Security of Supply

We want to provide our customers with a reliable and affordable supply of electricity and gas at all times. We therefore produce and purchase the necessary primary energy sources, build and operate conventional power stations and installations for the generation of electricity from renewables, and transmit and distribute both electricity and gas.

A reliable energy supply depends not only on the generation and procurement of electricity and gas but also on their transmission and distribution. We believe that the best way of minimising the specific risks for security of supply is to have a diversified generation portfolio. We are also investing heavily in the expansion and modernisation of our transmission and distribution grids. Implementation is un-fortunately handicapped by protracted licensing procedures in many cases.

Progress

In 20091, as in previous years, we were able to provide our customers with a largely uninterrupted supply of gas and electricity. There were no outages in the power transmission grid and those in the distribution grid amounted to 20.4 minutes per customer in Germany. The most recent equivalent figure for the gas grid is approx. 3 minutes per customer and year on average.

Objectives in Security of Supply

Objectives in Security of SupplyKPITarget

 

  • … to ensuring system security across our transmission grids at all times.

  • … to supplying our customers with the energy they need at all times.


 

  • (n-1) criterion2 for electricity transmission
  • System Availability Interruption Duration Indicator (SAIDI) in minutes per year and customer

 

  • Compliance with the (n-1) criterion

  • SAIDI < 25 mins. (Germany only)

     

     

1 The data for the year 2010 were not available at the time this report went to press.

2 (n-1) criterion: Steps must be taken to ensure that at any time the failure of one system does not overload another or put the supply as a whole at risk.