Renewables
The responsible use of resources and greatly reduced carbon emissions – these are the two mainstays of our corporate philosophy. It follows that RWE is committed to expanding the use of renewables. Innogy, RWE’s subsidiary for renewables, is investing about €1 billion per annum by 2012 to achieve its aim of having a broad renewables generation capacity.
“RWE Innogy is a driving force for emerging technologies in Germany and Europe. We remain committed to achieve sustainable reductions of CO2 emissions”, Prof. Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt, CEO of RWE Innogy.
The acquisition of the Dutch utility Essent N.V. by September 30, 2009 reinforced the RWE Group’s renewables position signficiantly. Including Essent’s generation capacity, the RWE Group has in the field of renewables a total of 2,370 megawatts (MW, consolidated) of installed power generation capacity as of September 30, 2009. Essent’s wind activities in the Netherlands and in Germany are operated under RWE Innogy. This results in a total renewables operating capacity of RWE Innogy of about 2,050 megawatts. RWE Innogy and Essent have a combined renewables project pipelines of 20,000 MW, which includes a number of large offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
Our goal is to increase our generating capacity from renewables – in operation or under construction - to 4.5 GW by 2012. By 2020 we aim at more than 10 GW. Growth is not our only concern, however; we want our commitment to renewables to bring about an increase in corporate value as well.
Wind power is well on the way to becoming competitive even on a deregulated market. Technological advances and the selection of optimum locations are the main contributing factors to this steady increase in volume. We are a driving force on this dynamic market since we invest some 70 percent of our available resources in wind farms both onshore and off.
Hydroelectric power is the classic among the renewables. RWE has been harnessing the power of water for more than a century – both profitably and without carbon emissions. We have spotted potential for growth in eastern and south-eastern Europe and in Turkey and intend to tap this potential. We believe there is further scope for growth in the modernisation of existing plant to make them more efficient and are therefore working steadily towards this goal, too.
Renewables such as wood or energy plants have an increasingly important role to play in renewable power generation. The use of these sources to generate electricity and heat is carbon-neutral, because the amount of CO2 emitted during combustion is more or less equivalent to what the plants absorbed from the atmosphere during the growth phase. We regard cogen plants as the ideal solution for converting biomass into energy. Our plants based on this technology are especially efficient. In Germany, RWE Innogy with its subsidiary RWE Innogy Cogen is already a leader in this sector. We intend to consolidate this position and to expand internationally as well.
The use of wind, water, sunlight, biomass and geothermal power to generate electricity has only just begun. To spot the opportunities and tap the potential that is undoubtedly there, RWE Innogy has invested in numerous promising start-ups in this field. So if forward-looking technologies in Germany and Europe are now receiving a boost, it is thanks in part to venture capital from RWE.
“Tapping tomorrow’s energy sources today.” RWE Innogy’s company brochure contains lots of useful information and facts and figures on renewables.
Company Brochure (PDF | 1.8 MB)
For information in brief about RWE and renewables, see the Factbook Renewable Energy (PDF | 2.8 MB) .
For further details of our investments in renewables, see the overview provided at: Investments in renewables.
