We are moving Berlin with electricity - annual press conference 2022
30.03.2022
We are moving Berlin with electricity • Stromnetz Berlin achieves solid business results for 2021 • The investment strategy continues for 2022: 291 million euros' investment planned • Far-reaching deployment to achieve Berlin's climate targets
Stromnetz Berlin GmbH, a company belonging to the newly created group BEN Berlin Energie und Netzholding Gruppe, has achieved a solid income after taxes of 46.2 million euros (€ million) in its first financial year after being returned to the municipality.
The company’s revenue increased to €1,131.5 million, compared to €994.8 million in the previous year. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the transport of electricity through the Berlin grid has slightly dropped to 12,607 gigawatt hours (GWh). The concession charges paid to the State of Berlin amounted to €143.2 million.
Investment remains at a record high
In 2021, Stromnetz Berlin once again invested €225 million in maintaining, expanding and digitalising Germany’s largest urban electric distribution grid. The company is also planning to maintain this record level of investment for the years to come - €291 million for 2022 alone. Between 2022 and 2026, a total of approximately 1.6 billion euros will be invested in Berlin's electricity distribution grid. The company is continuing to focus on the core issues of supply security, customer satisfaction and climate protection.
At today’s annual press conference, Stromnetz Berlin's Managing Director, Thomas Schäfer, commented on the company’s financial results: "With ownership returned to the State of Berlin, we have lived through an eventful financial year for the company, under exceptional conditions. We are very satisfied with the results, in particular the fact that during the Covid-19 pandemic, we were able both to ensure the security of power supply and at the same time heavily invest. In collaboration with the State of Berlin, we will be continuing to work on the performance and sustainable expansion of our power grid and, together with the other infrastructure companies, support the city on its way to climate neutrality."
Wolfgang Neldner, Managing Director of BEN Berlin Energie und Netzholding GmbH, said: "Berlin and its electricity distribution network has a powerful partner in energy transition; this has now been remunicipalised and it is set to tackle current challenges such as the expansion of solar energy and e-mobility in the city. Stromnetz Berlin GmbH is a strong commercial enterprise with a long-range investment campaign, a major employer and an innovative infrastructure operator. Working together with the State of Berlin, we will be continuing to grow the company to play a key role in achieving Berlin’s climate goals."
Areas to focus on in 2022
Among the company's priorities for the current year, Stromnetz Berlin Managing Director Thomas Schäfer cites additional actions to support the ramp-up of the construction of photovoltaic systems and connecting them to the grid, efforts to promote electromobility by expanding the charging infrastructure, the construction and modernisation of electricity distribution facilities such as substations, grid nodes and cable routes, continuing work on a new operational management concept for digitalisation in the low-voltage sector, and additional measures for automating medium-voltage substations.
"We have coordinated a concept with the State of Berlin to support the growing city on its way to climate neutrality and greater electrification, for instance in the heating and transport sectors. Berlin will remain an attractive location for business, science and culture, as well as a liveable city for its residents. This demands a state-of-the-art, future-proof power grid. The fledgling municipal company, which now has 1,509 employees, is working on this every single day," Schäfer goes on.