E.ON

E.ON AG
Type Public (Aktiengesellschaft)
Traded as FWBEOAN
Industry Utilities (energy)
Predecessor VEBA
VIAG
PreussenElektra
Founded 2000 (2000)
Headquarters Düsseldorf, Germany
Area served Europe
United States
Key people Johannes Teyssen (CEO and Chairman of the executive board)
Werner Wenning (Chairman of the supervisory board)
Products electrical power
natural gas
Services Electricity generation and distribution
natural gas exploration, production, transportation and distribution
Revenue 92.86 billion (2010)[1]
Operating income €9.454 billion (2010)[1]
Net income €5.853 billion (2010)[1]
Total assets €152.88 billion (end 2010)[1]
Total equity €45.59 billion (end 2010)[1]
Employees 85,105 (end 2010)[1]
Subsidiaries E.ON Ruhrgas
E.ON UK
E.ON Sverige
OGK-4
Website www.eon.com

E.ON AG, marketed with an interpunct as E•ON, is the holding company of the world's largest investor-owned energy service provider based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name comes from the Greek word aeon which means eternity.[2]

It operates in over 30 countries and serves over 26 million customers.[3] It is one of the 30 members of the DAX stock index of major German companies and a member of the Global Titans 50 index. Its chief executive officer (Vorstandsvorsitzender) is Johannes Teyssen.[4]

Contents

History

The company came into existence in 2000 through the merger of energy companies VEBA and VIAG. In the UK, Powergen was eventually taken over itself by E.ON, an acquisition which was completed in January 2002.[5] In 2003 E.ON entered the gas market through the acquisition of Ruhrgas (now E.ON Ruhrgas). E.ON Ruhrgas is represented in more than 20 countries in Europe.[6]

E.ON has acquired Sydkraft in Sweden, OGK-4 in Russia and Powergen in the United Kingdom. Sydkraft and Powergen have now been rebranded to E.ON Sverige and E.ON UK respectively. In the United States, E.ON inherited Louisville, Kentucky-based LG&E Energy, via the acquisition of Powergen, and operated it as E.ON US, until 2010, when E.ON US was sold to Pennsylvania-based PPL for $7.625 billion. The sale was closed on November 1, 2010, with E-ON US becoming LG&E and KU Energy.[7]

E.ON attempted to acquire Endesa in 2006, however this acquisition was overtaken by a joint bid from Italian utility Enel in conjunction with Spanish company Acciona. E.ON did however acquire about €10 billion of assets that the enlarged Enel was required to divest under EU competition rulings.[8]

In July 2009, the European Commission fined GDF Suez and E.ON €553 million both over arrangements on the MEGAL pipeline.[9][10] It was the second biggest fines imposed by the European Commission and first one on the energy sector.[9][11] In 1975, Ruhrgas and Gaz de France concluded a deal according to which they agreed not to sell gas in each other's home market. The deal was abandoned in 2005.[9]

In 2009, E.ON and RWE established an equally owned joint venture Horizon Nuclear Power to develop around 6,000 MWe of new nuclear capacity in the United Kingdom by 2025. Horizon Nuclear Power is headquartered near Gloucester. It has operated since 16 November 2009.[12]

In August 2011, the company has announced that a possibility jobs cut of 10,000 of its 85,600 current employees due to the German decision to close all of the country's nuclear power stations by 2022, instead of in 2036 as originally planned.[13]

Operations

E.ON is one of the major public utility companies in Europe and the world's largest investor-owned energy service provider. As result of mergers, E.ON inherited the subsidiaries of VEBA, VIAG and Ruhrgas in Central and Eastern Europe. It is also present in Russia, where it has a stake in the natural gas company Gazprom (6.4%) and control of the generation company OGK-4. E.ON is present in most of Scandinavia.

Market units

E.ON is organized in nine units:

Environmental projects

E.ON's UK arm, E.ON UK, owns 30% of the London Array project, which is a very large wind generation scheme that will be built in the Thames estuary. E.ON opened a windfarm off the coast of Cornwall in 2008 and ran, during autumn and summer 2007, "Wind of Change" adverts on British TV networks; the main advert was filmed in the English seaside town of Broadstairs.

Carbon intensity

Year Production (TWh) Emission (Gt CO2) kg CO2/MWh
2002 216 91.78 425
2003 186 93.83 504
2004 245 101.39 413
2005 229 101.17 442
2006 221 100.8 456
2007 247 106.04 429
2008 239 100.07 418
2009 216 84.7 393

Financial data

Financial data in millions of euro
Years 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Sales 37 059 46 363 49 103 56 399 67 759
EBITDA 7 680 9 458 10 520 10 272 11 353
Net results 2 777 4 647 4 339 7 407 5 057
Net debt 13 979 7 855 5 483 -3 863 -268
Staff 107 856 66 549 69 710 79 947 80 612
Source: OpesC

Sponsorship

In February 2006 it was announced that E.ON UK would sponsor the FA Cup. The four-year deal which included the FA Women's Cup and the FA Youth Cup is worth around £40 million. E.ON is the official energy partner of The Football League and sponsors a collection of home programmes on Channel Five in the UK. E.ON has previously sponsored ITV Weather, the Ipswich Town football club and the Rugby Cup.

Between 2000 and 2006, E.ON was the main kit sponsor of German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund.

E.ON Ruhrgas is the main sponsor of the IBU biathlon World Cup and is the main sponsor of the Ski jumping World Cup.

E.ON Sverige has sponsored the home arena of Swedish ice hockey team Timrå IK since 2003.

E.ON was one of the main sponsors of 2007-2008 Dutch Eredivisie Champions PSV Eindhoven.

Criticism

The company has come up against heavy criticism for its plans to build a new coal power station to replace its current facility at Kingsnorth, Kent. This would be the first new coal power station in the UK in 30 years.[14][15]

According to a report published by Carbon Market Data [16], E.ON was in 2008 the second biggest emitter of CO2 in Europe (with about 108 million t CO2 emitted).

A recent scandal involving E.On company is the so called Black Tide, Oil Disaster (seeOil Spill)[17] in the north coast of the island of Sardinia, Italy, in the middle of the Mediterranean sea. The accident date from 11 January 2011: 45,000 liter of oil fuel spilled into the sea during the draining process from a ship at the Porto Torres port[18], devastating local fishing grounds, coastal ecosystems and birdlife (Photo Gallery [19],[20],[21]).

Facilities

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Annual Report 2010". E.ON. http://www.eon.com/en/downloads/E.ON_2010_Annual_Report.pdf. Retrieved 10 March 2011. 
  2. ^ "Questions and Answers about E.ON Group - What does E.ON mean?". http://www.eon.com/en/infoservice/32944.jsp. Retrieved 2011-12-22. 
  3. ^ "Who we are. An overview". http://www.eon.com/en/corporate/2035.jsp. Retrieved 2011-01-18. 
  4. ^ E.ON: Many Companies, One Brand
  5. ^ E.ON to buy Powergen
  6. ^ German utility E.ON buys Ruhrgas
  7. ^ PPL press release: "PPL Completes Acquisition of Two Kentucky Utility Companies", November 1, 2010.
  8. ^ E.ON drops out of Endesa fight
  9. ^ a b c Nikki Tait (2009-07-08). "Brussels fines GDF and Eon €1.1bn". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3bc0a53c-6b9f-11de-9320-00144feabdc0.html. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  10. ^ Adam Mitchell (2009-07-08). "GDF Suez: To Appeal EU Antitrust Decision On Pipeline". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090708-703945.html. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  11. ^ Ian Traynor (2009-07-08). "Brussels levies €1.1bn fine on gas pact pair". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/08/gas-company-fines-european-commission. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  12. ^ "Horizon clear for EOn, RWE joint venture". World Nuclear News. 2009-11-06. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/C-Horizon_clear_for_EOn_RWE_joint_venture-0611094.html. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
  13. ^ EON may detail jobs cut
  14. ^ No new coal
  15. ^ Protesters leave coal cargo ship BBC, 22 June 2009. Greenpeace campaigners board a ship delivering coal to Kingsnorth power station - "the dirtiest new power station in Britain for 30 years."
  16. ^ EU ETS Company Rankings
  17. ^ Marea nera, l'oleodotto è sotto sequestro, indagato un dipendente E.On - FOTO | La Nuova Sardegna
  18. ^ La rabbia di Porto Torres tra le ferite della marea nera - Repubblica.it
  19. ^ Platamona, la marea nera avvelena diciotto chilometri di costa | La Nuova Sardegna
  20. ^ Marea nera, il catrame è arrivato anche a Stintino | La Nuova Sardegna
  21. ^ Marea nera, il catrame è arrivato anche a Stintino | La Nuova Sardegna

External links