Axpo Solutions AG
| Public limited company..[1] | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Energy trading |
| Founded 📆 | 2012 |
| Founder 👔 | |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | , , |
Area served 🗺️ | |
Key people | Domenico de Luca (Business Area Head) Martin Schwab (Chairman of the Board) |
| 3'599 bn. CHF[2] (2018) | |
| Members | |
Number of employees | 912[2] (2018) |
| 🌐 Website | axpo.com |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Axpo Solutions AG, with headquarters in Baden, is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Axpo Holding AG. The purpose of the company is the generation, use, purchase, sale, exchange and trading with electric and other energy, as well as providing services of all kinds in the areas of energy and the environment[3].
Axpo Solutions AG originated from Axpo Trading AG (formerly EGL AG, that was established from Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg AG in 2010[4]).
Axpo Solutions AG employs over 1000 people and generated revenues of approx. CHF 3.6 billion in financial year 2018/19[5].
History[6]
Axpo Solutions AG originates from Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg AG, which was founded in 1956. A year after its founding, the company was opened to the public (see History of Energiedienst Holding AG).
In 1958, Germany, France and Switzerland are interconnected with a 220-kilovolt (kV) grid, which is extended to the 380-kV voltage level in 1967. The central switching field is known as the "Star of Laufenburg". This laid the foundations for international integrated network operation, which only a year later in 1968 comprised 17 European countries.
The path to ownership by its parent company, Axpo Holding AG leads from the former Swiss-German Electrowatt AG that bought a 51%- interest in Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg in 1969. In 1996, Electrowatt AG reorganised and the energy supply area was designated to Watt AG. Nordostschweizerischen Kraftwerke AG, NOK (predecessor of Axpo Power AG), takes over 31% of Watt AG a year later.
Subsequently, NOK gradually increases its interest in Watt AG until in 2002 it owned all the shares and hence also controlled Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg[7]. In a second step the Watt AG shares are transferred to Axpo Holding AG.
In 2010, Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg is renamed[8] EGL AG and Axpo augments its shares in EGL AG from 91 to 100 per cent. The shares were de-listed[9] from the Swiss Exchange in 2012. Axpo unites its own trading business with that of EGL AG and consolidates trading expertise in the business area Trading & Sales. In the same year, EGL AG is renamed Axpo Trading AG.
At the beginning of 2013, part of the Swiss high-voltage grid that was owned and operated by Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg AG and its successor companies was transferred to the national grid company Swissgrid.
In 2018, Axpo Trading AG is renamed Axpo Solutions AG[10]. In financial year 2018/19, the company achieves the best result in its history[11][12].
Business activities
Axpo Solutions AG markets the energy from the Axpo Group power plant portfolio. The Group includes Axpo Holding AG with its subsidiaries, namely Axpo Power AG and Axpo Solutions AG. The power plant park includes gas-fired combined-cycle power plants in Italy, as well as wind farms in various European countries and solar plants primarily in France.
Origination
Large part of this business falls on so-called origination, which lies between traditional sales and trading. In origination Axpo Solutions AG takes over, for example, procurement and marketing of energy as well as the related hedging transactions for individual customers. As a rule this requires the use of financial products such as derivatives. Customers include industrial concerns, energy suppliers and producers, energy traders, municipal utilities, banks, insurance companies, project developers or investors. Normally standard products are not adequate for this customer segment, for example to procure energy or to optimise consumption, and to market and optimise the customer's plant portfolio.
As a long-standing player on the international energy markets, Axpo Solutions AG offers customers access to the relevant trading platforms, be it for energy, derivatives, or CO2 and green certificates. Axpo Solutions AG also takes over the marketing of wind and solar plants for customers. Plant owners receive a purchase guarantee, and thanks to the use of financial derivatives future price fluctuation risks can be limited. As an originator, it is advantageous to have access to proprietary power plants in order to have the know-how and necessary information to act on the market.
In the area of renewables Axpo Solutions AG currently markets a portfolio of about 16,000 megawatts (MW)[13][14], per March 2020, including the capacities of the German Volkswind[15], which was acquired in 2015, and the French Urbasolar[16], which was taken over in 2019.
Power Purchase Agreements (PPA)[17]
The company links the solar and wind power business with the marketing business by means of long-term power supply and procurement contracts known as Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). The PPA demand driver for non-subsidised plants[18] is the changing regulatory environment. More and more countries are reducing or totally eliminating subsidies for plants in the area of renewables. In financial year 2018/19, Axpo was able to conclude PPAs in nearly all the major markets[19].
Energy trading
In traditional energy trading, Axpo Solutions AG trades with physical energy volumes from commodities such as electricity, natural gas, biomass, as well as energy-based financial products such as options, futures or swaps, as well as CO₂ certificates and certificates for energy from renewable sources. These activities take place in some 29 countries and on numerous broker platforms throughout Europe and the USA, as well as directly with counter-parties (over-the-counter business). Axpo Solutions AG counts among the leading companies in international energy trading[20][21] .
In the USA, Axpo Solutions AG is active on the power and natural gas markets and according to its own statements has acquired over 40 customers in 20 states[22].
Retail business
- In the international retail business, Axpo Solutions AG primarily delivers physical energy and offers services such as installation and grid connection. The main customers are households and small to medium-sized companies. In Italy, Axpo Solutions AG's most important market, the company now has over 400,000 feed-in points to supply retail customers with natural gas and power.
Company figures
| FY | Income (in CHF million) | Profit/Loss (in CHF million) | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014/15 | 4'622 | −580 | 745 |
| 2015/16 | 3'990 | −87 | 836 |
| 2016/17 | 3'950 | −244 | 876 |
| 2017/18 | 3'424 | 150 | 912 |
| 2018/19 | 3'599 | 474 | 1'084 |
Electricity
Power procurement
The Axpo Solutions AG production capacities and power plant interests are operated by Axpo Power AG ("Production & Grids" area).
These include:
Fossil power plants
Commissioning in 2007: The Calenia Energia plant in Sparanise in the province of Caserta has a capacity of 760 MW and is owned to 85% by Axpo Solutions AG. The Italian HERA Group holds a minority interest of 15%. Commissioning in July 2008: Rizziconi Energia gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Calabria. This plant also has a capacity of 760 MW and is owned to 100% by Axpo Solutions AG. Commissioning in October 2010: Axpo Solutions AG holds a 49%-interest in the SE Ferrara gas-fired combined-cycle power plant (760 MW) in the Italian province of Ferrara.
Renewable energies
Global Tech 1: Construction began in the summer of 2012; commissioning took place on 2 September 2015. In purely theoretical terms, the wind farm in the North Sea can supply 445,000 households with environmentally-friendly electricity. Axpo holds an interest of 24.1%. Since the beginning of 2020, Axpo is responsible for the marketing of all the power generated by Global Tech I amounting to about 1500 million kWh per year[23]
Volkswind GmbH, a German operator of wind energy plants, was acquired to 100% by Axpo Trading AG in 2015.
Albula-Landwasser Kraftwerke AG in Filisur. Axpo Solutions AG is the majority shareholder with 75%.
Regenerative power plant projects in Italy (wind farms) and Spain (wind farms and biomass).
In 2019, Axpo entered into the strongly growing, international solar business with the full acquisition of the French company, Urbasolar[24][25].
The Urbasolar portfolio includes photovoltaic plants with a total capacity of 249 MW (per the end of financial year 2018/19). Axpo quantifies the development pipeline at over 1000 MW. In March 2020, the company announced that it would build solar plants for the Paris airports Charles-de-Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget[26].
Procurement contacts for power
In addition to its own production capacities and interests, Axpo Solutions AG has long-term power supply contracts with producers in France.
Natural gas
Since 2003, Axpo Solutions AG is active on the natural gas market[27] and according to its own statements a medium-sized European player with physical delivery volumes of over 100 terawatt-hours (TWh) for third parties as well as for its own consumption[28]. In the last four years (based on financial year 2018/19) Axpo Holding AG supplied a total of some 85 TWh of liquefied natural gas (LNG)[29]
Among other things, the company developed the natural gas pipeline project Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) together with the Norwegian Statoil and the German E.ON Ruhrgas. The pipeline is intended as a corridor for the supply of natural gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to Western Europe. TAP will connect to existing pipelines in Greece and Turkey and then cross parts of Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before it reaches the mainland in Italy. In June 2013, the TAP pipeline was awarded the contract that would transport gas from the "Shah Deniz II" gas field from Azerbaijan to Europe. Construction started in 2016. After the successful divestment of its shares to partners, Axpo now holds an interest of 5% in the TAP. Axpo has contracted long-term natural gas supply via the TAP; deliveries are scheduled to start in 2020.
Previously the former EGL also showed interest in natural gas from Iran, which has the second largest reserves of this commodity worldwide. On 17 March 2008, an agreement was signed in Tehran between EGL and the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC). The agreement foresaw that as of 2012, 5.5 billion cubic-metres of natural gas per year would be delivered to EGL, and later to Axpo Trading AG respectively from Iran. Partial deliveries were to occur earlier on. The governments of the USA and Israel were opposed to the deal[30][31]. In February 2016, it became public that the agreement had been cancelled[32]. Axpo found a new gas supplier through the TAP purchases from Azerbaijan.
Web links
References
- ↑ Eintrag der «Axpo Solutions AG» im Handelsregister des Kantons Aargau
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Annual Report 2017/18
- ↑ Axpo Solutions AG, Commercial Register of the Canton of Aargau, retrieved on 27 April 2020
- ↑ EGL AG, Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, in: sahb.ch / archiv, 1 April 2010
- ↑ Annual Report 2018/19, Axpo Solutions AG, in: axpo.com / reports&dates
- ↑ History of Axpo Archived 2017-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, in: Chronik NOK / Axpo, PDF, retrieved on 27 April 2020
- ↑ Axpo consolidates control of Watt AG, in: NZZ (ap), 4 May 2002, unavailable online
- ↑ EGL AG, Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, in: sahb.ch/archiv, 1 April 2010
- ↑ SIX Swiss Exchange, in: six-ghttps://www.shab.ch/#!/search/archiveroup.com / glossary, retrieved on 27 April 2020
- ↑ Axpo Solutions AG: New name for the growth businesses, in: axpo.com / media releases, 1 October 2012
- ↑ Annual Report 2018/19, Axpo Solutions AG, in: axpo.com / reports&dates
- ↑ Axpo repositions itself to growth, in: NZZ, 12 December 2019, unavailable online
- ↑ Axpo takes over marketing of Global Tech I offshore wind farm, in: axpo.com / media releases,27 January 2020
- ↑ Nachhaltigkeitsbericht 2018/19, Axpo Holding AG, in: axpo.com / reports&dates
- ↑ Axpo takes over Volkswind – an important pillar for the expansion of renewable energies, in: axpo.com / media releases, 16 July 2015
- ↑ Axpo acquires the photovoltaic company Urbasolar and launches growth initiative in the solar energy business, in: axpo.com / media releases, 2 May 2019
- ↑ Corporate PPA, in: axpo.com / energy services / PPA
- ↑ The Rise of Corporate PPAs 2.0 an Update - July 2018, in: Baker McKenzie 2018
- ↑ Study on PPA market potential: Demand increasing rapidly – betting on the right horse, in: axpo.com / magazine, retrieved on 27 April 2020
- ↑ Energy Risk Commodity rankings, in: risk.net / commodities / down load full tables, retrieved on 27 April 2020
- ↑ Axpo named worldwide number 1 in power trading again – stronger focus on PPA, in axpo.com / media releases, 14 March 2019
- ↑ Annual Report 2018/19, Axpo Solutions AG, in: axpo.com / reports&dates
- ↑ The German Axpo subsidiary takes over marketing of GT I wind farm, in: cash.ch, 27 January 2020, retrieved on 27 January 2020
- ↑ Axpo acquires Urbasolar Archived 2019-05-14 at the Wayback Machine, in axpo.com / media releases, 2 May 2019, retrieved on 27 April 2020
- ↑ Der Branchenverband SolarPower Europe The industry association SolarPower Europe estimates market growth for 2019 with 25% (medium scenario), in: Global Market Outlook 2019 – 2023 Archived 2020-05-07 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Axpo builds solar plants for Paris airports, in: www.cash.ch, 4 March 2020, retrieved on 27 April 2020
- ↑ McKinsey, Global gas and LNG outlook to 2035, Report, September 2019: According to the consulting company McKinsey, the demand for natural gas will rise by 0.9 per cent per year until 2035 and depending on the type of LNG, 3.6 per cent per year p. a.
- ↑ Annual Report 2018/19 Axpo Solutions AG, in: axpo.com / reports&dates
- ↑ Annual Report 2018/19, Axpo Solutions AG, in: axpo.com / reports&dates
- ↑ Telepolis: Schweizer Energiekonzern unterzeichnet Milliardengeschäft mit Iran 17 March 2008, retrieved on 19 March 2008
- ↑ EGL: Erdgasliefervertrag mit NIGEC unterzeichnet Archived 2008-10-19 at the Wayback Machine 17 March 2008, retrieved on 19 March 2008
- ↑ SDA-Meldung in der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung vom 2. Februar 2016
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