BKW 2030 - a strategy for the "post-Mühleberg" era
BKW focuses on efficiency, renewable energy and investments in smart grids
Un document
Bern (ots)
The BKW Group is planning for the future. The Board of Directors has approved the BKW 2030 corporate strategy, the key planks of which are energy efficiency and renewable energy. By investing in smart grids, BKW intends to exploit the opportunity to embrace a new role as service provider. New business fields are opening up to BKW as the operator of an integrated system of decentralised production, energy-efficient equipment and smart applications, as well as a provider of other related services. The Board of Directors assumes that Mühleberg nuclear power plant will not continue to operate beyond 2022. The aim is to ensure supplies during the transitional phase. Vertical integration, local roots and partnerships are key success factors which BKW intends to further develop in future. Structures will be adjusted in line with the expansion of new business fields. CEO Kurt Rohrbach will move to the Board of Directors: as the full-time Second Vice Chairman, he will drive forward the requisite development. The Board of Directors will also be reinforced by another business expert, Kurt Schär.
Back in March 2011 BKW announced it was conducting an in-depth review of its strategy. "We acted quickly and used the time to analyse and redefine our approach," says Chairman of the Board Urs Gasche. The BKW 2030 corporate strategy is geared towards the transition and the post-Mühleberg nuclear power plant era.
Directly and via sales partners, BKW supplies electricity to more than a million people, primarily through its own production plants, supplemented at home and abroad by energy obtained through partnerships, acquisitions, holdings, purchase rights and on the market. Based on the efficient, cost-effective operation of its power plants, BKW is rapidly and systematically extending and intensifying the production of renewable energies which is necessary as a substitute for Mühleberg nuclear power plant. The main focus is on hydro power and wind. At the same time, BKW is developing innovative offerings and models to motivate customers and support the move to increase energy efficiency. In view of its changed role as an energy supplier, BKW is further developing its grid infrastructure and deploying innovative new technologies to prepare for the challenges of a modern, increasingly decentralised production mix and enable the integration of decentralised production, energy-efficient equipment and smart applications. Coupled with new service offerings, this development opens up a wide range of opportunities.
Within the strategy horizon, BKW will not acquire any additional fossil-fuelled thermal production projects, with the exception of plants already under construction. In the interests of security of supply and in keeping with the Swiss government's 2050 energy strategy, BKW reserves the right to construct gas-fired power plants in Switzerland and neighbouring countries which have already been planned. In the long term, however, it remains committed to its target of carbon-neutral production.
CEO Kurt Rohrbach moves to the Board of Directors To implement the new corporate strategy and ensure the rapid Group-wide expansion of new business activities, BKW is also adjusting its organisation. The Board of Directors intends to closely monitor and manage these processes, and with this in mind CEO Kurt Rohrbach will move to the Board of Directors to drive the necessary organisational measures forward as full-time Second Vice Chairman. At the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors will also propose the election of Kurt Schär to the Board. Schär is CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Biketec AG. He has extensive knowledge of customer needs and broad experience in decentralised production. The additional elections to the Board of Directors are on the agenda for the Annual General Meeting in May 2012. A new BKW CEO will be appointed, with Kurt Rohrbach performing both functions during the transition period.
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BKW Inc.
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