Energy Production
We can look back on an excellent production year. Regarding renewables, it was a good year for wind energy: the Egmond aan Zee wind farm led to a significant increase in renewable production. Conventional production was also excellent.
Production fuel mix
The total amount of power generated by Nuon in the Netherlands can be broken down by type of fuel. This production fuel mix indicates in percentage terms what types of fuel Nuon used in its power generation activities. Nuon generates power from renewable sources (wind, water, sun and biomass), from fossil sources (coal and natural gas) and with process gases (furnace gas).
Nuon’s policy is to make economical use of its power stations. This means that in the first instance the most energy-efficient units are utilised, depending on demand and fuel prices. This starts with wind farms, hydropower stations and power stations that also deliver district heating. The availability of the thirteen Nuon power stations was high in 2007, mainly thanks to good installation maintenance and management. As a result, optimal use was made of the most energy-efficient units, i.e. the young modern power stations that are relatively energy-efficient. Capacity outages at power stations of other producers led to increased demand in the European market and favourable prices. As a result, more capacity could be utilised for production. In 2007 Nuon produced 24% of its electricity output at locations where both electricity and heating are generated from natural gas. Nuon produces heating at a large number of locations for delivery to businesses and households. The three largest locations are Purmerend, Diemen and Utrecht.
In line with previous years the wind energy calculations assume production in proportion to ownership of the production plants. However, Nuon puts a large amount of wind energy on the electricity grid in the Netherlands, which is generated by wind farms that are not wholly owned by the company. One good example of the latter is the offshore wind farm at Egmond aan Zee which Nuon developed in cooperation with Shell. Though Nuon is only partial owner of the wind turbines, it is entirely responsible for the management of the connection to the grid as well as production. The same applies to third-party wind turbines where Nuon carries programme responsibility and, in that capacity, manages the electricity generation operations. Though there are arguments for including the entire wind production of all wind farms which we manage and for which we carry programme responsibility in the production mix, the figures for this year are still stated on a pro-rata basis for comparison purposes.
Nuon does not focus strictly on ownership of realised renewable production capacity. In many cases such investments are made in joint ventures or the facilities are sold upon completion. However, Nuon was involved in the realisation of this renewable capacity and that is ultimately what matters most.
