Energie Zukunft Schweiz Group Review 2022

Energie Zukunft Schweiz AG (EZS) and its European Sunwin subsidiaries grew in leaps and bounds in 2022. High energy prices have given a considerable amount of momentum to energy efficiency and the expansion of renewable energy sources.

Highlights 2022

Sunwin Italia verkauft ein grosses Freiflächen-PV-Portfolio
Sunwin Italia verkauft ein grosses Freiflächen-PV-Portfolio

EZS subsidiary Sunwin Italia sold a 375 MW portfolio to one of Europe's largest energy companies in 2022. News 

Sunwin Italia verkauft ein grosses Freiflächen-PV-Portfolio
Sunwin Italia verkauft ein grosses Freiflächen-PV-Portfolio

Our biogas team succeeded in helping to finance the construction of new plants by concluding 10-year and 15-year purchase agreements.

Sunwin Italia verkauft ein grosses Freiflächen-PV-Portfolio
Sunwin Italia verkauft ein grosses Freiflächen-PV-Portfolio

Thanks to the outstanding commitment of our project team, we succeeded in introducing SAP as the company-wide ERP software in 2022.

Sunwin Italia verkauft ein grosses Freiflächen-PV-Portfolio
Sunwin Italia verkauft ein grosses Freiflächen-PV-Portfolio

More than 120 employees took part in the Team Days 2022 in Emmetten NW, which was the largest internal event for EZS to date.

Energie Zukunft Schweiz 2022

Impact for the energy transition

Our mission remains clear: ‘We are enthusiastic energy change-makers. What counts , as far as we are concerned, is impact’. In 2022, we helped to switch to renewable energy sources and increase energy efficiency in our business areas of consulting, project development, trading and promotion. In 2022, as we have done since we were established in 2006, we have not only brought the energy transition forward in concrete terms, but also explained it and made it tangible.

We have supported energy supply companies, property owners, the public sector and private individuals in saving CO₂, using renewable electricity and renewable heat, and reducing overall energy consumption.

The following chart provides an overview of the impact which we have achieved together with our customers. Unless otherwise stated, the savings potential refers to the total lifetime of the installations.

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demo

Image: A selection of what we have achieved in 2022 as the Energie Zukunft Schweiz Group.

Consultation

Renewable electricity

1069 properties
analysed, revealing a PV potential of 44.51 MWP and 5.84GWh of potential for energy optimisation.

  • For major real estate clients in Switzerland, Germany and Spain, EZS analysed around 704 properties for their suitability for photovoltaics (PV) and identified 44.51 MWp of PV potential.
  • Our energy specialists were able to show energy saving potential to 365 private property owners.
  • The implementation of many projects was prepared and accompanied.
  • We succeeded in initiating renovations and promote the addition of solar power with analyses and consultations for a large number of municipally owned properties.

The real estate sector is an important driver in the expansion of solar power. Property analyses are an important step for exploiting the existing potential.

Reducing CO₂-emissions

465,000 tonnes of CO₂
savings potential in the heat supply area. 22,000 tonnes of CO₂ savings were specifically initiated.

  • By means of various heating replacements and ventilation concepts which were implemented, we were able to trigger the saving of 22,000 tonnes of CO₂.
  • We identified 70,000 tonnes of CO₂ savings potential by means of a large number of heating evaluations, heating and ventilation concepts and operational optimisations.
  • By means of four feasibility studies for heating networks and target network planning, we were able to show a savings potential of 395,000 tonnes of CO₂ (around 20,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year).

Providing a sustainable heat supply in buildings is a significant building block on the way to decarbonisation. Our neutral analyses show how the value of real estate can be increased with a sustainable heat supply.

Project development

211,000 households
will be able to be supplied with electricity in the future via the ground-mounted photovoltaic pipelines which are being planned/developed in Italy and Romania.

  • Our subsidiary Sunwin Energy srl is developing a pipeline of ground-mounted and floating solar power plants in Italy with a capacity of 650Mwp, which can fulfil the demand of 200,000 households.
  • In Romania, ground-mounted PV projects of 37 MWp are in the project planning phase in 2022 which will cover the future demand of 11,000 households.


Fortunately, the proportion of renewable energy sources in electricity consumption is increasing steadily. With its subsidiary Sunwin Energy, Energie Zukunft Schweiz is committed to the expansion of renewable energies beyond Switzerland's borders. We are reducing our dependence on fossil energy from abroad by developing these plants. Solar power plants in the south are also an effective measure for ensuring Switzerland’s energy supply in winter.

Trade

500 GWh of biogas
was supplied, reducing emissions from the natural gas network by 100,000 tonnes of CO2.

  • In order to support the decarbonisation of the gas supply, we are continuously exploring renewable alternatives and trading in biogas. In 2022, the volume of biogas that was supplied was 500 GWh.

Energie Zukunft Schweiz is active internationally in making innovative technologies and high-quality biogas available to Swiss energy supply companies.

Promotion

Electricity efficiency

232 GWh of electricity
savings triggered by our electricity subsidy programmes and subsidies applied for on behalf of customers.

  • 72 GWh will be saved in the future by means of projects which have benefited from our electricity efficiency promotion programmes.
  • A further 160 GWh will be saved in future by means of projects for which EZS has successfully applied for subsidies on behalf of customers.

With its comprehensive range of subsidies for electricity efficiency, SwissEnergy Future also facilitates large-scale projects.

Reducing CO₂ emissions

229,625 tonnes of CO₂
saved by 2030.

  • By means of our Climate Premium for Renewable Heating funding programme, 1463 funding commitments made possible various projects with a total heating capacity of 85.126 MW, which will save 229,625 tonnes of CO₂ by 2030 (32,803 tonnes of CO₂ per year).

EZS makes changing a heating system significantly more financially attractive and therefore speeds up the heat transition in Switzerland.

Imparting knowledge

16,500 people
informed about energy issues and motivated them to take action.

With the Linie-e education and visitor platform, around 10,500 visitors were able to gain valuable insights into various infrastructure facilities.
We provided 1,400 participants with detailed information about specific action options at eight information events in municipalities.
In order to tackle the energy transition in a sustainable way, EZS is already addressing the next generation today. With our flexible teaching modules, we educated around 2,400 students in the classroom and a further 2,200 students with online modules on the subject of energy.
With the development and opening of an information path, 4 project weeks, 11 holiday passes and 8 appearances in various television formats, many more people were informed about energy issues.
We succeeded in showing innovative solutions with the study on types of heat network operation.
We initiated a public discussion about diverse solutions for the energy transition with the ‘Floating solar power plants on Swiss lakes’ white paper.


Imparting relevant knowledge is fundamental for successfully driving forward the energy transition. Energie Zukunft Schweiz therefore communicates its knowledge of energy issues to as many people and institutions as possible and motivates them to take action.

Monitoring

549 solar installations
are monitored for proper functioning on our monitoring platform.

  • 140 solar plants with a total output of 10.4 MWp are registered on our monitoring portal.
  • 409 solar thermal plants were monitored in 2022 thanks to LORALARM. Thanks to the monitoring, problems with 78 plants were solved quickly, which prevented unnoticed additional consumption of 142 tonnes of CO2/year.

Employee growth and internationalisation

More new people

In 2022, 67 new energy change-makers joined the EZS Group. This means that there are now almost 180 people working in the Group.

67 new change-makers
have been working for the energy transition since 2022.

Team Energie Zukunft Schweiz AG 2021
Team Energie Zukunft Schweiz AG 2021

Image: All new employees meet at that quarter's «Welcome Days», where they get an in-depth look into all areas of the company.

In addition to the growth of all teams in Switzerland, the build-up of the team in Romania saw particular success with its initial projects. The team in Germany was off to a flying start, with more than 30 new projects during its first year of operation. The team expansion in Italy directly followed the successful sale of part of the development pipeline to one of Europe’s biggest energy providers.

New countries

The energy transition is a global project, which is why we are also taking our energy transition expertise to other countries. Half of the 67 new employees have taken up their positions at international work locations in Madrid, Spain; in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany; in Milan, Italy and in Timișoara, Romania.

image/svg+xmlBesuchen Sie unseren Hauptsitz in der SchweizEntdecken Sie unsere Aktivitäten in DeutschlandEntdecken Sie unsere Aktivitäten in Italien style="fill:#0a94d6;fill-opacity:1" />Entdecken Sie unsere Aktivitäten in Rumänien/>Entdecken Sie unsere Aktivitäten in Spanien

Image: In addition to the existing locations of Energie Zukunft Schweiz AG and its Sunwin Energy subsidiaries in Switzerland (Basel, Neuenkirch and Zurich), Italy (Bolzano, Florence, Milan), Romania (Timișoara) and Spain (Barcelona, Madrid), the Freiburg im Breisgau location was added in 2022. Other countries were also analysed, some of which were promising.

Corporate social responsibility

Our commitment to the environment

Our most important and effective commitment to the environment continues to be our business operations:

  • We develop projects such as solar power plants or heat networks for the use of renewable energy sources. We also develop specific products and services which act as catalysts for the energy transition. Examples are the green electricity exchange and LORALARM.
  • We help utilities to produce, procure and market green energy.
  • We advise building owners on the generation or procurement of solar power, on the use of renewable heat and on increasing energy efficiency with building insulation or smart controls. We are also committed to climate-friendly mobility and provide advice on charging stations and charging management for e-vehicles.
  • We make the energy transition economically viable with support programmes and our expertise. Renewable energy sources are gradually becoming the first choice, and efficiency improvements are paying off several times over.
  • We provide information about the opportunities of the energy transition and bring concrete examples to life – at events, on energy plants, in the classroom and online.
All of our projects are ultimately intended to reduce CO₂ emissions, increase the use of renewable energies and improve energy efficiency.

EZS as a key player

Energieeffiziente Geräte an der Arbeit
Energieeffiziente Geräte an der Arbeit

We optimise our electricity consumption.

Effiziente Geräte an der Arbeit für minimalen Stromverbrauch
Effiziente Geräte an der Arbeit für minimalen Stromverbrauch

We heat with renewable energy sources.

Pendeln mit dem Fahrrad
Pendeln mit dem Fahrrad

We focus on sustainable mobility.

As a company, EZS itself consumes energy and resources. The three most relevant ways this occurs are electricity consumption, heating requirements and our employees’ mobility for their commutes and business trips.
  • EZS purchases 100% renewable electricity for all of our offices. The intelligent lighting control in our offices and efficient appliances guarantee that we consume as little electricity as possible.
  • All of our Swiss offices are heated with renewable heat. In Basel, for example, we heat with district heating; in Neuenkirch we use a heat pump, and in Zurich we heat with 100% biogas. The heat demand of our offices in Italy, Germany, Romania and Spain is offset with high-quality ‘naturemade star’ biogas certificates where necessary, so that all of the heat that is required is carbon-neutral.
  • Our large locations are deliberately placed in central areas and close to the railway station, so that employees and clients can travel by public transport or bicycle. We also usually use public transport for our client appointments. All employees are in a position to work remotely. The flexibility of our working methods in terms of time and location reduces the amount of commuting.
We are also aware that we ourselves influence resource and energy consumption when purchasing products and services. Our procurement guidelines contain ethical and ecological framework conditions.
Train Icon
Train Icon

In 2022, our employees booked around 2,000 in-country and international train journeys. Wherever possible, we rely on climate-friendly forms of mobility.

Airplane Icon
Airplane Icon

In 2022, 49 short-haul and one long-haul flight for business travel took place in our Group, which produced CO₂ emissions of approximately 31 tonnes.

Car Icon
Car Icon

EZS owns an electric car in Switzerland. For other journeys, we use the ‘Mobility’ car sharing system. In 2022, our employees drove a total of 3,420 km. The relevant CO₂ emissions amount to approx. 0.41 tonnes.

Our commitment to society

As a medium-sized company, we are aware of our social responsibility and take it seriously:
  • Job creation: we created a total of 67 new jobs in Europe in 2022, 34 of which were in Switzerland.
  • Training: we train apprentices, offer working students the opportunity to earn extra money and hire university graduates. We train our employees and foster their further development on an ongoing basis.
  • Ethical and ecological behaviour: we have drawn up a set of rules on business ethics for ourselves, the Code of Conduct. When we select our suppliers, we adhere to our procurement guidelines, which include ethical and ecological criteria.
  • Flexible working models: our employees can work flexibly in terms of both time and location, which makes it easier to reconcile private and professional life. Part-time work is also the rule rather than the exception.
  • Diversity: with a proportion of women of more than 37% (2021: 31%), we continue to be above-average in the industry. People of many different nationalities and ages work for us. We pursue the goal of having maximum diversity, also with regard to women in leadership positions.
Image: Many of our employees’ children visited us on Future Day 2022, who will perhaps also be energy change-makers in the future. The ultimate goal of all our work at Energie Zukunft Schweiz is to preserve our livelihood for future generations.

Future plans

Energy transition as a global project

Vision of the EZS Group
«We are a leading force on the way to a fully renewable energy world.»

EZS is helping to implement the energy transition quickly and efficiently. The global climate knows no national borders, and the energy transition and climate action are global projects. We ensure that our positive impact expands throughout Europe. The following success factors will help us in 2023:

  • Major changes are an opportunity. We are making more and more investments and risking new developments.
  • We continue to develop new target groups, markets and countries.
  • We develop new products and extend value chains.
  • We make sure that our expertise has a solid foundation in different teams, markets, technologies, cultures and languages within our Group.
  • We are a top employer with a meaningful vision, mission and projects.
However, one success factor is of central importance: the Energie Zukunft Schweiz Group is a community of highly committed, talented energy change-makers who share the same values.
To ensure that this remains the case, we will put particular emphasis on keeping employee satisfaction high in 2023. We want to position ourselves in such a way that we can always find the right talent in time, even in the increasingly scarce labour market.
We will create 500 new jobs across Europe in the next four years. This is the only way in which we can grow with the continuously increasing dynamics of the energy transition, and shape and accompany the transition into the renewable energy era.

International projection of the Energie Zukunft Schweiz Group

Number of employees in the Swiss parent company and the respective country units (head count as at end of year).

Figure: Development of the Energie Zukunft Schweiz Group, projection of the number of employees in the parent company and the respective country units from today’s perspective (number of employees at the end of the year). It is foreseeable that other countries will be added in 2023, with the main focus being on France.

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