Page 28 - KELAG Annual Report 2019

commenced. Work is proceeding at full speed for
completion of the project in spring 2021.

Following the integration of electricity and gas sales for
The introduction of smart meters nationwide taking into individual customers into KELAG Energie & Wärme GmbH in
account the current communication infrastructure is the 2018, the first year as a comprehensive energy service
largest project for KNG-Kärnten Netz GmbH to date, and a provider throughout Austria was successfully completed.
particular challenge in a number of ways. The decentralised organisational structure of KELAG
Energie & Wärme GmbH will be used to provide support to
In the course of 2019, the implementation measures for the electricity and natural gas customers throughout Austria
legally required smart meter rollout were intensively and thus increase market penetration. In September 2019,
continued. The key points of focus in the financial year 2019 KELAG Energie & Wärme GmbH acquired a 100% share in
were implementing optimisation measures in the rollout WRS Naturwärme Holding GmbH with registered offices in
and converting to the Austrian master programme of the Linz.
meter data management system. Approximately 120,000
smart meters had been installed by the company’s own The Heat business division is represented by several entities
personnel by the end of the year. KNG will systematically within the Group. In addition to KELAG Energie & Wärme
continue the smart meter rollout in the coming financial GmbH and its equity investments, Kärntner
year 2020. Restmüllverwertungs GmbH is also bundled in the Heat
business division. KELAG Energie & Wärme GmbH is the
largest supra-regional provider of heating services in
Power interruptions in 2019 included around 2,300 Austria and operates 85 district heating grids and around
deployments of specialists and were marked by two major 900 central heating stations. The focus of entrepreneurial
events. At the beginning of February, the low pressure activity is placed on producing heat and process energy in
system “Pirmin” (up to 1,000 customers simultaneously a sustainable and environmentally compatible way and on
without electricity) and in mid-November the low pressure electricity and natural gas sales to individual customers in
system “Detlef” (up to 4,000 customers simultaneously Austria. The range of services covers services such as the
without electricity) brought heavy rain and massive management of central heat stations and the provision of
snowfall causing considerable damage to the KNG-Kärnten heating and process energy. The company is also
Netz GmbH grid. Customers in the Hermagor and Spittal represented in the Czech Republic with one company.
districts were particularly hard hit by disruptions to the
electricity supply. KNG-Kärnten Netz GmbH deployed up to Industrial waste heat and biomass are primarily used for the
170 technicians to restore power as quickly as possible. In production of heat. KELAG Energie & Wärme GmbH holds a
each case, it took nearly one week to restore power to all leading position in this area throughout Austria. Around
customers. Thanks to the deployment of personnel across 65% of the heat required is already being generated from
territories and collaboration with emergency services, renewable raw materials and waste heat. Where industrial
authorities and the Austrian Armed Forces, the disruptions waste heat cannot be used and it is not possible to produce
were managed extremely efficiently. heat from biomass, natural gas – by far the most
environmentally friendly of all the fossil fuels – is preferred.
In addition to implementing new projects, the focus is
primarily on the continued densification of existing district