CONCLUSIONES

Valentin Gerig 1

Introduction

At the beginning of 2006, Nordostschweizerische Kraftwerke AG (NOK) devised its strategy for the field of new renewable energies (new energies). By 2030, NOK aims to extract 1,800 GWh of electrical energy from renewable energy sources. Within the spectrum of new energies, NOK is focusing on generation of electrical energy from small-scale hydropower (output of up to 10 MW) and biomass. At the time of devising this strategy, NOK's focus with regard to generation of electrical energy had until then been on the construction and operation of large-scale hydropower plants and nuclear power plants, so NOK lacked the know-how required for new energies, and primarily for the generation of electrical energy from biomass. Thus, in February 2006, NOK took holdings in various companies which had suitable competence and expertise in the relevant technologies and purchasing markets. Activities within NOK which pertain to new energies are encompassed by the New Energies Division. CEO / GL NOK Division Hydraulische Produktion Division Kernenergie Division Netze Division Handel u. Vertrieb Division neue Energien

Today, NOK is involved in the generation of biogas and electrical energy from the fermentation of green waste and kitchen waste via the Kompogas Group, and in wood-based generation of heat and electricity (e.g. from waste wood) with Proma Energie AG, Opfikon, and Tegra Holz + Energie AG, Domat/Ems. NOK's New Energies Division is subdivided into three business units:

Division neue Energien Assetmanagement Bio Vergärung Assetmanagement Kleinwasserkraft Assetmanagement Bio Verbrennung Kompogas AG und Beteiligungen Kraftwerke der Lorze AG easyTherm AG Proma Energie AG Tegra Holz+Energie AG

The actual projects for generation of new energies are not realised by NOK, but by the specialised companies which collectively constitute the operational basis of the New Energies Division.

Electrical energy and heat from waste wood

Today, Tegra Holz + Energie AG, in which NOK has a 20% holding, operates a heating plant in which it generates a thermal output of 5.5 MW from waste wood, as well as a wood-fired power plant with 38 MW thermal output and 11 MW electrical output, which is fuelled with young timber. A third power plant unit, with a 38 MW combustion capacity, is under construction. As of 2009, Tegra will use these plants to supply steam and heat to a nearby chemicals factory and a sawmill, and to feed around 80 GWh of electrical energy into the grid.

In Kleindöttingen, NOK operates another wood-fired power plant with its subsidiary Proma Energie AG. Here also, heat and electrical energy are generated from waste wood. Tegra and Proma are planning a number of additional power plants.

With the improved subsidy conditions for new energies, as passed in Parliament, organic waste materials such as waste wood are becoming a coveted resource. While this also inherently applies for young timber, NOK and its holdings are primarily focusing here on cleared wood, branchwood and bark, in other words: parts of trees which, in the past, were often left lying in the forest.

The waste wood market is of great interest. However, today a large portion of the approximately 750,000 - 850,000 tons of waste wood in Switzerland still goes to Italy for material recycling, or into wood-fired power plants situated there, or also into refuse incineration plants in Switzerland. Here, the subsidisation scheme for new energies may somewhat improve the commercial conditions for utilisation of waste wood in Swiss wood-fired cogeneration plants.

Electrical energy and fuel from green waste

In 2006, NOK took holdings in the Kompogas Group, which builds biogas plants for anaerobic dry fermentation of green waste, and which operates nine plants in Switzerland. In the coming years alone, Kompogas intends to build around 15 new plants in Switzerland. Meanwhile, the sustainable availability of biomass is also emerging here as a key to success. For this reason, Kompogas has sought to work together with various composting companies, and has taken holdings in several such companies. Two years ago, Kompogas processed around 100,000 tons of green waste. Today, this has risen to over 200,000 tons. Around 10 GWh of electrical energy from the biogas produced is fed into the grid, and the rest is processed to natural gas quality and sold as biogas fuel, either at self- owned fuelling stations, or via natural gas companies.

Large volumes of fermented product also arise from the processed green waste. This is compressed and sieved, and in many cases, given to local residents free of charge, or used in agriculture or nurseries at a low price. Due to its holdings in composting companies, Kompogas has also acquired know-how in the further processing of the fermented product to make high-quality compost, so the fermented product which is made can be channelled into profitable utilisation in the medium term.

Size entails responsibility

Due to its holdings in the Kompogas Group, NOK has become one of the largest producers of fermented product in Switzerland. Even though NOK sees organic waste materials primarily as raw materials for the production of electrical energy, in our operation of biomass plants we are much more involved in the market for purchasing and selling of by-products than in the electricity market. In this respect, from an integrative point of view, new questions must arise for the companies in the electricity industry, for instance with regard to the following:

• origin of the biomass (foodstuffs or waste, cultivation of energy crops crowding out land which could be cultivated for foodstuffs production, or recultivation of fallow land, environmental performance evaluations, etc.)

• thinking in terms of material cycles (refining of fermented product into quality soil and compost, as well as returning it to nature, instead of a one-sided focus on the production of electrical energy or fuels from fermentation)

• new cooperation partners for utilisation of by-products (e.g. cooperation with farmers and horticultural companies for utilisation of fermented product / compost)

If the electricity companies which wish to be involved in the field of electricity production from biomass (and of those, the large ones in particular) do not take on these responsibilities, they are exposing themselves and their investments to considerable risk with regard to fermentation, but primarily the composting industry: in Switzerland in recent years, competition has emerged between refuse incineration plant operators, and operators of industrially operated and agricultural biogas plants. If the biogas plant operators do not manage to ensure a sustainable high compost quality, significant advantages over the incineration of biomass in refuse incineration plants will be lost, and even official bodies could retract their support for the fermentation of green waste and kitchen waste.

Indeed, Switzerland's large electricity companies are repeatedly asked whether their involvement in the field of new energies is a fig leaf for the construction of new nuclear power plants. However, this must be ruled out, on the basis of size alone, and often also by the composition of the stockholders (public sector). The large electricity companies in particular must not pursue the new energy products solely for reasons of media presence, but must also accept obligations based on strict ecological, economical, social and energy-industry-related criteria, in line with an integrative approach.

Thus, NOK is making an honest effort to measure its investment projects in the field of new energies on the basis of requirements which sometimes go beyond the legal regulations, and the here and now. With our investments, it is our responsibility to already anticipate foreseeable future issues today (e.g. 'grey' CO2 emissions from new energies, humus atrophy, water consumption in the cultivation of energy crops, further reorganisation and development of structure in industries such as sawmilling, forestry and agriculture). In so doing, it may be necessary to accept a reduction in projects' profitability.

Session P2: