Energie Zukunft Schweiz Group Review 2022

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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.

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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.