“The major challenge in 2022 was to avert a supply crisis and to manage the energy price crisis, while at the same time keeping an eye on the structural transformation issues,” continued Board Member Catharina Friedrich. Both succeeded.
Positive development in the PV and home storage area
The supply for existing customers, but also for many customers who were suddenly without a supplier, was secured and at the same time the energy transition for the region was promoted. “The final figures in the PV and house storage area are also developing very positively and we are laying the foundation for the regional heat transition with innovative district concepts and services for municipal heat planning,” emphasized Friedrich.
Over the course of the year, gas sales of 1.38 billion kWh were slightly below the previous year’s figure of 1.56 billion kWh. At 187 million kWh, electricity sales also remained below the previous year’s values (2021: 190 million kWh) due to price-related savings by customers and the fact that national sales were actually stopped.
On the other hand, despite rising prices, demand in the area of regenerative energy solutions has continued to rise – in the PV segment, for example, by a good 25 percent and in the battery storage area by almost 82 percent.
Increased need for cooperation due to the crisis leads to growth in orders in the service business
In the classic investment business – i.e. the cooperation with the energy industry minority investments in the Rhenag network – the company was again very successful in operational terms with a result of 17.2 million euros in a long-term comparison. The fact that the previous year’s result of EUR 19.6 million was not achieved was mainly due to declining distributions as a result of the Ahr Valley flood, which also had a massive impact on rhenag holdings.
The implementation of the legal relief packages presented immense challenges to Rhenag IT in particular. In the end, she was one of the few software providers to be able to manage this on time with the integration of December aid and energy price brakes into the billing software, among other things.
On the other hand, the crisis-related increased need for cooperation of many RUs in Rhenag’s service business has led to significant order growth and customer additions.
Rhineland cooperation as a growth topic
According to Rhenag, both business areas are in line with the one launched in April 2023 Rhineland cooperation and the associated addition of 13 new holding companies ahead of one of the largest growth spurts in the company’s recent history. With a total of 38 EVU, network and trade participations, the Rhenag Group is now one of the largest energy industry networks in Germany. (hoe)