Interim report 2020
Work on energy transition continues unabated, corona business impact limited
Enexis Groep recorded an increase in completed work-package in the amount of € 21 million compared to the first half of 2019, reaching € 403 million over the first half of 2020. The energy transition is also continuing unabated despite the corona crisis. The corona crisis is not expected to have a material impact on the consolidated financial result.
A safe and reliable energy supply, also during the corona crisis
Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in March 2020, a number of activities, including the installation of smart meters, were suspended as a precaution to protect the health of our customers and employees. We are proud to report that our employees and contractors were able to adapt quickly so that critical work processes could continue and the safety and delivery reliability of gas and electricity remained continuously guaranteed. All activities were resumed in May 2020. However, some delays are expected for a number of projects due to postponements of the delivery of transformers and other materials.
Emphasis on a well-balanced energy mix
New sustainable initiatives contact the grid operator Enexis Netbeheer to apply for a connection and energy regions present their energy strategy concepts. Peter Vermaat, CEO Enexis Groep: “At present, we see that the energy regions have a stronger preference for solar energy than for wind energy. We do everything we possibly can to realise the plans, although this presents us with a number of challenges. As the wind blows a lot more often in the Netherlands than the sun shines, a wind park produces three times as much electricity as a solar park with the same capacity. Therefore, in order to produce the same amount of sustainable electricity, many more solar parks have to be connected to the electricity grid. This demands three times as much grid capacity, space for cables, electricity stations, construction work and accompanying costs for society. As we will not be able to solve everything with electricity in the future, Enexis continues to advocate an energy mix with sustainable gases, such as green gas and hydrogen. The gas grid can also play a role in this in the future in many districts. In this manner, we ensure that the energy transition remains affordable.”
Enexis Netbeheer continues to invest in grids
The transition to the energy supply of the future continues to demand substantial investments in the grids. More grid expansions and custom connections are needed to continue to meet higher customer demand in combination with more “Sustainable on Land” projects.
Ensuring that our creditworthiness remains sound is an important prerequisite to be able to continue to finance the necessary investments. Therefore, Enexis Holding has requested its shareholders to strengthen the capital of the grid operator with a convertible hybrid shareholder loan of € 500 million. This loan is expected to be issued in the second half of 2020. In addition, a first green bond loan was issued in June also for an amount of € 500 million with a term to maturity to June 2032. Both instruments strengthen our financing structure and support our strong credit risk profile (A+ credit rating from Standard & Poor’s and an Aa3 credit rating from Moody’s) and thus contribute to the realisation of the energy transition.