage system > p. 32, “EQOO makes the

Tepe family more independent”, which lets our customers cov-

er up to 70 per cent of their annual energy requirements with

solar power that they produce themselves.

30

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:INNOVATION AND PRODUCT RESPONSIBILITY

enquiries responded to

by EWE regarding energy

and building technology

consultations performed

on energy services

in 2014

downloads

of the EWE Energy Manager App

in 2014

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

8,000

6,000

We provide our private customers with advice about energy

efficiency, and also prepare energy reports for local author-

ities. We provide energy management advice for business

customers, including energy audits for their facilities, train-

ing for employees and implementation services for projects.

The German Energy Agency presented the “Energy con-

trolling in performance contracting” project, developed by

EWE VERTRIEB GmbH (EWE VERTRIEB) and the municipality

of Grossenkneten, with the “Energy Efficiency Good Practice”

award. The purpose of this project is to set up a municipal

energy management system not only to reduce the energy

consumption and CO2 emissions of properties in the mu-

nicipality, but also to reduce pressure on the municipality’s

budget. Energy costs have already gone down by six per cent

just one year after the system was implemented.

We have provided electricity and gas products generated

from renewable sources since 2007. Our swb Strom proNatur

and EWE Strom NaturWatt products come 100 per cent from

renewable sources. TÜV NORD awarded the latter its “Certi-

fied Green Energy” certificate in 2014. TÜV NORD certified

our natural gas fuel product (CNG) as a “Certified Biogas

Product” due to the share of biogas.

10,000

31


The sun provides enough energy for everyone on Earth –

that’s a cornerstone of the energy turnaround. Electricity

should be available everywhere and at any time – that’s a

basic foundation for our day-to-day life. To reconcile these

two principles, we have to develop storage technology until

it is ready for the market; EWE did just that with the EQOO

domestic storage system. People also have to be prepared

to invest in these technologies, and that’s just what the Tepe

family in Cloppenburg did.

The Tepe family from Cloppenburg uses solar power from the EQOO domestic storage system.

“We didn’t want to be tied in

to rising electricity prices.”

In June 2014, EWE installed a photovoltaic power plant on

their roof and the EQOO domestic storage system, which is

shaped like a box and about one square metre in size, in an

alcove in the hall of their house. The smart system routes the

solar electricity directly to the family’s computers, lights and

appliances. If Patric, Gaby, Ayleen and Fynn Tepe aren’t using

a lot of electricity at the moment, the excess energy is stored

in the batteries. When those batteries are fully charged and

the photovoltaic power plant is generating more power than

the house requires, the excess is fed into the EWE network

and the family is compensated. However, if the storage

system is empty and the sun happens to duck behind the

clouds, EWE provides the Tepe family with power.

Gaby Tepe

EQOO MAKES THE TEPE FAMILY

MORE INDEPENDENT

32

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:INNOVATION AND PRODUCT RESPONSIBILITY

Self-sufficiency is the immediate response when you ask

them why they chose the EQOO system. “We didn’t want to

be tied in to rising electricity prices,” said Patric and Gaby

Tepe. In the past, they always just went with the cheapest

provider. “We were fed up with switching all the time. It just

wasn’t getting us anywhere. Now that we have the EQOO,

we can be pretty certain about how much we will be spending

on electricity for the next 15 or 20 years.”

The first nine months have convinced Patric and Gaby Tepe

that they made the right decision. The Tepe family reduced

their electricity bill by around 65 per cent between June and

October. The solar energy that they produced covered 27 per

cent of their energy needs between November and February,

when there wasn’t much sun.

The family helped themselves by matching their electricity

consumption habits to their energy supply. They normally

A photovoltaic power plant on the roof enables solar energy to be captured and fed into the domestic storage system.

turn on the appliances which use the most power, like their

washing machine, when the sun is shining. But Gaby Tepe

also added: “We both work, so the system does have its

limits.” The family can see how much solar power is available

at any given moment by checking an app on their phones.

“But if we’re not home, we can’t react when we get some

unexpected sunshine.” So there’s still room for improvement

in the technological development of smart homes.

Patric and Gaby Tepe will become even more self-sufficient if

they decide to expand their electricity storage system. Their

heating system is twenty years old, and there would be quite

a few benefits to using a heat pump to get heat energy from

the outside air. “The pump would draw power from the larger

storage unit.”

An app shows the Tepe family how much solar power is currently available.

33



As an energy provider, we are particularly responsible for the

protection of the climate. We want to drive the growth of re-

newable energies in our regions. That’s why we have been in-

vesting in wind power for over 25 years – first on land, and also

offshore since 2008. Over 30 per cent of the electricity1 that

we generate comes from renewable energies, and this number

is increasing every year. Conventional power generation must

complement renewables until they can cover all of our energy

requirements. EWE’s Bremen-based swb operates efficient

coal, gas and blast furnace gas power plants on three different

sites along with two waste processing plants.

OUR OBJECTIVE

MAKE ENERGY GENERATION MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY

FRIENDLY

Reducing CO2 emissions is at the heart of climate protection

and is an integral part of the EU’s climate protection targets

for 2030. We are playing our part by increasing the efficiency

of our generation facilities and expanding the use of renewable

energies. We measure our progress in this area on the basis of

how effectively we reduce our CO2 emissions per generated

kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity. We want to reduce this

number by 40 per cent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels.

þ In the reporting year, our specific CO2 emissions were 540 g/

kWh2 >> þ EWE-FK03, þ G4-EN18. This represents a 34.8 per

cent decrease compared to 2005. We are using 2005 as a refer-

ence point because that is when we started using a CO2 data-

base to monitor our CO2 emissions. This calculation includes

conventional, combined heat and power plants (CHP plants),

waste processing plants and renewable energy facilities.

OUR WAY FORWARD

MAKE GREATER USE OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES:

A FOCUS ON WIND POWER

We use the renewable sources of wind, sun, biomass, waste3

and water to generate electricity and heat, and are focused

on expanding the use of wind power.

We have been operating onshore wind turbines for 25 years,

with just under 100 plants in our regions producing 152

mega watts (MW)4 of power. We have also been involved in

offshore wind power for over five years. In 2008, EWE played

a leading role in the construction of Germany’s first offshore

wind farm, alpha ventus. The purpose of this pioneering pro-

ject was to demonstrate that wind farms are economically

and technically viable. Another milestone was passed in Feb-

ruary 2014 when Riffgat, the first commercial wind farm in

the German North Sea, came online. Riffgat has 30 wind tur-

bines with a total capacity of 108 MW > p. 38 “EWE setting

new offshore standards”. In 2014, Riffgat and alpha ventus

generated a combined 592,346 megawatt hours (MWh) of

electricity. That is equivalent to the annual electricity con-

sumption of around 170,000 homes.

1 — Not including electricity generation from blast furnace gas2 — Not including CO2 emissions from blast furnace gas. The

entire carbon footprint of our thermal waste management comes from the products and consumables that are disposed of. Our electricity and district heating from waste incineration energy products are therefore considered CO2-neutral, i.e. they produce net emissions of 0 g CO2/kWh.

3 — According to the Renewable Energy Act (EEG), around half of the energy generated from waste is considered renewable. This is because some of the waste comes from plant-based sources and is therefore CO2-neutral when burned.

4 — Including partially-owned capacity from shareholdings measured using the equity method

34

900

800

600

700

500

2005 2013 2014201220112010

400

2006 2007 2008 2009

540

784

79081

5

828

786

728

728

722

658

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:CLIMATE PROTECTION AND GENERATION

5 — Waste-to-energy is listed entirely under conventional generation in this representation, even if the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) deems around half of the energy generated from waste to be renewable. This is because some of the waste comes from plant-based sources and is therefore CO2-neutral when burned.

6 — Major facilities of swb Erzeugung und Entsorgung; including mothballed blocks

7 — Contrary to indicator G4-EU01, this also includes electricity generation from combined heat and power plants.

SPECIFIC CO2 EMISSIONS FROM ELECTRICITY GENERATION

INSTALLED ELECTRICAL CAPACITY

AS AT 31.12.2014 (in MW)

þ

ELECTRICITY GENERATION IN 2014, BROKEN DOWN

BY PRIMARY ENERGY SOURCES (in GWh)

þ

EWE has reduced its CO2 emissions per generated kilowatt hour or electricity continuously since 2005.

YEAR

g C

O2/k

Wh

el

Total5 1,348

Renewables4 303

Onshore wind 152

Offshore wind 137

Other (raw biogas, photovoltaic, hydroelectric) 14

Conventional6 1,045

Hard coal 553

Blast furnace gas/converter gas 176

Natural gas 155

Light oil 86

Waste to Energy 75

Total7 5,010

Hard coal 2,295

Blast furnace gas 1,065

Wind 757

Waste to energy 595

Other (bio natural gas, raw biogas, natural gas, replacement fuels, fuel oil, sewage gas, solar, water)

298

þ G4-EU01

þ G4-EU02

35


This shows how significantly wind energy contributed to our

improved CO2 balance in the reporting year8.

MAKING CONVENTIONAL FACILITIES MORE EFFICIENT

In addition to expanding our use of renewable energies, we

are investing systematically in the efficiency and flexibility

of our conventional facilities. The EWE subsidiary swb com-

mitted to this path in 2009 by building and bringing into ser-

vice a modern waste processing plant and medium calorific

power plant. Around half of the waste comes from plant-

based sources and is therefore CO2-neutral when burned. The

2013 renovation of the waste incineration power plant also

improved performance, with it now generating three times as

much electricity from the same amount of waste.

swb increased efficiency by around two per cent in the re-

porting year by modernising the largest coal block in the

Bremen-Hafen power plant. We also took two hard coal

blocks in the Bremen-Hastedt and Hafen power plants offline

at the end of 2013 because they no longer met our efficiency

and economic viability requirements. We will keep them in

reserve so that they can be used in an emergency. We have

also modernised a number of combined heat and power

plants and switched to the CO2-neutral fuel biomethane.

swb uses standardised environmental management systems

to monitor and comply with legal requirements and internal

targets. Its generation facilities have been ISO 14001-certified

since 2009. The Bremen waste incineration power plant has

been monitored in accordance with the EU Eco-Management

and Audit Scheme (EMAS) since 1998. The same scheme has

been used for the medium calorific power plant since 2009.

CONSTRUCTION OF A GAS AND STEAM TURBINE

POWER PLANT

In order for the energy turnaround to be successful, we need

flexible conventional power plants which are able to com-

pensate for the fluctuating amount of energy coming from

renewables over the next few decades. That’s why swb built

a gas and steam turbine power plant in Bremen-Mittels-

büren, which is scheduled to go online in 2015. The distin-

guishing feature of this power plant is that it can increase

and decrease its output quickly. The plant will run on envi-

ronmentally friendly natural gas and has a capacity of around

445 MW. It has an efficiency coefficient of around 58 per

cent, the highest of any fossil fuel power plant. This means

that it generates the most electricity possible from the fuel

that it uses. A significant part of the generating capacity of

the plant has already been sold on a long term basis.

PROTECT BIODIVERSITY

We are committed to having as little impact on ecosystems

as possible. When this is unavoidable, we repair any damage

that we cause. We comply with all relevant environmen-

tal requirements as a matter of principle. þ EWE only has

a small number of sites in protected areas. The Ems Emden

wind power plant, one of over 20 onshore wind power sites

that our Group operates, is located in a flora/fauna habitat

region. EWE has established a recovery area of 3.6 hectares

to implement flora and fauna regeneration measures >> þ

G4-EN11, þ G4-EN12, þ G4-EU13.

8 — The 592,346 MWh of electricity generated relates to 100 per cent of the shareholdings; only the equity interest allocated to EWE was used to calculate the specific CO2 value.

36


20%

31.3%

þ Reduction in CO2 emissions 20149

compared to 2013 of just under 20 per cent to

2,263,475 Mg2

>> þ G4-EN15, þ G4-EN19

108 MW

Offshore wind farm brought online in 2014

(Riffgat offshore wind farm)

Share of renewable energies

in electricity generation in 2014

þ We also have three transformer stations that were

built between 1970 and 1995 in an area in the District of

Wittmund, and this area was designated an ornithological

reserve in 2011. The gas storage facility that was built in 2013

in Jemgum, East Frisia is located on the outskirts of an or-

nithological reserve. Measures to improve biodiversity were

implemented over an area of 40 hectares to compensate for

this. There were no new sites in protected areas during the

reporting year >> þ G4-EN11, G4-EN12, G4-EU13.

EWE supports biodiversity research projects. The German

Federal Environment Ministry’s RAVE research initiative (Re-

search at Alpha Ventus) has examined for example the im-

pact that the construction and operation of the alpha ventus

wind farm have had on biodiversity. After a five year research

period, the conclusion was reached that the offshore wind

facilities have had much less of an impact on the ecosystem

than expected. The scientists found that fish biodiversity had

increased. The foundations of the turbines serve as artificial

reefs, where mussels, sea anemones and other species have

settled. There was no wide-spread destruction of fauna, as we

had feared, neither were large numbers of migrating birds in-

jured as a result of colliding with the wind turbines. Research-

ers also found that operating the wind farm had no impact on

marine mammals.

9 — Direct emissions from electricity and heat generation facilities; not including CO2 emissions from blast furnace gas.

37


Planning is underway for more than 50 wind farms in the

North Sea. North Sea ports are ready for an offshore boom,

and several companies in the Northwest are raring to invest.

With the Riffgat wind farm, EWE has demonstrated that off-

shore wind farms can be built in a feasible time frame and an

environmentally friendly manner.

The transformer station transforms the generated electricity and feeds it into the onshore transmission network through a 70 kilometre long export cable.

“We had a competent team to plan the construction in detail and

make the plan a reality.”

The company needed just 14 months, from June 2012 to July

2013, to build 30 Siemens wind turbines with a total output

of 108 MW 15 kilometres off the coast of Borkum and con-

nect them to the transformer substation in the wind farm.

According to Irina Lucke, Riffgat Technical Project Manager

and Managing Director of EWE Offshore Service & Solutions

GmbH (EWE OSS), “this was possible because we had a com-

petent team to plan the construction in detail and make the

plan a reality.” The first commercial wind farm in the North

Sea now generates enough green energy for more than

120,000 homes.

EWE focused on minimising the environmental impact of the

construction of the wind farm in the planning phase. One of

their main concerns was protecting fish and marine mammals

against the noise emissions that would be caused when sink-

Irina Lucke, Riffgat Technical Project Manager and Managing Director, EWE OSS

EWE SETTING NEW

OFFSHORE STANDARDS

38


Within 14 months, EWE has installed 30 wind turbines over an area meas-uring around six square kilometres.

ing the pillars. To do this, EWE used a vibratory pile driver to

drive the pillars into the first few metres of the seabed. A sec-

ond metal tube was then lowered into the water around the

monopiles. The space between the two was then filled with

air bubbles. This was the first time that this technique had

been used commercially. Instead of reverberating un impeded

through the North Sea, the sound waves created by the ram-

ming lost energy as they moved through the metal, water

and bubbles. EWE’s experience with its previous offshore pro-

ject alpha ventus shows that marine life will shelter near the

wind farm because fishing is not allowed in its vicinity. 3,000

Heligoland lobsters were introduced at four wind turbines

in summer 2014 to investigate the new habitat among the

rocks that will protect the turbines against scour.

Environmental awareness was one of the reasons that the

Renewable Energy Hamburg Cluster named Riffgat the “Best

Project in 2014”. The network presented the company with

the German Renewable Award in front of 2,000 guests on the

opening day of the WindEnergy fair in Hamburg.

EWE’s Riffgat project not only bolstered the coastal region’s

reputation as a source of environmentally friendly energy, but

also increased the region’s expertise in this area. “Offshore

wind farms are still pretty unusual,” said Irina Lucke. “But

standards and processes are generally becoming more and

more important when it comes to building and operating off-

shore wind farms. That’s why our recent ISO 9001 certifica-

tion is an important factor for EWE OSS.” EWE is also making

the expertise that it has gathered from planning, building and

operating the wind farm available to others. EWE OSS helps

companies in both the planning and construction phase, and

can also take on responsibility for operating offshore wind

farms upon request. Irina Lucke: “This is a real advantage of

our regional structure. We’re based on the coast, so it doesn’t

take us long to get to any of the wind farms.”

39



Handling resources and the environment responsibly is part of

EWE’s identity. That’s why a comprehensive environmental man-

agement system was set up in 1998 at the power plants of EWE’s

subsidiary swb. The subsidiary also publishes relevant indicators

such as CO2 emissions in a regular environmental report.

We focus on reducing internal energy consumption to conserve

resources. We want to identify and utilise potential improve-

ments in this area across the Group. Setting up energy manage-

ment systems will give us the framework we require to do so.

OUR OBJECTIVE

TO MINIMISE INTERNAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION

In 2014, we decided to put a system in place to record and

analyse our internal electricity, heat and fuel consumption

and to define measures to minimise this consumption. We are

using energy management systems to set up standardised

processes, which we will improve continuously. We measure

our progress in this area based on the number of certificates

that our companies are awarded. We want to have twelve

selected companies ISO 50001-certified for energy man-

agement systems by 2020. These are EWE AG as the holding

company and subsidiaries with a high level of energy con-

sumption.

OUR WAY FORWARD

SAVING ENERGY SYSTEMATICALLY

þ The EWE company swb Services and our Turkish network

company Bursagaz were ISO 50001-certified in 2011. Group

subsidiary EWE GASSPEICHER GmbH (EWE GASSPEICHER)

was certified in 2013, while EWE VERTRIEB was certified in

2014 >>þ EWE-FK04. They were followed in 2015 by EWE

ERNEUERBARE ENERGIEN, swb CREA, swb Erzeugung und

Entsorgung, wesernetz Bremen and wesernetz Bremerhaven.

We want to continue down this path in the next few years

and have other companies certified, including our largest,

EWE NETZ.

INTRODUCTION OF AN ENERGY MONITORING SYSTEM

We will also set up an overarching Group-wide energy

monitoring system into which we will integrate our existing

and future energy management systems. Companies which

have not begun the process of implementing a management

system by the end of 2015 will carry out an energy audit in

accordance with the German Energy Services Act (Energie-

dienstleistungsgesetz). This will also be integrated into the

energy monitoring system.

We have been recording the energy consumption of our ad-

ministrative buildings for years. In future, they will form an

important part of the energy monitoring system. We will

evaluate energy conservation measures that have already

been implemented for these buildings and expand them to

other sites if suitable. These measures include building a geo-

thermal facility for heating and cooling buildings or introduc-

ing floor lamps and proximity sensors. We will be focusing on

our data centres in 2015.

40

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

þ Our administrative buildings and data centres consumed

297.1 terajoules (TJ) in the reporting year >> þ G4-EN03.

This is equivalent to 82.5 gigawatt hours (GWh). 47.5 GWh

of this was electrical energy for lighting, IT and communi-

cations equipment, cooling for data centres, air conditioning

and ventilation technology, etc. 35 GWh were used to heat

rooms and for other heating.

OPTIMISING FLEET CONSUMPTION

EWE has implemented pilot projects to optimise fuel con-

sumption in the areas of employee mobility and the company

fleet. For example, we have introduced pedelecs and electric

vehicles at some sites, and have set up electric charging

stations at various branch offices. 49 per cent of our 2,063

company vehicles are diesel- powered. 41 per cent are natural

gas- powered, and a further 10 per cent run on petrol. þ The

energy consumption of our fleet was 121.6 TJ in the reporting

year >> þ G4-EN03. This corresponds to around 16.4 MWh

per vehicle. We will set up a Group-wide fleet management

system in 2015 to combine the existing fleets of individual

companies and make them more efficient.

12certified

companies

OBJECTIVE 2020

ISO 50001

ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

4certified

companies

STATUS 2014

41


EWE’s Turkish subsidiaries Bursagaz and Enervis are building

their new headquarters in accordance with the criteria of

the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

international standard for ecological construction. The 300

employees in Bursa, 90 kilometres from Istanbul, will be able

to move into the six-storey building, which provides around

5,600 square metres of office space, in the middle of 2015.

“We want to have as little impact on the environment as

possible and take a stand for energy efficiency, which is still

very much in its infancy in Turkey,” said Dr. Frank Quante, the

The new corporate building in Bursa has its own combined heat and power plant, solar generators and wind turbines to enable it to generate part of the needed electricity itself.

“We want to take a stand for energy efficiency.”

Dr. Frank Quante, Managing Director of EWE Turkey Holding

Managing Director of EWE Turkey Holding. “The building will

generate a significant amount of the electricity and heat that

it uses. We will also optimise our energy and water consump-

tion,” added Sükrü Özden, Bursagaz’s Managing Director in

charge of technology. Their EWE colleagues in Oldenburg

helped them to do this with their specialist expertise. The

Green Building Council based in Washington, DC has awarded

the LEED certificate to just 100 buildings in Turkey. The gold

ENERGY CONCEPT FOR NEW HEADQUARTERS IN BURSA MEETS

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD

42

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

status of this standard, which the EWE subsidiaries hope to

achieve, has only been awarded once there.

The new building in Bursa incorporates efficient building

technology that meets the criteria of the gold level. At its

heart lies a combined heat and power plant whose waste

heat can be used to cool and heat the building simultane-

ously. This will reduce CO2 emissions by 30 per cent. Ten per

cent of the building’s electricity needs will also be generated

from renewable sources, with a 45-kilowatt-peak (kWp) solar

power system installed on the roof. An additional 100 square

metres of semi-permeable solar cells with a nominal output

of 5 kWp has been installed on the façade. The building also

has two 2 kW wind turbines which can provide electricity

even when wind speeds are low. The subsidiaries also plan to

install a system that will use fibre optic cables to bring sun-

light to rooms which don’t have any access to natural light

and the basement.

“The new headquarters will strengthen the reputation

of Bursagaz and Enervis as role models for the Turkish

energy market.”

You can’t reach the gold level with energy efficiency alone,

though. Rainwater and wastewater which is not heavily con-

taminated will be collected inside the building to be reused in

the toilets. The plot which EWE purchased for the new build-

ing also has good links to public transport. Special bicycle

spaces, showers and changing rooms are available for em-

ployees who cycle to work. There are also charging stations

for electric vehicles. At night, the building is lit in a way that

is appropriate for the surrounding area in accordance with the

LEED criteria. Any waste created during construction will be

separated at the construction site and prepared for recycling.

The new headquarters meet our own demanding energy effi-

ciency requirements as well as regulations set by the Turkish

government. These regulations require the industrial sector

to use 15 per cent and buildings to use 27 per cent less energy

by 2023. For Dr. Frank Quante, this not only provides extra

motivation, but also increases the size of the market for

efficiency services. “The new headquarters will strengthen

the reputation of Bursagaz and Enervis as role models for the

Turkish energy market.”

Dr. Frank Quante

43



As a predominantly municipally owned utility company, EWE is

committed to regional responsibility. We actively seek out dia-

logue with the people in our regions. We are committed to ed-

ucation, science, culture, sport and social issues, and to creat-

ing value in the region. Our Group’s activities create jobs and

generate income in our regions. This was confirmed by a

scientific investigation by the research and consultancy firm

CONOSCOPE. EWE has a significant indirect and direct eco-

nomic impact on the region. > see box on the next page

OUR OBJECTIVE

TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE REGION’S DEVELOPMENT

We have set ourselves the objective of continuing to contrib-

ute to the region’s development through our activities. We

use a regionality index to check how effectively we do this.

This index is calculated on the basis of the BDEW Customer

Focus (German Association of Energy and Water Industries)

study. The index is based on two survey criteria which our

customers rate on a given scale: “EWE is important to the

region” and “EWE supports education, sport, culture and so-

ciety”. We use the ratings to calculate a weighted index val-

ue between zero (completely disagree) and 100 (completely

agree).

Our aim is to achieve a result that outperforms the industry

average by 2020. This average in 2014 was 68. þ Collective-

ly, the figure for EWE and swb came to 72; this figure was

calculated using the individual figures for the two companies

>> þ EWE-FK05. We want to keep it at this level, despite

challenging market conditions and the ensuing need for cost

reduction measures. If the industry average falls in coming

years, we will strive to keep our index value over 67.

OUR WAY FORWARD

TO SUPPORT REGIONAL VALUE CREATION

We want everyone involved to play an active role, and to

this end, EWE has developed a variety of different business

models. EWE is setting up new wind farms in the region in

partnership with citizens, local authorities and landowners.

The first wind farm to be partially owned by a local authority

is located near Spolsen in the district of Frisia and has been

providing electricity since the end of 2013.

We also allow towns, cities and municipalities to invest in

our network companies and receive a guaranteed dividend.

EWE publicised an additional investment offer in 2014 to at-

tract undecided local authorities and those looking to add to

their existing shareholdings. A total of 25.1 per cent of EWE

NETZ is available to invest in until 2018. The cities of Bremen

and Bremerhaven have held a 25.1 per cent stake in each of

the network companies wesernetz Bremen and wesernetz

Bremerhaven since July 2014.

EWE sponsors around 300 cultural, social and sporting pro-

jects each year. In addition to the Oldenburg-based basket-

ball team EWE Baskets, football team Werder Bremen and

Turkish sports club Bursaspor, EWE cofinances events such as

the Bremen Music Festival, the Brandenburg State Orchestra

of Frankfurt and the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw.

44

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:REGIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

The figures2 from the 2012 CONOSCOPE study1 show that

EWE IS A SIGNIFICANT REGIONAL ECONOMIC FACTOR

1 — Ernst & Young Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft GmbH only audited how well external study reports were incorporated.

2 — Incorporates data from all fully consolidated EWE companies based in Germany. The analysis is based on data from the 2012 financial year. The term “region” in this case refers to the three regions which EWE is active in – Ems/Weser/Elbe, Bremen/Bremerhaven and Bran-denburg/Rügen. CONOSCOPE GmbH is a medium-sized research and consultancy firm based in Leipzig and Essen.

3 — “Indirect effects” are defined as effects that occur at a supplier level. “Induced effects” are effects caused by the consumer spending of EWE’s employees and the employees of companies that profit indirectly.

1. EWE CREATES 25,000 JOBS

EWE creates 17,043 additional full-time jobs in the region

indirectly through its business activities (purchases, capital

expenditure, tax payments) and the expenditure of its 7,746

employees. This means that each EWE employee accounts for

two other jobs.

2. EVERY OTHER EURO REMAINS IN THE REGION

Around 43 per cent of EWE’s expenditure (purchases, wages

and salaries, taxes, profits) remain in the regional economy,

equal to almost every other euro. A total of around EUR 1.7

billion remains in EWE’s regions.

3. EWE CREATES VALUE WORTH EUR 1.9 BILLION

Around EUR 1.9 billion of the region’s gross domestic product

can be traced back to the EWE Group’s activities. Personnel

expenses, tax payments and distributions of profits create

EUR 774.9 million in added value. An additional EUR 1,074.2

million of value is created at an indirect and induced level3,

e.g. as a result of purchases from suppliers or the expenditure

of employees in the region.

4. OVER EUR 1 BILLION IN INCOME TRICKLES DOWN TO

WORKERS IN THE REGION

In addition to the direct income of EWE employees, which

totals EUR 479.4 million, the business activities of EWE gen-

erate an additional EUR 555.6 million of indirect and induced

income. This means that every euro of Group income results

in EUR 1.20 income in the region.

5. EUR 600 MILLION IN TAXES AND LEVIES FLOW INTO

REGIONAL BUDGETS

EWE provides tax revenues of around EUR 1.3 billion. EUR 367

million of this remains in regional budgets. Orders submitted

to regional supply companies and the consumer spending of

employees generate additional tax payments worth EUR 227

million on an indirect and induced level >> þ G4-EC08.

þ

45


DIALOGUE WITH PEOPLE IN THE REGION

þ We have set up Group-wide dialogue formats to promote

dialogue with the people in our regions. They allow local au-

thorities to have a say about the plans of our company and

the issues facing it. One example is the Energy Turnaround

Forum, which enabled members of the public to say what

they think about the energy turnaround at nine sites in the

Ems/Weser/Elbe region between March and September 2014.

In a second stage, any particularly promising ideas were pre-

sented to business, political and government representatives

to get projects up and running with companies. > p. 48, “Get-

ting citizens involved speeds up the regional energy turnaround”

Since 2011, network advisory boards have given local autho-

rities the opportunity to voice their opinion about planned

or intended network expansion in each district without the

need for financial commitment. Three advisory boards, each

with 20 members, allow customers to provide new ideas, cri-

ticism or approval for the regions of Weser/Ems, Weser/Elbe

and Brandenburg. > p. 56, “Increasing customer loyalty with

openness and transparency”; >> þ G4-SO01

The ZentrumZukunft in the Emstek ecopark near Cloppen-

burg provides information about new energy technologies.

Group subsidiary EWE NETZ uses this site to demonstrate

how to integrate renewable energies into the network. Trai-

ning about the energy turnaround is available for schools and

colleges, tradespeople, architects, planning offices, local au-

thorities and associations. Over 40,000 people have visited

the ZentrumZukunft since it opened in 2008.

COMMITMENT TO SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

EWE supports social projects and promotes education in

its regions. Bremen-based EWE subsidiary swb launched an

education initiative in 2003. It encourages nurseries, schools

and other educational institutions to implement innovative

learning methods and content. The Turkish EWE subsidiaries

Bursagaz and Kayserigaz hold regular energy efficiency semi-

nars in schools.

Our employees also have a part to play – they can choose

to donate the cent amount of their monthly salary as part

of the ‘last cents’ scheme. EWE matches the total and uses

the funds to support social projects in the region. In 2014,

these projects included the Varel hospice movement and the

children’s and family centre in Tostedt.

The EWE Foundation was established in 2002 and supports

local projects to do with education and childcare, science and

research, art and culture. These include art weeks, children’s

and youth theatre as well as literacy programmes. The

Foundation’s sole mandates are the causes it represents and

it serves only the general public.

46


4 — Additional information about the KPIs is available from p. 80 of the 2014 annual report onwards.

5 — Around 70 per cent of the donated funds were invested in research activities.

VALUE CREATED BY EWE IN 2014

in EUR million

Direct economic value generated in 20144

Sales without electricity and energy tax 8,134.2

Distributed economic value

Cost of materials and services 6,506.4

Personnel expenses 669.6

Interest expenses 230.5

Dividends 88.0

Income taxes 11.3

Investment in the community (donations)5 11.4

þ

þ G4-EC01

47


GETTING CITIZENS INVOLVED SPEEDS UP THE REGIONAL

ENERGY TURNAROUND

EWE is shaping the energy future in partnership with citizens.

The company’s Energy Turnaround Forum gave people in the

Ems/Weser/Elbe region a framework for discussing and devel-

oping ideas about a climate-friendly energy supply. Around

450 citizens took part in the Forum last year. They drew up

70 suggestions for a local energy turnaround in Wittmund,

Cloppenburg, Varel, Bad Bederkesa, Papenburg, Tostedt,

Delmenhorst, Bremervörde and Oldenburg. Fifteen of these

ideas were developed at the subsequent idea exchanges until

they were ready to be implemented.

Almost every idea presented at the Energy Turnaround Forum

had two things in common. Firstly, they made it clear that

attendees had a clear picture of their region and their living

conditions. And secondly, they all asked, “It’s so obvious how

we can save energy locally, increase efficiency and change

how we behave. Why doesn’t anyone else see that? Why isn’t

anyone else using these opportunities?” This is why the main

point of the ideas that came out of the Energy Turnaround

Forum was to bring all of the different stakeholders together

to get local initiatives and projects up and running. “This se-

ries of events gave us a good picture of what’s important to

people in the region. It broadened our horizons,” said EWE

Project Manager Sigrid Justus.

One local initiative was the idea of training school pupils to

be energy guides, which was presented in Wittmund. The plan

is to hold short seminars to train them on how to identify and

implement potential energy-saving measures. This knowl-

edge will spread from schools to families, allowing them to

make use of these ideas in their homes.

Attendees also discussed the issue of mobility among them-

selves and with specialists. The general consensus at the

event in Varel was that it’s just not right for drivers to be the

only person in their car. They agreed that more support was

needed for new usage concepts and alternative propulsion

systems. They proposed developing sharing projects for mo-

bility involving electric cars and bikes.Participants at the Energy Turnaround Forum discuss their ideas in Varel.

48


Sigrid Justus, Energy Turnaround Forum Project Manager

This in turn gave rise to the proposal that local authorities

should buy electric cars, use them during work hours and

then make them available to their citizens on weekends. This

could improve people’s willingness to engage with new us-

age concepts and environmentally friendly transport alter-

natives. Bernd Hoinke, the Head of Zetel District Council, is

in favour of making this idea a reality in Frisia. His district

bought an electric car and a car that runs on natural gas be-

fore the Energy Turnaround Forum, but can’t use them in a

car sharing model because of the leases they signed. “It just

didn’t occur to us,” he said regretfully. “That shows how im-

portant it is to partner together with members of the public

when looking for ideas for the energy future.” Fleet managers

and environment officers from other municipalities in Frisia

are now working on getting an electric vehicle sharing model

off the ground.

There was lively debate in Papenburg as well.

“This series of events gave us a good picture

of what’s important to people in the region.

It broadened our horizons.”

49


SUPPLY CHAIN

EWE is committed to acting sustainably in its dealings with par-

ties outside the company. We incorporate our suppliers and

service providers into our sustainability management system

to take full responsibility for our activities, make production

methods transparent and preserve our reputation.

OUR OBJECTIVE

TO ESTABLISH A SUPPLIER CODE OF CONDUCT

We are implementing specific sustainability requirements for

our suppliers. þ We drew up a supplier code of conduct in

2014 to set specific standards regarding human rights and

working conditions, occupational safety, health, environ-

mental protection and integrity þ G4-EN32, þ G4-HR04, þ

G4-HR10, þ G4-LA14, þ EWE-FK06. We will be incorporating

the supplier code of conduct into our existing processes from

2015 onwards. Our objective: We want 95 per cent of our

strategic suppliers (long-term, significant partners of EWE)

of materials and services to sign up to the code of conduct by

2020. We will be measuring our progress based on how many

of these suppliers have signed up to the code of conduct. We

want to gradually expand our sustainability standards to the

procurement of coal and gas.

OUR WAY FORWARD

EXPANDING THE STRATEGIC

SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

We have been expanding the strategic supplier management

system continuously since 2011. This system provides the

framework for our sustainable approach to procurement: We

intend to make signing up to the supplier code of conduct

a requirement for all product groups and tenders where we

evaluate the suitability of potential suppliers (pre-qualifica-

tion). The code of conduct should also be part of our ten-

der documents so that suppliers can sign up to it before any

agreements are finalised.

We are committed to engaging with our business partners

about the issue of sustainability in order to increase ac-

ceptance of our sustainability requirements. This will give

us valuable input which we can use to improve our internal

sustainability management system. We will provide our em-

ployees in the Purchasing Corporate Centre function with

regular training about the main aspects of the sustainability

management system, and will also involve employees of our

subsidiaries in this process.

IMPLEMENTATION OF A BUSINESS PARTNER REVIEW

PROCESS

We also implemented a business partner review at the start

of 2015. The review covers sustainability criteria. For the pur-

pose of this review, we receive information about our part-

ners’ business practices.

50

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:SUPPLY CHAIN

þ Our supply chain encompasses the purchase of material

and services, as well as coal and gas. We have regional, na-

tional and international supply relationships with around

10,000 companies from a wide range of sectors, including

plant and mechanical engineering, the metal industry, elec-

trical engineering, marketing, consultancy and information

technology. In 2014, our expenses were around EUR 1.05 bil-

lion for materials and services >> þ G4-12.

EWE is committed to long-term partnerships with suppliers.

We award contracts to companies from the regions in which

we are active whenever possible. þ Regional suppliers re-

ceived a large proportion of our expenses for material and

services in 2014 (approx. 43 per cent or EUR 450.8 million)

>> þ G4-EC09.

OUR SUPPLY CHAIN

We use long-term, medium-term and short-term natural

gas purchase agreements to guarantee moderate prices and

secure the supply of gas. We purchase the majority of our

natural gas from a range of international upstream suppliers.

Two thirds of the natural gas for our German regions comes

from German upstream suppliers; one third comes from the

Netherlands. We also use our gas storage facilities and short-

term trading to compensate for fluctuations in demand.

We cover two thirds of our demand for hard coal with im-

ports from Russia, with one third coming from the USA. Only

short-term and medium-term coal purchase agreements are

possible because of the volatile market price.

51


Long-term commitment, regional roots, high quality and fair

prices are the main criteria that EWE uses when choosing its

suppliers. This is demonstrated by EWE’s long-term partner-

ship with Waskönig+Walter, which is based in Saterland in

EWE gets more than just cables from Waskönig+Walter. “As

an independent family-run company, we think in genera-

tions rather than quarters,” said Michael Waskönig, who is

the fifth generation of his family to manage the company,

along with his brother Jörg and also Stefan Nestler. “For us,

financial success means maintaining our independence with

long-term profitable growth.” This keeps jobs safe for people

in the region and makes sure that the company will be able to

train and support its own staff in future. It is also committed

to a high standard of healthcare and occupational health and

safety. The company is OHSAS 18001-certified, which helps

the company to identify accident risks ahead of time and

minimise the impact on the health of its employees.

From EWE’s perspective, Waskönig+Walter’s responsible

approach and actions guarantee reliability and consistent

quality. Michael Waskönig used logistics and adherence to

delivery time-scales to demonstrate what this means: “When

we promise to deliver a certain length of this cable to a con-

struction site ready for laying at a specific time, we follow

through.” Knowing that you won’t have to delay construction

because you were given the wrong cable or it didn’t arrive on

time gives the company an advantage over competitors that

offer lower labour rates. With the right overall package, you

can manufacture cables in Germany’s industrial centres, pro-

vided that getting the cheapest price isn’t the only criterion.

Raw materials and cables are stored in a 240 metre long hall.

the district of Cloppenburg. The family company, founded in

1873, has over 500 employees. It uses 10,000 tonnes of alu-

minium, 50,000 tonnes of copper, 80,000 tonnes of plastic

and a little steel every year to make cables for low-voltage,

medium-voltage and high-voltage networks.

MORE THAN JUST CABLES – A LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP

FOR A STRONG REGION

52

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:SUPPLY CHAIN

Michael Waskönig, Managing Director of family company Waskönig+Walter

The cable manufacturer uses 50,000 tonnes of copper a year in its production facilities.

“When we promise to deliver a certain length of this cable to a construction site ready for laying at a specific time,

we follow through.”

Waskönig+Walter’s products are investment items for EWE.

The family company’s manufacturing processes reuse waste

and are constantly improving in terms of energy efficiency.

Heat, generated for example from the wire drawing process,

is used to heat the office building. The company has also

committed itself to reducing the amount of energy that it

consumes per tonne of cable by a few percentage points each

year. The small quantities of scrap material that the stream-

lined manufacturing process produces are collected and sort-

ed. The company then puts this scrap in a copper or alumini-

um smelter to produce the wires that Waskönig+Walter uses

as the base material for its cables. Any unavoidable plastic

remnants left over from the manufacture and processing of

insulation and cable sheaths are cleaned off and fed back

into the production process. The company is also happy to

calculate the carbon footprint of its products on behalf of its

customers.

53



ELECTRICITY PRICE COMPOSITION1 (in EUR)

Network costs: 227

Concession fee: 50

Electricity tax: 72

Industrial levy: 3

Renewable Energy Act (EEG)

levy: 218Offshore levy: 9

VAT: 170

Combined Heat and Power Act (KWKG): 6

Energy costs incl. sales: 306

Interruptible loads: 0.5

1 — Composition of the electricity price with EWE Strom comfort with an annual consumption of 3,500 kWh in EWE VERTRIEB electricity sales region 7. As of: 1.1.2014

FACTOR WHICH CAN BE INFLUENCED BY EWE

The trust and satisfaction of our customers plays an important

part in the financial success of our company. We are committed

to high-quality services and transparent business processes in

order to remain attractive to our customers in an increasingly

competitive environment over the long term. This is particular-

ly important when pricing energy products because our in-

fluence here is limited by a range of factors which we have no

control over.

OUR OBJECTIVE

TO BE A TRUSTWORTHY SERVICE PROVIDER AND

RELIABLE CONTRACT PARTNER

We want our customers to see and appreciate us as trust-

worthy service providers and reliable contract partners. We

use an annual customer loyalty index to gauge our success in

achieving this objective. We calculate this index on the basis

of the BDEW Customer Focus study. We form an aggregated

value from four customer service indicators, all of which are

available for EWE and swb: customer satisfaction, willing-

ness to recommend our company, likelihood of staying with

the company and comparison with competitors. We aim to

achieve a score of 74 on a scale of 0 (completely disagree)

to 100 (completely agree) by 2020. Our average customer

loyalty index was 68 between 2010 and 2013, slightly under

the average for the sector of 70. þ We improved this to 72 in

the reporting year. This score is for the Energy business area

>> þ EWE-FK07. In future, it will also cover the telecommu-

nications business area.

OUR WAY FORWARD

INTEGRITY AND TRANSPARENT COMPANY

MANAGEMENT

We believe that compliance is at the heart of responsible and

transparent company management. This includes compliance

with laws, regulations, obligations, internal guidelines and

voluntary commitments on the part of our employees and

their agents like service providers, consultants or agents. We

guarantee fair market behaviour by keeping EWE compliance

requirements.

54

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:MARKET AND TRANSPARENCY

Compliance officers work together with other specialist divi-

sions to help the company comply with requirements. They

review the regulations on a regular basis and amend them

if necessary. The Internal Audit division also reviews past

events. Employees and external parties can contact an ex-

ternal ombudsman to report potential rule violations. The

ombudsman is committed to keeping this information secret,

and may only release anonymised information about the case

to have it reviewed at the request of the person who reported

the incident.

þ There were no complaints or sanctions of a monetary or

non-monetary nature arising from non-compliance with laws

and regulations during the reporting year. There were also no

complaints related to the ecological impact of our activities

>> þ G4-SO08, þ G4-EN34.

CODE OF CONDUCT PROVIDES GUIDANCE

EWE introduced a Group-wide code of conduct in 2012. It

provides standards which our employees have to meet when

dealing with customers, business partners or officials. These

standards cover issues like accepting gifts or invitations or the

handling of information about the company and the property

and resources of the EWE Group. Every new employee is in-

formed about compliance and our code of conduct.

BEING ACTIVE WHERE OUR CUSTOMERS ARE

Our customers contact us about five million times per year.

We endeavour to provide them in good time and in person

with a high level of service. We achieve this with a dense

network of customer centres and service points in our re-

gions – with more than 40 sites, this is one of EWE’s unique

selling points.

We also worked on improving our service in 2014. Our sales

companies are currently revising their customer service

strategies for energy and telecommunications products.

We have launched a “Customer Service” project in the EWE

VERTRIEB and EWE TEL companies. As part of this project, we

will provide employees with training about communicating

with customers, amend our correspondence with customers

and optimise IT processes.

We also research trends and analyse markets. We use

post-contact surveys and customer satisfaction question-

naires to check whether our measures are having the desired

result. This helps us to continuously identify areas where we

could improve.

CERTIFIED PROCESSES, AWARD-WINNING SERVICE

Our telecommunications business area is ISO 9001 and ISO

10002-certified, showing that our quality management and

complaints management processes meet the demanding re-

quirements of our customers. The computer magazine CHIP

confirmed the high quality of the customer service provided

by our telecommunications division in 2014, with EWE’s DSL

and landline service hotline judged to be “very good”. They

were particularly impressed by the availability of the hotline

and how quickly they were able to speak to someone.

Energy customers also receive high quality service from

EWE. The magazine gave this service area a “good” rating.

The reviewers were particularly positive about our availabil-

ity, service and transparency.

55


“It needs to be easy to understand how energy is supplied,”

said Heinz Schirmer, who started his eighteen-month ten-

ure on EWE’s Brandenburg customer advisory board in the

middle of last year. Here’s what he makes of the board’s first

three meetings: EWE pays close attention when he tells them

Heinz Schirmer brings this information to bear in the nu-

merous “energy chats” that he has. “I have been going up to

people in the supermarket or on the street and asking them

how satisfied they are with their electricity and gas suppli-

er for years now. We talk about using modern technology in

their home,” explained the 66-year-old. His takeaway from

these chats? “People want to be involved. A lack of transpar-

ency leads to people making bad decisions and getting stuck

in their ways.” If people feel like they’re being ignored, they

tend to be more negative about wind farms, gas storage fa-

cilities and cable routes. Their choice of energy supplier then

becomes based on price alone.

Heinz Schirmer agrees that price is an important criterion,

“but customers shouldn’t lose sight of the advantages that

come with using a regional energy provider.” For instance,

customers can go into their local EWE customer centre to get

advice about which tariff is right for them or find out about

the latest technological developments. Regionality is a vital

prerequisite for a transparent energy market.

Heinz Schirmer frequently meets elderly and young people

who are stuck in their ways because of a lack of transparency.

“Elderly people resign themselves because there’s nobody to

help them understand all of the new technology and offerings

that are available.” On the other hand, young people, he said,

take energy for granted and expect it to just work without

any issues. “If it doesn’t, then it’s someone else’s fault.” Both

of these attitudes prevent energy from being used as well as

Heinz Schirmer, member of the EWE customer advisory board in Branden-burg

about what citizens want from their energy provider or are-

as where they do not have enough information or have pre-

conceived notions. EWE is also very open with the advisory

board members about why it does what it does and provides

extensive information about the legal framework and energy

policy.

INCREASING CUSTOMER LOYALTY WITH OPENNESS AND

TRANSPARENCY

56

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:MARKET AND TRANSPARENCY

it could be. That’s why Heinz Schirmer told the customer ad-

visory board that “we have to increase awareness of how to

use energy efficiently. EWE can help do this in Brandenburg.”

According to Nadine Auras, who is responsible for the cus-

tomer advisory boards in the Brandenburg/Rügen business

region, “that’s exactly the kind of information that we want

from our customer advisory boards.” EWE would then use

the feedback from the advisory boards to get better. “They

show us the areas where we need to be more transparent and

communicate more with customers.” That’s why the adviso-

ry boards focus on straight talk rather than small talk when

they meet, she said. The members of the advisory boards set

the agenda. The first two meetings focused on the future of

energy supply. Now service, customer loyalty and prices are

on the docket.

Constructive criticism wanted: meeting of the customer advisory board in Wildau, Brandenburg

EWE has also been communicating with custom-

ers through three customer advisory boards in

the Weser-Ems, Weser-Elbe and Brandenburg

regions since 2011. The 15 members on each of

the first advisory boards served for two years.

As a result of their work, EWE made the pricing

leaflets that it sends out with its bills easier to

understand and developed new services for its

customers like thermography checks. The second

generation of advisory board members has been

meeting since 2014. EWE found in the first phase

that the advisory boards became less willing to

be critical after a certain amount of time, so the

members serve in their positions for 18 months.

The number of board members was also in-

creased from 15 to 20. Any customer can become

an advisory board member.

CUSTOMER ADVISORY BOARDS

57



The health of our employees is integral to the success of our

company. As an employer, we take responsibility for our

employees by helping them to stay healthy and making their

working environment as safe as possible.

OUR OBJECTIVE

TO OFFER A SAFE AND HEALTHY WORKING ENVIRON-

MENT AT ALL TIMES

We want to make sure that our employees stay healthy and

are always safe in their workplace. We have set up the healthy

employees rate1 as a central management tool so that we

can measure our progress in this area. þ The figure for 2014

was 95.3 per cent, which shows that we are already doing

extremely well in this area >> þ EWE-FK08, þ G4-LA06. We

want to improve this figure to 97 per cent by 2020.

OUR WAY FORWARD

A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO HEALTH MANAGEMENT

In 2014, we set up a central health management coordina-

tion unit at the Corporate Centre level. The German Group

companies also have coordinators who help to organise and

implement measures. EWE’s subsidiary BTC, for example, has

introduced health scouts at its German sites. They serve as a

point of contact between the sites’ employees and the cen-

tral health management team. This gives employees the op-

portunity to play an active role in helping the company to be

healthy and allows us to take a more systematic approach to

health management. Corporate Centre’s Working Group for

Health has the same objective. This working group is made

up of employees from the HR and HSE (Health, Safety &

Environment) Corporate Centre functions, EWE’s company

health insurance scheme (BKK EWE), social welfare officers,

members of the Works Council and the company’s doctors,

all working together on ways to improve the health of our

workforce.

REGULAR TRAINING SESSIONS, SEMINARS AND WORK-

SHOPS

The EWE Group provides regular training sessions devoted

to health issues such as stress prevention. These events also

involve activities like yoga or Pilates. We provide seminars

about time management and self-management to help em-

ployees and managers handle stress properly and realise their

personal limits.

We are currently planning a management curriculum which

will make managers aware of how important the health

of their employees is. We will also be providing follow-up

seminars about topics like “healthy management”. This will

help our managers to spot potential health issues which

could affect their employees and do something about them.

1 — The healthy employee rate stands in opposition to the absence rate. This means that if the absence ratio is 3 per cent, the healthy employee rate is 97 per cent. The absence rate is the ratio of days of absence resulting from incapacity to work to the target number of working days assigned to the reporting period. This also includes annual leave.

58

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:HEALTH AND OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY

HEALTHY EATING AND DAY-TO-DAY FITNESS

EWE picked up the issue of healthy eating in 2014 as part of

the City of Oldenburg’s “Sustainable consumption - pleasure

with a healthy conscience” initiative and provided sustain-

able meals at some of its canteens for a month. All of the

meals were prepared only with seasonal, fair-trade and re-

gional products or ingredients from sustainable sources. In

future, we want to make similar meals a part of our canteen’s

regular menus.

Fitness is also part of EWE’s approach to health management.

BKK EWE launched a fresh initiative in March 2014 that en-

couraged employees to cycle to work. This is a fixed compo-

nent of the annual health programme. Around 100 people

took part and switched to taking their bike for at least 20

business days. The winner was awarded a prize. The health

programme was well received, with around 35 per cent of our

employees taking part in the various initiatives we offered in

2014.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY INTEGRAL

TO EWE

EWE’s occupational health and safety is coordinated by the

HSE Corporate Centre function. Each of the companies has

occupational health and safety specialists who take care

of our employees’ safety. They help managers to draw up

safety requirements, such as how to operate equipment and

machinery correctly or when to wear personal protective

equipment, and work together to make sure they are com-

plied with.

> Continue on p. 62

þ REPORTABLE ACCIDENTS INCL. ACCIDENTS ON THE

WAY TO WORK (RATE PER 1,000 EMPLOYEES2)

5-YEAR AVERAGE OF THE EMPLOYER’S LIABILITY INSURANCE ASSOCIATION FOR ENERGY TEXTILES ELECTRONICS MEDIA PRODUCTS (2009–2013)4

5-YEAR EWE AVERAGE3

EWE TOTAL2014

EWE GERMANY2014

EWE ABROAD2014

þ G4-LA06 þ G4-LA06 þ G4-LA06

10.86 11.38

1.99

9.15

19.96

2 — In addition to the companies listed as part of the scope of the report (see p. 75), the accident indicators (indicator G4-LA06) include the companies BIBER GmbH, EnergieCampus GmbH and GSN Gebäudesicherheit Nord GmbH, which have around 150 employees.

3 — Not identical to the scope of the sustainability report (see p. 75). The EWE average does not include the following companies: BTC AG, BTC IT Services GmbH, EWE TEL, swb AG (including subsidiari-es) and the Turkish and Polish EWE companies.

4 — Source: 2013 annual report of the Employer’s Liability Insurance Association for Energy Textiles Electronics Media Products (BG ETEM)

59


On average, twice as many people have accidents on con-

struction sites than anywhere else in the industrial and trade

sectors. And it’s not hard to see how a major construction site

could be unsafe – heavy loads dangling overhead, trip hazards

Jürgen Müller is the Head Safety Engineer at EWE’s subsidiary

swb, which holds a majority 52 per cent stake in the Mittels-

büren gas and steam power plant. He believes that the site’s

excellent safety record was primarily down to swb bringing

three different approaches to occupational safety together:

“At swb, we came at the issue from the traditional German

angle of mitigating hazardous situations in advance; the con-

sortium was headed up by General Electric (GE), which came

from the Anglo-Saxon tradition of written codes of conduct;

and GE’s Spanish partner Cobra came from the Southern

European tradition of extremely cautious safety measures.”

The team approves security measures.

There were no serious accidents or accidents with long-term

consequences over the course of the three-and-a-half-year construction project, which took more than 3.2 million

man-hours.

lurking everywhere, employees from different companies

working together and a steady stream of vehicles bringing

new materials. The construction site for the steam turbine

power plant in Bremen-Mittelsbüren, on the other hand, was

not an unsafe area where accidents were waiting to happen.

There were no serious accidents or accidents with long-term

consequences over the course of the three-and-a-half-year

construction project, which took more than 3.2 million man-

hours. There were just eight workplace accidents that caused

anyone to miss any time, amounting to 50 lost days in total.

POWER PLANT CONSTRUCTION IN MITTELSBÜREN:

PUTTING SAFETY FIRST

60

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:HEALTH AND OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY

identify with our safety philosophy,” said Arantxa Casado and

Cedric Moulin, speaking from experience. Because of this, the

Health and Safety Managers for Cobra and GE were generous

with praise and handing out small rewards whenever anyone

showed particular care for their own safety and the safety of

their colleagues.

For Matthias Schaup, the Managing Director of the pow-

er plant company, the positive outcome shows that safety

training should focus on safety measures in future. According

to the accident statistics of the Employer’s Liability Insurance

Association for Energy Textiles Electronics Media Products,

30 per cent of all accidents were due to falling, slipping or

tripping. But hardly any accidents like these happened on the

construction site for the Mittelsbüren power plant.

Training, monitoring and coordination were needed to imple-

ment the shared safety philosophy – construction workers

had to make themselves familiar with it online or using termi-

nals on-site before they were allowed onto the construction

site. After passing a test about what they know, they were

issued additional instructions about site regulations, working

at height and working in potentially explosive environments.

The construction companies also met over 700 times over

the past three and a half years to coordinate their work and

rule out putting each other at risk.

Compliance with the rules was monitored on a daily basis.

Each company with more than 20 employees on the con-

struction site had to provide at least one safety officer. Safe-

ty specialists from swb, GE and Cobra were always on site.

“These checks alone can’t guarantee that employees really

Employees in the rescue-at-height team train to abseil with a rescue stretcher on the construction site.

61


95.3%

þ 2014 healthy employee rate

>> þ EWE-FK08, þ G4-LA06

1.46þ injuries per 200,000 work hours5 in 2014

>> þ G4-LA06

16.54þ lost days per 200,000 work hours5 in 2014

>> þ G4-LA06

> The occupational health and safety specialists work to-

gether with company doctors, safety officers and works

councils on occupational health and safety committees in

each Group company. They advise the management and exe-

cutives of the subsidiaries on occupational safety, health and

accident prevention.

þ Management performs regular risk assessments to make

sure that safety requirements and occupational health and

safety measures are kept up to date. These assessments in-

volve evaluating safety measures and amending them if

necessary >> þ TC-IO03. þ The low number of reportable

work accidents (including accidents on the way to work) show

that our occupational health and safety measures are effec-

tive. In 2014, there were 10.86 accidents per 1,000 employees2

>> þ G4-LA06. According to the Employer’s Liability Insur-

ance Association for Energy Textiles Electronics Media Prod-

ucts, the industry average was 19.96 accidents per 1,000 em-

ployees between 2009 and 2013, almost twice as high.

5 — The amount of working hours is equal to the total working time. These were calculated as either the number of hours worked or the number of planned hours less public holidays, annual leave and illness statistics.

62

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:HEALTH AND OCCUPATIONAL SAFETYEMPLOYEES AND EDUCATION


Long-term retention of qualified employees is a vital part of

EWE’s success. Because we are involved in so many areas –

energy, telecommunications, information technology – EWE

needs employees with a wide range of skills and expertise. The

impact of demographic changes on the labour market is making

it increasingly difficult for the company to attract specialists

and retain them in the long-term. That’s why we are committed

to providing apprenticeships in line with our requirements and

training our employees, in addition to recruiting qualified per-

sonnel for the future.

We have a long-term human resources plan in place to keep

key expertise in the company. The economic situation has also

put us in the challenging situation of having to cut 500 jobs by

2017. We will strive to do this in a socially acceptable manner

without redundancies for operational reasons.

OUR OBJECTIVE

TO BE AN ATTRACTIVE EMPLOYER FOR OUR REGIONS

Despite the challenging economic conditions currently facing

us, we want to be an employer who is in demand and able to

shape the energy future with employees who perform well

and possess relevant expertise and skills. þ We use the time

taken to fill positions as an indicator of how attractive we are

as an employer. This is the number of weekdays between a

position being advertised and the employment contract be-

ing signed. In 2014, this number was 85.6 days. This calcula-

tion covers all internally and externally advertised jobs, with

the exception of apprentice, trainee and internship positions

>> þ EWE-FK09.

We want to reduce this figure to 75 weekdays by 2020. The

national benchmark is around 60 days. When we set our tar-

get, we calculated that the amount of time required to fill

positions will rise across the sector between now and 2020

because of the anticipated lack of qualified personnel. We

also took note of the fact that EWE generally advertises

vacant positions internally first. EWE then advertises them

publicly if they can’t be filled internally. This tends to in-

crease the amount of time needed to fill positions.

OUR WAY FORWARD

INCORPORATING DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS

Demographic changes will transform the age structure of

EWE’s workforce. That’s why we launched a demographics

management system in 2014, through which we have derived

important information from an analysis of the age structures

in the company. The age-related contraction of the workforce

will pick up pace significantly from 2020 onwards as people

born in baby boom years go into retirement. In 2025, more

than half of our employees will be over 50 years old.

We have drawn up HR measures to keep expertise in the com-

pany and recruit new employees with an eye to the future.

We are implementing a Group-wide strategic human resourc-

es planning system to make sure that we have the personnel

required to be successful as a business and to draw up human

resources programmes that will help us achieve this goal. We

also want to establish new ways of working together, such

as making sure that teams are made up of mixed age groups.

We want to be more attractive to specific target groups, in

particular women, apprentices and young employees for

non-academic and business divisions, and to promote the

transfer of knowledge from older to younger employees. We

63


want to set up our health, professional training and career

programmes so that they are tailored to the various stages of

life that every age group in the company is at.

We have been developing a brand identity as an employer

since 2014. This brand identity will help employees to iden-

tify with the company and help us to attract qualified em-

ployees.

INVESTING IN PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

AND APPRENTICESHIPS

EWE is training around 320 young people in a wide range of

professions. They include industrial engineering electricians,

IT specialists, home economists and wastewater technology

specialists. The company has another 95 young adults going

through parallel vocational training and degree programmes

in electrical engineering, business administration or industri-

al engineering and management. EWE’s EnergieCampus is a

central education facility in Oldenburg which provides work-

shops, classrooms and accommodation. It allows apprentices

from outside the Oldenburg area to stay on the campus in

company-owned accommodation. The EnergieCampus pro-

vides them with mentoring and specialist training. > p. 66

“A place to live and learn”

We also help students from a variety of disciplines with their

Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis. We provide a 24 month trainee

programme for university graduates.

“GREAT PLACE TO WORK”

Bursagaz named

best employer

“GLEICH-WICHTIG”

(EQUALLY IMPORTANT)

EWE Polska named fairest employer

in “Gleich-Wichtig” competition

“BERUFUNDFAMILIE”

(CAREER AND FAMILY)

2014 AWARDS

swb recertified

with “berufundfamilie” audit

64

2014

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:EMPLOYEES AND EDUCATION

þ We provide our employees with regular training at the

Group’s professional training centre. We provide training

for current and future managers at the EWE Academy. The

management programme’s strong focus on strategy and en-

trepreneurship helps participants to develop new solutions

and feed their suggestions into their company >> þ G4-LA10.

BALANCING CAREER AND FAMILY

EWE wants to enable its employees to balance the demands

of work and family. Flexible working hours, healthcare and

retirement benefits, childcare at the Oldenburg site and

working time accounts in some companies are just some of

the measures which EWE uses to create a healthy working

environment.

SAFEGUARDING THE RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES

We place great importance on treating all employees equally.

Works Councils have been set up in all German EWE compa-

nies to ensure that the rights of employees are safeguarded

and their concerns are given a voice. þ The right to freedom

of association and collective bargaining is guaranteed in all

of our German companies >> þ G4-HR04. þ Whenever there

are significant operational changes, EWE notifies its employ-

ees within the legally required country-specific timescales

>> þ G4-LA04.

AGE STRUCTURE OF OUR WORKFORCE (in %)

≤ 30 YEARS MALE

≤ 30 YEARS FEMALE

þ

þ G4-LA12

31–50 YEARS MALE

31–50 YEARS FEMALE

> 50 YEARS MALE

> 50 YEARS FEMALE

Total Male Female

≤ 30 years 17.6 16.0 21.4

31–50 years 59.4 58.5 61.7

> 50 years 23.0 25.5 16.9

65


Ricardo Breßler is learning at EWE too – namely how to play

guitar. The trainee IT systems technician lives on the compa-

ny’s EnergieCampus in Oldenburg and does his training in the

workshops that are right next door. On Thursday evenings he

plays music with a music teacher employed by EWE and other

residents who came to the Northwest to train with EWE.

Ricardo Breßler grew up 500 kilometres to the east, in Frank-

furt an der Oder. When he came across EWE’s advertisement

in the newspaper, one thing was clear to him: “That’s the

best offer around.” Now, after spending just under a year on

campus, he says, “No one else can offer what I get here –

well-rounded training in the workshops, a great room, good

food and a brilliant range of leisure activities that they have

clearly put a lot of thought into.”

95 teenagers and young adults live on the campus. All of the

rooms have a generous bathroom and high-speed internet.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the sunny canteen

with a view of the green Hunte lowlands. Rolf Röttgers, team

Trainee IT systems technician Ricardo Breßler learns in the EWE workshops.

A PLACE TO LIVE AND LEARN

66

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:EMPLOYEES AND EDUCATION

leader in charge of technical training, explains: “EWE can’t

provide training for technical vocations everywhere because

of the high requirements for our training setup. However, we

look for apprentices who come from all of our business re-

gions, because they are expected to go back there to work

when their training is complete.” That’s why EWE provides a

single location for apprentices to live and train at in Olden-

burg, he said. This approach also means that parents don’t

have to worry about how their children are going to get to

a workplace that might be a long distance away from where

they live.

Trainee IT system technicians spend a lot of their working

hours in front of a screen. “We spend a lot of our free time

there as well,” said Ricardo Breßler. The campus provides

trainees with proactive ways to switch off, like cooking cours-

es or music lessons. “Playing guitar is a way to focus on some-

thing completely different.” Trainees also use the Facebook

group to arrange times to meet up to play sports, cards or

billiards, or to watch TV together in the common rooms. Four

mentors are responsible for organising recreational activities.

They are also available around the clock for the young adults

to talk to. “We decide what we do in our free time, but EWE

doesn’t just leave us to our own devices when the working

day is over,” said Ricardo Breßler, summing up campus life.

The 18-year-old likes the campus, but is particularly appre-

ciative of the quality of his training. The company is usually

among the best-rated training institutions when Chambers

of Industry publish their reviews. The workshops are fully

equipped and the training staff is completely committed to

the next generation coming through. If you think that the

campus doesn’t give the young trainees a realistic experience

of working life, think again. “The workshop is a service pro-

vider for the companies in the EWE Group,” said Rolf Rött-

gers. “We invoice our clients meticulously.” For example, the

campus has manufactured control cabinets for the alpha ven-

tus and Riffgat wind farms.

Proactive ways to switch off – music lessons are some of the leisure activities available on the campus.

“No one else can offer

what I get here.”

Ricardo Breßler

67



Treating customer and company data as confidential is an inte-

gral part of our company policy and processes. In these digital

times, we use an information management system that is

aligned with the security and compliance requirements of our

company. It covers the areas of data protection, information

security and the unbundling of the Network and Sales business

areas.

OUR OBJECTIVE

TO BE A RELIABLE PARTNER FOR DATA AND

INFOR MATION SECURITY

We provide our employees with regular training about how

to be a trustworthy custodian of data in order to ensure that

we are a reliable partner for our customers. þ We have set

ourselves the target of implementing standardised e-lear-

ning modules for data protection, information security and

unbundling by 2020 >> þ EWE-FK10. These are to be made

available to all companies in which training about one or

more of these three issues is mandatory. We want to reach

over 85 per cent of all our employees with the e-learning

measure. According to recognised models for evaluating

company processes, this is the maximum proportion of our

employees that we can practically achieve. Our calculations

also incorporated the fact that achieving a rate of 100 per

cent is impossible due to employees being away because of

illness or holiday or fluctuating employee numbers.

OUR WAY FORWARD

GUARANTEEING DATA PROTECTION

The data protection officers of our individual companies are

subject to especially stringent confidentiality requirements

and are responsible for ensuring that the requirements of

German data protection legislation and other data protec-

tion regulations are complied with. We have a Group functio-

nal division policy devoted to data protection which governs

tasks, personal duties and responsibilities. Our data protec-

tion officers discuss issues on a regular basis. They evaluate

new IT projects to determine the security of customer data,

discuss the impact that new data protection legislation will

have on the Group, and identify ways in which existing struc-

tures can be optimised. þ And they have been successful –

EWE had no substantiated complaints regarding breaches of

data protection in 2014 >> þ G4-PR08.

68

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:DATA PROTECTION AND INFORMATION SECURITY

PROTECT THE GROUP AND EMPLOYEES WITH

INFORMATION SECURITY

Group-wide information security is managed by the central

information security officer in the Corporate Centre, with

support provided by local information security officers in

each business area. They continuously review the effective-

ness of our security measures, including how effectively

they protect us against cyber attacks. In addition to imple-

menting legal requirements in the companies, the infor-

mation security officers are responsible for improving the

Group- wide information security management system in

accordance with ISO 27001 requirements. They also provide

advice about innovations related to the digitalisation of the

energy economy.

EWE also takes part in working groups, federal government

committees and industry associations so that it can take an

active role in shaping general legal requirements and industry

standards.

MAKING SURE THAT NETWORK AND SALES

ARE UNBUNDLED

The Energy Economy Law (EnWG) requires that the network

and sales divisions of utility companies must be kept separa-

te to ensure that networks are operated neutrally and that

network access is granted on a non-discriminatory basis in

Germany. The purpose of this is to unbundle network busi-

ness as a monopoly from the electricity and gas businesses

(which are in competition with each other) from a company

law, operational, information and accounting perspective.

This includes keeping customer data separate, as such infor-

mation may not be exchanged between the network unit and

the sales unit of a company. This is to avoid distorting com-

petition.

EWE has set up a comprehensive equal access programme

which provides binding specifications for measures desig-

ned to ensure that network business is conducted on a non-

discriminatory basis. Equal access officers provide the em-

ployees of our network companies with regular training and

are available for them to contact. The annual equal access

reports of our subsidiaries EWE NETZ, wesernetz Bremen,

wesernetz Bremerhaven, EWE GASSPEICHER and Gastrans-

port Nord GmbH document our progress. We apply labour

law sanctions when requirements are violated.

69


The data on the servers of EWE’s two data centres in Ol-

denburg lies safe behind a series of firewalls, steel doors and

access codes. EWE uses these data centres to store internal

data as well as information about its private and business

customers. Personal information is also protected by Ger-

many’s strict data protection laws – a major advantage of

He added that hacking poses a greater danger to the data

than unauthorised individuals trying to physically access the

technical systems. Because of this, servers which only need

to be available through a company intranet are not connect-

ed to the internet. Professional firewalls are used to protect

everything that can be accessed through the internet. These

firewalls are regularly tested by EWE specialists and their

manufacturers. In front of these firewalls is a system that

monitors data traffic for irregularities and deflects suspicious

attempts to make a connection.

Ingmar Schmidt, the Data Protection and Information Security Officer at EWE TEL, checks one of the servers.

Ingmar Schmidt

“In this country, legislation is based on the principle

that information belongs to the person that provides it.”

EWE’S DATA CENTRES: KEEPING INFORMATION SAFE

IN OLDENBURG

keeping the data within the country. “In this country,” says

Ingmar Schmidt, the Data Protection and Information Secu-

rity Officer at EWE’s Group subsidiary EWE TEL, “legislation

is based on the principle that information belongs to the

person that provides it.” In some other countries, informa-

tion becomes the property of whoever receives it.

EWE provides its customers with a regional partnership as

well as more security than a lot of international clouds. “For

example, EWE can draw up individual agreements with its

customers for the storage of company secrets,” said Ingmar

Schmidt. These don’t enjoy quite the same level of protec-

tion as personal information under German law.

70

OUR AREAS OF ACTION:DATA PROTECTION AND INFORMATION SECURITY

Power cuts and fires can also make data insecure or inacces-

sible. If there is a power cut, the data centres will fall back to

battery power until the generator at the centre starts pro-

viding electricity. This generator uses a diesel motor capable

of powering a sizeable cargo ship. A second back-up power

system is available to cover all eventualities. A gas system is

on hand to quickly extinguish any fire that breaks out in the

data centre. Any data that has to be available permanently

is mirrored and stored on multiple servers. “Having two data

centres means that EWE can keep copies of particularly sensi-

tive information in different places,” said Ingmar Schmidt to

emphasise the extent of EWE’s services.

The data centres are also protected against break-ins. Cam-

eras monitor every way into the data centres, and the build-

ings can only be accessed through a series of steel doors and

secure airlocks. “Our security measures comply with the

latest standards,” said Ingmar Schmidt, summing it up. This

is backed up by the fact that EWE TEL is regularly certified

Suspicious attempts to make a connection are deflected. The data in EWE’s data centre is well protected.

by the German Society for the Certification of Management

Systems and TÜV. “But that won’t be that much help to the

customer if they don’t take care online.” That’s why EWE pro-

vides customers with detailed advice on how they can pro-

tect themselves online.

71


ABOUT THIS REPORT

72

ABOUT THIS REPORT

OUR FIRST SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

“Creating Value for our Region” is EWE’s first sustainability

report. In conjunction with EWE AG’s 2014 annual report, the

report provides a comprehensive overview of our company’s

performance on the basis of financial and non-financial in-

formation.

The information provided in the sustainability report covers

economic, environmental and social issues. Please refer to

our annual report for detailed information about the EWE

Group’s performance and economic situation.

þ This report was prepared in accordance with the Glob-

al Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) G4 Sustainability Reporting

Guidelines, as well as the guidance specific to the energy and

telecommunications sectors. We believe that it meets the

requirements of the “Core” application level. In future, EWE

AG’s sustainability report will be published annually >> þ

G4-32; þ G4-30.

The indicators in the GRI Index (p. 82) have been audited by

Ernst & Young GmbH. þ Their findings are provided in the

independent assurance report on page 92 >> þ G4-33.

CONTENTS AND STRUCTURE

Detailed information about the principles of our sustaina-

bility management system is provided in “Sustainability –

part of our Group strategy”, along with the targets (p. 21) by

which we measure our sustainability efforts.

When preparing this report, we collated the sustainabili-

ty issues that were potentially significant for EWE in line

with the GRI’s reporting principles and used a multi-stage

survey-based materiality analysis to identify the issues that

are relevant for our companies and our stakeholders. The re-

port focuses on our ten areas of action: Security of supply

and network stability, innovation and product responsibili-

ty, climate protection and generation, environmental man-

agement and resource efficiency, regional responsibility,

supply chain, market and transparency, health and occupa-

tional safety, employees and education, and data protection

and information security. The structure of the report, which

is broken down by sustainability action areas, reflects the

main economic, environmental and social issues for the EWE

Group. þ Issues that we identified as being relevant for the

success of our business with the help of our stakeholders

were allocated to each area of action >> þ G4-18.

SCOPE OF THE REPORT

þ The report covers the 2014 financial year (1 January to 31

December) >> þ G4-28. The performance indicators in the

report relate to this period. Any relevant, qualitative infor-

mation that went beyond 2014 and was available by the pub-

lication date has been included in the report.

þ The information and key figures come from the EWE Group

companies listed in the Appendix (measured by strategic rel-

evance and coverage of at least 95 per cent of total gener-

ated sales). Any deviations from the scope of the report are

indicated at the relevant location. This scope does not apply

to the “Company Profile” section (p. 10) >> þ G4-17.

73


FACTS AND FIGURES

74

FACTS AND FIGURES

The Appendix covers indicators which are not mentioned in the

areas of action sections.

ABOUT THIS REPORT

þ G4-17 — Scope of accounting1

The sustainability report focuses on the main organisations,

measured by strategic relevance and coverage of at least 95

per cent of the sales of the EWE Group.

BTC Business Technology Consulting AG, BTC IT Services

GmbH, Bursagaz Bursa Şehiriçi Doğalgaz Dağıtım Ticaret ve

Taahhüt A.Ş., EWE AG, EWE VERTRIEB GmbH, EWE Energia

sp. z o.o., EWE ERNEUERBARE ENERGIEN GmbH, EWE

GASSPEICHER GmbH, EWE NETZ GmbH, EWE Offshore

Service & Solutions GmbH, EWE Polska Sp. z o.o., EWE swb

ISIS GmbH, EWE TEL GmbH, EWE TRADING GmbH, EWE

WASSER GmbH, Gastransport Nord GmbH, Kayserigaz

Kayseri Doğalgaz Dağıtım Pazarlama ve Ticaret A.Ş., swb

Abrechnungsservice GmbH, swb AG, swb Bremerhaven

GmbH, swb CREA GmbH, swb Entsorgung GmbH & Co. KG,

swb Erzeugung AG & Co. KG, swb Erzeugung und Entsorgung

AG & Co. KG, swb Services AG & Co. KG, swb Vertrieb

Bremen GmbH, swb Vertrieb Bremerhaven GmbH & Co. KG,

wesernetz Bremen GmbH, wesernetz Bremerhaven GmbH


AREA OF ACTION

þ G4-EU30 — Average availability of power plants (in %)

Total generation 87.71

Hard coal 83.63

Blast furnace gas/converter gas 95.71

Natural gas2 0

Light oil 97.53

Total disposal 90.20

2 — The gas-powered block 14 of the Bremen-Hastedt CHP plant is currently mothballed.

þ G4-EU12 — Electricity network losses

Our losses in the German medium and low-voltage network are 2.1 per cent

1 — Please see page 167 of the 2014 annual report for a comprehensive list of all the companies that were consolidated in the financial statements.

APPENDIX OF INDICATORS

75



AREA OF ACTION

þ G4-EU01 — Installed electrical capacity (in MW thermal)

Installed thermal capacity3 746

Hard coal 178

Natural gas 445

Waste to energy 123

3 — Indicator is recorded at all major combustion and gas turbine facilities (in accordance with 13th German Immission Control Directive) and all facilities involved in burning waste (in accordance with 17th German Immission Control Directive).

þ G4-EU02 — Net energy output (in GWh)

Heat generation by primary fuel resource4 1,307

Hard coal 505

Natural gas 365

Waste to energy 262

Bio natural gas 139

Other (biogas, biogenic replacement fuels, fuel oil, sewage gas)

36

4 — Contrary to indicator G4-EU01, this also includes heat generation from combined heat and power plants.

þ G4-EU05 — Number of CO2 emissions allowances

Total CO2 certificates 2,186,372

Allocated CO2 certificates 139,319

Auctioned CO2 certificates 2,047,053

Proportion of granted CO2 certificates (in %) 6.4

þ G4-EU10 — Planned generation capacity

Renewables (MW electric) 366

Onshore wind 215

Offshore wind 137

Other (biogas, photovoltaics, hydroelectric) 14

Conventional (MW electric) 1,220

Hard coal 553

Blast furnace gas/converter gas 200

Natural gas 306

Light oil 86

Waste to energy 75

Conventional (MW thermal)3 746

Hard coal 178

Natural gas 445

Waste to energy 123

þ G4-EU11 — Generation efficiency of

thermal plants3 (in %)

Average generation efficiency of thermal plants

Hard coal 44

Blast furnace gas 38

Waste 29

Light oil 11

Electrical efficiency of thermal power plants

Hard coal 37

Blast furnace gas 38

Light oil 11

þ G4-EN20 — Emissions of ozone-depleting substances

(ODS)

EWE did not use any ozone-depleting substances.

þ G4-EN21 — Nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and other

air emissions4

Emissions from generation facilities (in kg/year)

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 1,553,353

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 1,443,324

Dust 135,663

Fine dust – PM10 (93%) 122,097

Fine dust – PM2.5 (60%) 81,398

76

FACTS AND FIGURES

Emissions from waste disposal facilities (in kg/year)

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 909,556

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 55,147

Dust 5,302

Fine dust – PM10 (93%) 4,771

Fine dust – PM2.5 (60%) 3,181

Hydrogen chloride (HCl) 41,347

Carbon monoxide (CO) 101,653

Total carbon (Ctotal) 2,931

Emissions from generation facilities (in kg/MWh)

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 0.416

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 0.386

Dust 0.036

Fine dust – PM10 (93%) 0.033

Fine dust – PM2.5 (60%) 0.022

Emissions from waste disposal facilities (in kg/MWh)

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 1.211

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 0.073

Dust 0.007

Fine dust – PM10 (93%) 0.006

Fine dust – PM2.5 (60%) 0.004

Hydrogen chloride (HCl) 0.055

Carbon monoxide (CO) 0.135

Total carbon (Ctotal) 0.004

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCE

EFFICIENCY AREA OF ACTION

þ G4-EN01 — Materials used by weight or volume (fuels)

Non-renewables

Blast furnace gas 2,916,424,300 Nm³

Converter gas 28,431,600 Nm³

Hard coal 914,895 Mg

Natural gas 63,241,188 Nm³

RF, non-bio 0 Mg

Chalk 29,759 Mg

Heavy fuel oil 1,523 Mg

Fuel oil 1,765 Mg

Waste 442,190 Mg

Renewables

Biomass 3,168 Mg

Waste 442,190 Mg

Raw biogas 13,973,924 Nm³

Biomethane 34,396,527 Nm³

Vegetable oil 0 Mg

Sewage gas 137,603 Nm³

Wood 204 Mg

þ G4-EN22 — Wastewater by quality

and destination (in m3)

Brine 1,456,541

Wastewater at treatment sites5 16,219,236

Process water 205,640

Cooling water 647,522,864

5 — This is purified wastewater that is fed directly into watercourses.


AREA OF ACTION

þ G4-EU22 — Number of people displaced and

compensation

Nobody was displaced and no compensation was paid during the reporting period.

77



AREA OF ACTION

þ G4-EN29 — Fines and penalties for non-compliance

with environmental laws and regulations

There were no fines and penalties incurred for non-compliance with environ-mental laws and regulations in the reporting period.

þ G4-PR09 — Fines for non-compliance with laws and

regulations concerning the provision and

use of products and services

There were no fines for non-compliance with laws and regulations concerning the provision and use of products and services in the reporting period.

þ G4-SO04 — Communication and training on

anti-corruption policies and procedures

Total number of governing body members having received information

5

Percentage of governing body members having received information

100

Total number of employees having received information

~2,100 (taking double clicks into account)

Percentage of employees having received information

~24

Total number of business partners having received information

The supplier code of conduct will be introduced in 2015

Percentage of business partners having received information

The supplier code of conduct will be introduced in 2015

Total number of governing body members having received training

5

Percentage of governing body members having received training

100

Total number of employees having received training

New employees having received training 84

Enquiries to the compliance officer 144

Enquiries to compliance representatives 59

Percentage of employees having received training

New employees having received training 30

Enquiries to the compliance officer 2

Enquiries to compliance representatives 1

þ G4-SO06 — Total value of political contributions

An internal Group directive forbids EWE from making political donations.

þ G4-PR05 — Results of surveys measuring customer

satisfaction (index)

Brand level 67.2 (energy); 75.8 (TC)

Main business region 68.8 (energy); 76.0 (TC)


AREA OF ACTION

þ G4-LA06 — Lost days due to illness, number of injuries,

number of work-related fatalities6

Work-related fatalities (number of deaths) 0

Germany 0

Overseas 0

Injury rate (number of injuries per 200,000 work hours)7

1.46

Germany 1.55

Overseas 0.21

Lost day rate (number of lost days per 200,000 work hours)7

16.54

Germany 17.73

Overseas 0.85

6 — Excluding subcontractors and supervised workers (external temporary staffing); information about work accidents without breakdown by gender. In addition to the companies listed as part of the scope of the report, the accident indicators (indicator G4-LA06) include the companies BIBER GmbH, EnergieCampus GmbH and GSN Gebäudesicherheit Nord GmbH, which have around 150 employees.

7 — The amount of working hours is equal to the total working time. These were calculated as either the number of hours worked or the number of planned hours less public holidays, annual leave and illness statistics.

78

FACTS AND FIGURES


AREA OF ACTION

þ G4-10 — Workforce structure

Total number of employees by employment contract and gender8

9,099

Permanent 7,683

of which female 2,105

of which male 5,578

Temporary 440

of which female 163

of which male 277

Active phased early retirement 17

of which female 1

of which male 16

Special employee groups (trainees, assistants, apprentices) 605

of which female 170

of which male 435

Inactive (passive phased early retirement, early retirement, parental leave, military service, civil service)

354

of which female 166

of which male 188

Total number of employees by employment type and gender8

9,099

Full-time 7,217


of which male 5,721

Part-time 923

of which female 773

of which male 150

Special employee groups (trainees, assistants, apprentices) 605

of which female 170

of which male 435

Inactive (passive phased early retirement, early retirement, parental leave, military service, civil service)

354

of which female 166

of which male 188

Total number of employees by direct employment/super-vised workers and by gender

9,250

Employees (incl. Board of Management/Boards of Directors and special employee groups)

9,099


of which male 6,494

Supervised workers9 151

of which female 61

of which male 90

Total number of employees by region and gender8 9,099

Germany 8,596


of which male 6,156

Overseas 503

of which female 165

of which male 338

8 — Differences in the number of employees compared to the infor-mation in the annual report are due to differences in the scope of accounting (cf. G4-17, p. 75) and the reporting date analysis performed on 31.12.2014 which serves as the foundation for the sustainability report.

9 — Personnel hired via third parties (e.g. temporary employment agencies) to render services for a German EWE company according to the German Temporary Employment Act (AÜG).

þ G4-11 — Employees covered by collective bargaining

agreements

A total of 8,402 employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements in the reporting period.

79


þ G4-LA01 — Total number and rates of new employee

hires and employee turnover by age group,

gender and region

Number %

Total number of new employee hires by age group and gender

839

9.2

≤ 30 years 506 5.6

of which female 183 2.0

of which male 323 3.6

31–50 years 277 3.0



> 50 years 56 0.6



Total number of new employee hires by region and gender

839

9.2

Germany 787 8.6



Overseas 52 0.6



Total employee turnover by age group and gender

823

9.0

≤ 30 years 382 4.2



31–50 years 290 3.2



> 50 years 151 1.7



Total employee turnover by region and gender

823

9.0

Germany 780 8.5



Overseas 43 0.5



Years

Average length of employment of employees who have left by age group

17.7

≤ 30 years 2.5

of which female 1.4

of which male 2.4

31–50 years 12.7

of which female 7.7

of which male 13.0

> 50 years 27.3

of which female 14.3

of which male 28.2

þ G4-EU15 — Percentage of employees eligible to retire

in the next 5 to 10 years (in %)

Percentage of employees who can retire in the next 5 to 10 years by job category

10.2

Management employees 0.5

Employees above the general pay scale 0.7

Employees on pay scale 7.5

Non-pay-scale employees 1.5

Percentage of employees who can retire in the next 5 to 10 years by country

10.2

Germany 9.6

Overseas 0.6

80

FACTS AND FIGURES

þ G4-LA03 — Return to work and retention rates after

parental leave

Employees entitled to parental leave 9,099


of which male 6,494

Total number of employees that took parental leave 357

of which female 182

of which male 175

Total number of employees who returned to work after parental leave ended

236

of which female 63

of which male 173

þ G4-LA12 — Composition of governance bodies and

breakdown of employees per employee

category according to gender and age group

(in %)

Breakdown of employees by job category, gender and age group

Management employees 2.2

of which male 2.0

≤ 30 years 0.0

31–50 years 1.3

> 50 years 0.7

of which female 0.2

≤ 30 years 0.0

31–50 years 0.2

> 50 years 0.0

Employees above the general pay scale 7.4

of which male 6.1

≤ 30 years 0.1

31–50 years 4.2

> 50 years 1.7

of which female 1.3

≤ 30 years 0.0

31–50 years 1.1

> 50 years 0.2

Employees on pay scale 62.2

of which male 44.3

≤ 30 years 8.6

31–50 years 22.6

> 50 years 13.1

of which female 17.9

≤ 30 years 4.1

31–50 years 10.1

> 50 years 3.7

Non-pay-scale employees 28.2

of which male 18.9

≤ 30 years 2.7

31–50 years 13.6

> 50 years 2.6

of which female 9.3

≤ 30 years 2.0

31–50 years 6.4

> 50 years 0.9

Breakdown of Supervisory Board members by age group and gender

of which ≤ 30 years old 0.0

female 0.0

male 0.0

of which 31–50 years old 10.0

female 0.0

male 10.0

of which > 50 years old 90.0

female 5.0

male 85.0

þ G4-HR03 — Total number of incidents of discrimina-

tion and corrective actions taken

Number of incidents of discrimination and actions taken10

7

10 — Mutually agreeable solutions were found for all incidents listed here. The action taken in each individual situation is not reported for data protection purposes.

81


GRI INDEX

GENERAL STANDARD DISCLOSURES

Indicator Short name of the indicator Page Externally audited1

G4-01 Foreword by the Group Board of Management 9 -

G4-03 Name of the organisation 12 -

G4-04 Primary brands, products, services 14 -

G4-05 Location of organisation's headquarters 12 -

G4-06 Number and names of countries where the organisation operates 11 -

G4-07 Nature of ownership and legal form 12 -

G4-08 Markets served 11 -

G4-09 Scale of the organisation 13 þ p. 92–93

G4-10 Workforce structure 79 þ p. 92–93

G4-11 Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements 79 þ p. 92–93

G4-12 Description of supply chain 51 -

G4-13 Significant changes during the reporting period regarding ownershipAs this is the first report, no statement can be made with regard to this in this year. -

G4-14 Precautionary approach 14 -

G4-15 Support for external initiatives 22 -

G4-16 Memberships in associations and advocacy organisations 22 -

G4-EU01 Installed electrical capacity 35, 76 þ p. 92–93

G4-EU02 Net energy output 35, 76 þ p. 92–93

G4-EU03 Number of electricity connections and electricity customers2 11, 25 þ p. 92–93

G4-EU04 Electricity network length3 25 þ p. 92–93

G4-EU05 Number of CO2 emissions allowances 76 þ p. 92–93

G4-17 Scope of accounting 73, 75 þ p. 92–93

G4-18 Process for defining report content 20, 73 þ p. 92–93

1 — The information marked with “þ” was audited by Ernst & Young GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft in the 2014 financial year. Please refer to the independent assurance report on page 92–93.

2 — Also includes domestic gas connections and number of gas and telecommunications customers. The Energy Economy Law (EnWG) governs the separation of network and sales for electricity and gas.

3 — Also includes network lengths for gas and telecommunications.

82

FACTS AND FIGURES

SPECIFIC STANDARD DISCLOSURES

Indicator Short name of the indicator Page Omissions Reason for omissions Externally audited1

CATEGORY: ECONOMIC

Aspect: Economic Performance (Aspect Boundary within EWE)4

DMA 11–14, 44–49 -

G4-EC01Direct economic value generated and distributed 47 - - þ p. 92–93

EWE-ZA01Research and development costs5 30 - - þ p. 92–93

GENERAL STANDARD DISCLOSURES

Indicator Short name of the indicator Page Externally audited1

G4-19 Main material Aspects of the report

The most important issues for the EWE Group were identified using a materiality analysis and are listed in the GRI Index. þ p. 92–93

G4-20 Aspect Boundary within the organisation

Aspects which have a material economic, ecological or so-cial impact within the organisation and are listed in the GRI Index are generally considered relevant for the companies defined in G4-17 (scope of accounting). Differences bet-ween individual companies are highlighted in the report. þ p. 92–93

G4-21 Aspect Boundary outside the organisation

Relevant aspects within the organisation which EWE also addresses and manages in partnership with external stake-holders are highlighted in the GRI Index. þ p. 92–93

G4-22 Restatements of information provided in previous reportsAs this is the first report, no statement can be made with regard to this in this year. -

G4-23 Changes to Aspect Boundaries compared to previous reportsAs this is the first report, no statement can be made with regard to this in this year. -

G4-24 Stakeholders engaged 18, 20 þ p. 92–93

G4-25 Selection of stakeholders 18 þ p. 92–93

G4-26 Engagement of stakeholders 20, 22 þ p. 92–93

G4-27 Concerns raised by stakeholders 18, 20 þ p. 92–93

G4-28 Reporting period 73 þ p. 92–93

G4-29 Date of most recent previous reportAs this is the first report, no statement can be made with regard to this in this year. -

G4-30 Reporting cycle 73 þ p. 92–93

G4-31 Contact 94 þ p. 92–93

G4-32 Meets the requirements of the „In accordance“-Core option 73 þ p. 92–93

G4-33 External assurance 73 þ p. 92–93

G4-34 Governance structure including responsibility for sustainability 12, 20, 21 -

G4-56 Values, principles and codes of conduct 18 -

4 — The Aspect Boundaries are hereinafter allocated to all aspects contained in the GRI Index.5 — This is additional information provided voluntarily by EWE.

83




Aspect: Indirect Economic Impacts (Aspect Boundary within EWE)6

DMA 44–49 -

G4-EC08Type and extent of significant indirect economic impacts 45 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Procurement Practices (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 50–53 -

G4-EC09Proportion of spending on local suppliers 51

GRI term “local” replaced with “regional” Standard EWE Group wording þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Availability and Reliability (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 34–39 -

G4-EU106 Planned generation capacity 76Without comparing planned output with forecast demand Not a focus for German market þ p. 92–93

Aspect: System Efficiency (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 24–28; 34–39 -

G4-EU11Generation efficiency of thermal plants 76 - - þ p. 92–93

G4-EU12 Electricity network losses 75 - - þ p. 92–93

CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENTAL

Aspect: Materials (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 40–43 -

G4-EN01Materials used by weight or volume (fuels) 77 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Energy (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 40–43 -

G4-EN03Energy consumption within the organisation 41

Limited to fleet and building management

A Group-wide report is being prepared. þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Biodiversity (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 34–39 -


6 — Indicators with the abbreviation EU (in accordance with GRI G4) are relevant for the electricity sector.

84

FACTS AND FIGURES



G4-EN11 Sites in protected areas 36, 37

Limited to some sites in north-west Germany and companies with potential material impact on the environment

A Group-wide report has not been prepared because our activi-ties have had very little impact on biodiversity. þ p. 92–93

G4-EN12Impacts of business activities on biodiversity 36, 37



G4-EU13

Biodiversity of protected areas compared to bio-diversity of affected areas 36, 37



Aspect: Emissions (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 34–39 -

G4-EN15 Direct CO2 emissions 37Limited to electricity and heat generation facilities

Other facilities and emissions are of minor importance. þ p. 92–93

G4-EN18

CO2 emissions in grams per generated kilowatt hour of electricity (CO2 emissions intensity) 34

Limited to electricity and heat generation facilities

Other facilities and emissions are of minor importance or the report is currently in preparation (scope 2) or the data is not cur-rently collected (scope 3). þ p. 92–93

G4-EN19 Reduction of CO2 emissions 37Limited to electricity and heat generation facilities

Other facilities and emissions are of minor importance or the report is currently in preparation (scope 2) or the data is not cur-rently collected (scope 3). þ p. 92–93

G4-EN20Emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) 76 - - þ p. 92–93

G4-EN21Nitrogen oxides, sulphur ox-ides and other air emissions 76 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Effluents and Waste (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 40–43 -

G4-EN22Wastewater by quality and destination 77 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Compliance (environmental) (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 54–57 -

G4-EN29

Fines and penalties for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations 78 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Supplier Environmental Assessment (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 50–53 -

85




G4-EN32Screening of new suppliers using environmental criteria 50

No information available for suppliers in 2014

The management and reporting process is currently in develop-ment. þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Environmental Grievance Mechanisms (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 54–57 -

G4-EN34Number of grievances about environmental impacts 55 - - þ p. 92–93

CATEGORY: LABOUR PRACTICES AND DECENT WORK

Aspect: Employment (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 63–67 -

G4-LA01

Total number and rates of new employee hires and employee turnover by age group, gender and region 80 - - þ p. 92–93

G4-EU15

Percentage of employees eligible to retire in the next 5 to 10 years 80 - - þ p. 92–93

G4-LA03Return to work and retention rates after parental leave 81

Not including those who return from parental leave and were still employed 12 months after returning; also excludes return rate and parental leave retention rate


Aspect: Labour/Management Relations (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 63–67 -

G4-LA04

Minimum notice periods regarding significant opera-tional changes 65 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Occupational Health and Safety (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 58–62 -

G4-LA06

Lost days due to illness, number of injuries, number of work-related fatalities 58, 59, 62, 78

Excluding occupational illnesses; excluding subcontractors and supervised workers; information about work accidents without breakdown by gender

The management and reporting process is currently in develop-ment. No breakdown by gender in the interest of preventing identification of individuals. þ p. 92–93

TC-IO037

Practices to ensure health and safety of telecommuni-cations field personnel8 62 - - þ p. 92–93


7 — Indicators with the abbreviation TC (in accordance with GRI3) are relevant for the telecommunications sector. 8 — Voluntarily includes all technical facilities, i.e. also includes energy networks and is not restricted to telecommunications.

86

FACTS AND FIGURES



Aspect: Training and Education (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 63–67 -

G4-LA10

Programmes for skills management and lifelong learning 65 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Diversity and Equal Opportunity (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 63–67 -

G4-LA12

Composition of governance bodies and breakdown of employees per employee category according to gender and age group 65, 81 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Supplier Assessment for Labour Practices (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 50–53 -

G4-LA14Screening of new suppliers using social criteria 50



CATEGORY: HUMAN RIGHTS

Aspect: Non-discrimination (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 63–67 -

G4-HR03

Total number of incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken 81 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 50–53; 63–67 -

G4-HR04

Operations and suppliers identified in which the right of employees to exercise freedom of association and collective bargaining may be violated or at significant risk 50, 65



Aspect: Supplier Human Rights Assessment (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 50–53 -

G4-HR10Screening of new suppliers using human rights criteria 50



87




CATEGORY: SOCIETY

Aspect: Local Communities (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 44–49 -

G4-SO01

Percentage of operations with implemented local community engagement programmes 46 - - þ p. 92–93

G4-EU22Number of people displaced and compensation 77 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Anti-corruption (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 54–57 -

G4-SO04

Communication and training on anti-corruption policies and procedures 78 Not broken down by region Not relevant þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Public Policy (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 15–22 -

G4-SO06Total value of political con-tributions 78 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Compliance (social) (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 54–57 -

G4-SO08

Fines and penalties for non-compliance with laws and regulations 55 - - þ p. 92–93

CATEGORY: PRODUCT RESPONSIBILITY

Aspect: Product and Service Labelling (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 54–57 -

G4-PR05Results of surveys measuring customer satisfaction 78 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Customer Privacy (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 68–71 -

G4-PR08

Total number of substanti-ated complaints regarding breaches of data protection 68

Complaints must have a serious impact on the rights and pro-tectable interests of the affected party

Based on German data protection legislation þ p. 92–93


88

FACTS AND FIGURES

PROGRESS CRITERIA FOR AREAS OF ACTION9

Indicator

Short name of the indicator

Page

2014 status, externally audited1

EWE-FK01 (= G4-EU29) Power outage durations in minutes, per year, per customer in Germany 21, 24 þ p. 92–93

EWE-FK02 Number of ideas submitted via the innovation portal that culminated in a project 21, 29 þ p. 92–93

EWE-FK03 (=G4-EN18) CO2 emissions in grams per generated kilowatt hour of electricity 21, 34 þ p. 92–93

EWE-FK04 Number of companies with ISO 50001-certified energy management systems 21, 40 þ p. 92–93

EWE-FK05 Regionality index 21, 44 þ p. 92–93

EWE-FK06Proportion of strategic materials and services suppliers who commit to the supplier code of conduct 21, 50 þ p. 92–93

EWE-FK07 Customer loyalty index 21, 54 þ p. 92–93

EWE-FK08 (=G4-LA06) Healthy employees rate 21, 58 þ p. 92–93

EWE-FK09 Time taken to fill positions 21, 63 þ p. 92–93

EWE-FK10Proportion of all employees in all relevant companies who have been trained in data protection, information security and unbundling using e-learning modules 21, 68 þ p. 92–93

9 — Indicators with the abbreviation EWE-FK are the progress criteria for areas of action. Not all of these are GRI indicators. The progress criteria are also provided here to provide a complete picture.



Aspect: Compliance (Product Responsibility) (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 54–57 -

G4-PR09

Fines for non-compliance with laws and regulations concerning the provision and use of products and services 78 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Access (Electric Utility Sector) (Aspect Boundary within EWE)

DMA 24–28 -

G4-EU29

Power outage duration in minutes per year, per customer in Germany 24 - - þ p. 92–93

G4-EU30Average availability of power plants 75 - - þ p. 92–93

Aspect: Access (Telecommunications Sector) (Aspect Boundary within and outside EWE)

DMA 24–28 -

TC-IO01Investment in telecommuni-cations networks 28 - - þ p. 92–93

TC-PA01

Expansion and access to tele-communications networks in in remote and low population density areas areas 28 - - þ p. 92–93

89


GLOSSARY

BALANCING GROUP MANAGEMENT

A balancing group is a virtual energy account for electricity and

gas. This account is used to balance consumption and feed-ins,

for example from power plants or trading transactions, with

other balancing groups. Most virtual accounts are managed

centrally by a transmission network operator and administered

by so-called balancing group managers like an energy supplier.

BIOGAS

Biogas is a mixture composed mainly of methane and carbon

dioxide. The valuable part which is used for generating energy

is the methane component, which is obtained from biomass.

BIOMASS

In the context of renewable energy, biomass is the total mass

of plant or animal-based organic material which is capable of

storing energy and can be utilised to generate electricity or

heat.

BLAST FURNACE GAS

Blast furnace gas is a natural by-product of the production of

pig iron. It contains just enough carbon monoxide (around 30

per cent) to use it directly as a fuel in the production facility. It

is not worth transporting or storing because of its low energy

content.

CO2 EMISSIONS

Carbon dioxide is created by burning fuels that contain carbon.

Power plants, factories, building and vehicles emit enormous

amounts of man-made greenhouse gases. These are changing

the natural CO2 balance in the atmosphere and intensifying the

greenhouse effect, resulting in an elevation of the temperature

on the earth’s surface and in the lower atmosphere.

CO2 EMISSIONS TRADING AND CO2 CERTIFICATES

CO2 emissions trading is a market instrument and involves

trading rights to emit greenhouse gases in the form of CO2

certificates. Within the EU, operators of facilities that are

subject to emissions trading requirements must have rights

for their (carbon dioxide) emissions. Governments limit the

amount of rights that are allocated. If they produce more

emissions than they hold the rights for, they have to purchase

additional emission rights or reduce their emissions. They can

sell any excess emissions rights to other companies.

COMBINED HEAT AND POWER (CHP)/CHP PLANTS

A CHP plant uses both the generated electrical energy and

the resulting (waste) heat. This increases the efficiency of

these plants considerably.

COMBINED HEAT AND POWER PLANT

Combined heat and power plants are special heating plants

which produce electricity and heat at the same time. This

means that the fuel is used particularly efficiently.

CONVERTER GAS

Converter gas is generated during the production of steel. Ex-

cess carbon is removed from pig iron in the converter.

DIRECT MARKETING OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES

Operators of renewable energy facilities can sell the electric-

ity they generate directly to a buyer via a public network in-

stead of a regional network operator. Power that is marketed

directly is subsidised with a so-called optional market premi-

um and an additional management premium. This is aimed at

offering facility operators an incentive to take a market-driv-

en approach to operating their facilities.

90

FACTS AND FIGURES

ENERGY CONTROLLING IN PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING

Energy controlling in performance contracting is an innova-

tive approach to partnerships with local authorities which

EWE has trialled. It involves EWE performing services for

municipal authorities like preparing energy reports, energy

analyses, evaluating measures that have been implemented

or regular energy monitoring. The compensation that EWE

receives for these services is made up of a basic component

and a proportional amount which comes from the saved en-

ergy costs.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Energy management is the measurement, planning and con-

trol of energy generation and usage with the goal of increas-

ing energy efficiency and thereby reducing consumption.

Energy management within a company involves the energy

needs of a company first being documented and analysed in

detail before appropriate energy-saving measures are iden-

tified. These can include optimising the operation of equip-

ment, the use of more efficient machinery, or the generation

of electricity on a precise, as-needed basis.

PRIMARY ENERGY

Primary energy is energy that occurs in a natural form or

comes from natural sources, like crude oil, natural gas, coal

or biomass.

RENEWABLE ENERGY ACT (EEG) REVISION

The most recent revision of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG)

came into effect on 1 August 2014. The purpose of the amend-

ment is to bring renewable energies closer to the market and

make it possible to expand their use in a controlled fashion.

For instance, under the amended Act, operators of new facil-

ities must market the electricity that they generate on the

energy exchange. The revision also added target ranges for

the national expansion of renewable energies.

REPLACEMENT FUELS

Replacement fuels are fuels derived from waste. They are be-

ginning to replace primary fuels like coal for combustion in

power plants.

WASTE TO ENERGY

Waste to energy is the process of generating electricity and

heat by burning waste.

BTC > BTC Business Technology Consulting AG

DSL > Digital Subscriber Line

EBIT > Earnings before interest and taxes

EEG > Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz

(Renewable Energy Act)

el > Electric

GW > Gigawatt

GWh > Gigawatt hour

kW > Kilowatt

kWh > Kilowatt hour

Mg > Megagram

MW > Megawatt

MWh > Megawatt hour

Nm3 > Standard cubic metre

RF > Replacement fuels

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

91


INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE REPORT

The assurance engagement performed by Ernst & Young (EY)

relates exclusively to the German printed version of the EWE

AG Sustainability Report 2014. The following text is a transla-

tion of the original German Independent Assurance Report.

TO THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT OF EWE AG,

OLDENBURG

OUR ENGAGEMENT

We have been engaged to perform a limited assurance en-

gagement on information marked with the symbol þ in EWE

AG’s 2014 sustainability report (referred to in the following

as the report) for the reporting period from 1 January to 31

December 2014. The information included in our limited as-

surance engagement is marked with the symbol þ in the GRI

Index on pages 82 to 89 and covers the following areas:

+ General standard disclosures, including sector-specific

indicators, as long as they relate to performance indica-

tors;

+ General standard disclosures on identified material as-

pects and boundaries, stakeholder engagement and the

report profile;

+ Progress criteria for the EWE-specific areas of action

(current status in 2014);

+ Specific standard disclosures, including sector-specific in-

formation.

LIMITATIONS OF OUR ENGAGEMENT

Our engagement is limited to the information marked with

a þ symbol in the German-language printed version of the

sustainability report. Our engagement did not include any

forward-looking statements, information for previous years,

references to other sections of the report and other sources,

or study reports conducted by third parties.

CRITERIA

We assessed the report against the criteria set out in the

Sustainability Reporting Guidelines G4 issued by the Global

Reporting Initiative (GRI). We believe that these criteria are

suitable for our assurance engagement.

MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSIBILITY

The Board of Management of EWE AG, Oldenburg is responsi-

ble for the preparation and the content of the report in com-

pliance with the above-mentioned criteria. This responsibili-

ty includes the design, implementation and maintenance of

internal controls for the preparation of a report that is free

from material misstatements, in accordance with the above

mentioned criteria and based on suitable methods for gath-

ering source data, including judgements and estimates of the

individual sustainability data.

OUR RESPONSIBILITY

Our responsibility is to issue an assurance report on informa-

tion marked with the symbol þ in EWE AG’s 2014 sustaina-

bility report for the reporting period from 1 January 2014 to

31 December 2014 based on our work performed for a limited

assurance engagement.

We conducted our limited assurance engagement in accord-

ance with the International Standard on Assurance Engage-

ments (ISAE) 3000. This standard requires that we comply

with our professional duties and plan and perform the as-

surance engagement to obtain a limited level of assurance

to preclude that the information marked with the symbol þ

92

FACTS AND FIGURES

in EWE AG’s 2014 sustainability report is not in accordance,

in material respects, with the above mentioned criteria. In a

limited assurance engagement the evidence gathering pro-

cedures are more limited than in a reasonable assurance en-

gagement and therefore less assurance is obtained than in a

reasonable assurance engagement.

We are independent from the company in compliance with

professional requirements and the IESBA Code of Ethics for

Professional Accountants (IESBA Code), which is founded on

the fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, profes-

sional competence and due care, confidentiality and profes-

sional behaviour, and we have also complied with our other

professional requirements and the IESBA Code.

KEY PROCEDURES

The performance of our engagement mainly involved the fol-

lowing work:

+ Inquiries of employees concerning the sustainability

strategy, sustainability principles and sustainability

management of EWE AG, including dialogue with stake-

holders and materiality analysis

+ Inquiries of employees responsible for the preparation of

information marked with a þ symbol in the sustainability

report in order to assess the sustainability reporting sys-

tem, the data capture and compilation methods as well

as internal controls to the extent relevant for a review of

the information marked with the þ symbol

+ Inspection of the relevant documentation of the systems

and processes for compiling, analysing and aggregating

sustainability data in the reporting period and testing

such documentation on a sample basis

+ Inquiries and inspection of documents on a sample basis

relating to the collection and reporting of sustainability

data and disclosures during our visit at the head quarter

office of EWE AG Oldenburg and during site visits at swb

Erzeugung AG & Co. KG in Bremen and EWE NETZ GmbH

in Oldenburg

+ Analytical measures regarding the quality of the reported

data

+ Review of incorporation of study reports conducted by

third parties, to the extent that those are relevant for the

information marked with a þ symbol

+ Critical review of the draft report to assess plausibility

and consistency with the information marked with a þ

symbol.

OUR CONCLUSION

Based on our procedures performed to obtain a limited level

of assurance, nothing has come to our attention that causes

us to believe that the information marked with a þ symbol in

EWE AG’s 2014 sustainability report for the reporting period

from 1 January to 31 December 2014 has not been prepared,

in all material respects, in accordance with the above men-

tioned criteria.

Munich, 3 June, 2015

Ernst & Young GmbH

Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Nicole Richter Nina Müller

German Public Auditor German Public Auditor

93


CONTACT AND PUBLICATION DETAILS

>> G4-31

PUBLISHED BY

EWE Aktiengesellschaft

Tirpitzstrasse 39

26122 Oldenburg

Germany

www.ewe.com

CONTACTS


Corporate Development –

Sustainability Team

Dr. Friedrich Janssen

Phone: +49 441 4805 1101

E-mail: [email protected]

TEAM EDITORIAL AND TEXT


Corporate Communication

Wolfgang Witte, Aurich, Germany

Berichtsmanufaktur GmbH, Hamburg,

Germany

CONCEPT, DESIGN AND LAYOUT

Berichtsmanufaktur GmbH, Hamburg, Germany

www.berichtsmanufaktur.de

PHOTOGRAPHY

Stephan Meyer-Bergfeld, Oldenburg, Germany

Matthias Ibeler, Emsdetten, Germany

(Pictures from Riffgat: Title; p. 38–39)

PRINTED BY

Zertani Die Druck GmbH,

Bremen, Germany

94

EWE

SUST

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ABI

LITY

REP

ORT

201

4

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ATIN

G V

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REG

ION


Tirpitzstrasse 39, 26122 Oldenburg,

Germany

www.ewe.com

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