Consolidated management report

9. Environment

Alongside the economy and society, ecology is a further central aspect of sustainability. The sustainable expansion and maintenance of the infrastructure of the Vienna region in the energy, transportation and funeral services sectors form integral elements of the strategies of both the Wiener Stadtwerke and the Wien Energie groups. An institutionalised sustainability process at the Group and subsidiary levels ensures that the steps and targets formulated in a separate sustainability programme contribute towards goals such as increasing energy efficiency, climate protection and promoting clean air. Here are some of the flagship projects which highlight this corporate philosophy in practice:

• The power stations of Wienstrom, the electrical power division, are fired exclusively with natural gas. There are also additional savings through the use of cogeneration technology. Following the repowering of the Simmering 1/2 power station, the City of Vienna’s climate protection programme’s target of reducing CO₂ emissions by 2.6 million tonnes per year by 2010 is now within reach.

• Fernwärme Wien, the district heating division, sets new standards with its district cooling project. The refrigeration units at the Spittelau facility, with a total output of 17 megawatts, make optimal use of the waste heat from existing energy sources to cool water which is supplied to customers via district cooling pipes. In February 2008, Fernwärme Wien was awarded the Environmental Prize of the City of Vienna for its project, due to be completed in 2009, to supply Vienna General Hospital with air conditioning from the Spittelau district cooling centre and for the associated savings in CO₂ emissions compared to conventional electrically powered refrigeration units.

• Wien Energie Gasnetz, the gas network operator, has forged ahead with its remediation of the sites in Simmering and Leopoldau. This work will also continue in the next period.

• Wien Energie Stromnetz, the electricity network operator, actively pursues a policy of relying extensively on underground cables and, as a result, makes a lasting contribution to improving the landscape and cityscape of its supply area. The electricity network of Wien Energie is currently around 22,000 kilometres long. The extremely high proportion of underground cables is also a key qualitative factor in terms of security of supply since, as a result, weather-based power outages are largely excluded.

• As a member of EnergieAllianz Austria, Wien Energie Vertrieb, the electrical power sales division, offers its household, commercial and agricultural customers in the Greater Vienna metropolitan area the possibility of opting exclusively for ecologically sound electricity.