Amprion

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amprion GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 2003
Seat Dortmund , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management
  • Hans-Jürgen Brick (Chairman and CCO )
  • Klaus Kleinekorte ( CTO )
  • Peter Rüth ( CFO )
Number of employees approx. 1,600
sales € 14.51 billion
Branch Transmission system operator
Website www.amprion.net
Status: 2020

The Amprion GmbH , based in Dortmund is a German transmission system operators . The company operates the just under 11,000 km circuit length second largest Ultra high voltage - power grid (220  kV and 380 kV) in Germany. It extends over seven West German federal states. Amprion employs around 1,600 people in Dortmund, at the system management location in Brauweiler and at more than 30 other regional operating locations.

history

The company goes back to the spin-off of the transmission network area (high-voltage network) from the vertically integrated Essen energy group RWE AG ( Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk ). RWE played a major role in the history of the electricity industry and especially in the development of interconnected networks in the 20th century. The high and extra high voltage lines for the supra-regional transmission of electrical energy and other systems for network operation were an integral part of the German electricity supply companies . Significant RWE developments in the field of power transmission networks are closely linked to the history of the energy industry, particularly in the Ruhr area and in the Rhenish lignite district . In North Rhine-Westphalia is still the most extensive pipeline network with most grid connection points of the company.

Emergence

Company headquarters since 2003: Administration building on Rheinlanddamm in Dortmund (former VEW headquarters, built in the 1970s)

In June 2003, as part of a group-internal restructuring, the company was founded under the name RWE Net Gesellschaft für Beteiligungsverwaltung mbH No. 3 as a subsidiary of RWE Net AG . RWE Net, based in Dortmund, was created in 2000 as a network company when RWE merged with Dortmund's VEW AG ( Vereinigte Elektrizitätswerke Westfalen ) and for the entire electricity network, including the distribution network areas ( low , medium and high voltage networks ) of RWE -Group responsible.

A few months later, in October 2003, the name of this RWE-Net subsidiary was changed to RWE Transportnetz Strom GmbH (RWE TSO Strom) based in Dortmund, which was assigned to the new intermediate holding company RWE Energy AG . Hans-Jürgen Brick and Klaus Kleinekorte were appointed as managing directors of RWE Transportnetz Strom . Initially the company had around 214 employees ( FTE ).

Separation and renaming

380 kV overhead line of the Amprion (line Oberzier - Niederstedem )

Around five years after it was founded, on July 1, 2009, RWE Transportnetz Strom was separated from RWE Energy during a restructuring of the RWE Group and assigned directly to RWE AG. Linked to this was the goal of organizational and company law unbundling from RWE as the owner. The company has been gradually as an independent transmission system operator ( English Independent Transmission Operator, ITO ) according to the EU's Third Energy Package designed.

On September 1, 2009, the newly founded Amprion GmbH , a wholly-owned subsidiary of RWE AG, took over as legal successor the tasks of RWE Transportnetz Strom as well as all other transmission network-related activities and functions that had previously remained in other positions in the RWE Group. At the beginning, Amprion had around 850 employees. Both the company headquarters in Dortmund and the management were retained. The company name, an artificial word , is based on the terms ampere (unit of current strength) and vision . The figurative mark "A" in the company logo represents an abstract arc .

Majority sale

Almost two years later, on July 14, 2011, the sale of 74.9 percent of the Amprion shares by RWE to an infrastructure fund of the Commerzbank subsidiary Commerz Real AG was agreed and publicly announced. After approval by the European Commission as part of merger control , the takeover was contractually concluded on September 6, 2011. The purchase price of around 700 million euros for the majority stake was based on a total enterprise value of around 1.3 billion euros (determined as of January 1, 2011). The transaction was part of a divestment program by RWE. Its completion led to the deconsolidation of Amprion at RWE and reduced both net debt and the energy company's investment needs . The former sole owner RWE AG stated that she wanted to hold the minority stake of 25.1 percent ( blocking minority ) for the long term.

The main owner of Amprion has been the Commerz Real infrastructure fund since 2011; it operates as M31  Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Energie KG , based in Düsseldorf . M31 Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH is the general partner of the fund company ; Commerz Real and a consortium of institutional financial investors are involved as limited partners . Major investors are insurance companies ( MEAG for Munich Re / ERGO , Swiss Life , Talanx ), medical care works ( Ärzteversorgung Westphalia-Lippe and Brandenburg), pension funds and church utilities. In 2015, 13 investors were involved in the M31 fund. After the majority sale, RWE held an indirect stake of 10.8 percent (100 million euros) in addition to the agreed minority stake for a few weeks through a temporary stake in the buyer consortium. Commerz Real, as an issuing house , also held a short-term stake of 13 percent (120 million euros). Both share packages were transferred from Commerz Real to other institutional investors by January 2012, so that the previously agreed shareholder structure was achieved (74.9 percent M31 funds and 25.1 percent RWE). It has remained unchanged since then (as of 2018).

activities

Legal mandate and certification

380/110 kV substation Kriftel in Hesse, commissioned in 2004
German transmission network: control areas from Amprion, TenneT , TransnetBW and 50Hertz

As a transmission system operator, Amprion is a service company with a statutory mandate. This arises from the "Tasks of the network operators" formulated in Section 11 ff. Of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG). The focus is on the non-discriminatory operation of a safe, reliable and powerful energy supply network as well as its optimization and expansion.

As a transmission system operator, Amprion is subject to competition policy regulation by the Federal Network Agency . In 2012, it granted the company certification as an independent transport network operator in accordance with Section 10 ff. EnWG .

Network area and facilities

The company's two-part network area is primarily located in the west and south-west of Germany. It extends from Lower Saxony in the north to Oberallgäu in the south of Bavaria . Some of the lines operated by Amprion also run outside of its own control area . The Emsland nuclear power plant in Lower Saxony feeds into the Amprion network, as does the Gundremmingen nuclear power plant in Bavaria on the Danube.

The Amprion network has a circuit length of around 11,000 km. The north-south line built in the 1920s is important as the historical "backbone" of the extensive RWE high-voltage network . Amprion continues to use large parts of the original pipeline route.

The company operates around 10 switchgear and 160 transformer stations to transmit electricity from the high-voltage network to the regional and local distribution networks . In the system management networks said central control station on the site of the substation Brauweiler (in Pulheim) and in the two lower-level group switching lines to the substations Hoheneck (in Germany) and Rommerskirchen (in Bergheim - Rheidt ) is monitored the entire Amprion network and remote-controlled. Since 2009, the Rommerskirchen facility has also housed the Security Service Center (SSC), a center operated jointly with TenneT for the security management of the German and Dutch high-voltage networks. Amprion operates the Kelsterbach substation , which was relocated and rebuilt in the 2000s and which includes the most extensive GIL facility in Europe, near Frankfurt Airport . On the premises of the Osterath substation there is a technology museum with the electrical library.

Integration into the European network

Within Germany, there are transfer points in the Amprion network to the neighboring transmission network operators TenneT and TransnetBW . There are also interconnectors to foreign transmission system operators in France ( RTE ), Luxembourg ( Creos ), the Netherlands (TenneT), Austria ( APG , VÜN ) and Switzerland ( Swissgrid ).

Cross-control areas, d. H. Beyond its own areas, Amprion's network system management is responsible for coordinating network operation in Germany (→ network control network , system balancing, etc.). It performs similar functions for other parts of the European interconnected network . This applies to the transmission networks in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Amprion is one of the four German member companies in the ENTSO-E .

Network expansion

Amprion is responsible for several network expansion projects in accordance with the Energy Line Expansion Act and the Federal Requirements Plan Act. These include u. a. the 380 kV lines Dörpen-West – Wesel (together with TenneT) and Wesel – Doetinchem (cross-border jointly with TenneT) as well as the high-voltage direct current transmission projects ALEGrO (cross-border jointly with Elia ), A-Nord and Ultranet (jointly with TransnetBW).

additional

Habitat Adapted route management Amprion: 220 kV overhead lines in about 200 m wide swath in the pilot project west heath Morfelden-Walldorf
A heavy-duty transformer transport for Amprion, destined for the Dauersberg substation , with a DB class V100 diesel locomotive on the Hellertalbahn between Zeppenfeld and Neunkirchen (November 2018).

The company relies on ecological route management when it comes to route maintenance, especially in areas with wooded fields and in the forest , where protective strip specifications lead to aisles . The route maintenance concept associated with frequent but extensive maintenance interventions was introduced with pilot projects back in the 1990s, still during the RWE era . It was then gradually expanded and is now used as standard at Amprion. In some selected sections of the route, there are also special species protection projects .

The company has been indirectly involved in the European EPEX SPOT power exchange since November 2015 . To this end, Amprion acquired five percent of the share capital of HGRT ( French Holding des Gestionnaires de Réseau de Transport d'Electricité ), a holding company for several transmission system operators that holds 49 percent of the electricity exchange.

With KDNA , Amprion protects itself against cable theft through DNA property labeling.

Web links

Commons : Amprion  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Resolution in the administrative procedure due to certification of a transport network operator (certification procedure according to §§ 4a ff. EnWG to prove compliance with the unbundling or organizational requirements by the transport network operator). (PDF) Az BK6-12-044. Ruling Chamber 6 of the Federal Network Agency , November 9, 2012 .;
  2. ↑ Amprion expands management. Amprion, November 27, 2019 .;
  3. ↑ a b c Annual Report 2019 (PDF) Amprion GmbH, March 2020 .;
  4. ↑ a b Structural features of the electricity supply network. Publications according to § 10, § 27 StromNEV. Amprion GmbH, April 1, 2017 .;
  5. ^ Locations of Amprion GmbH. Amprion GmbH;
  6. ^ Administration building Amprion GmbH (formerly VEW). building art nrw;
  7. ↑ History: 2000–2008: From multi utility to focused energy supplier. RWE AG;
  8. ↑ a b Annual Report 2003 (PDF) RWE AG, 2004, p. 176 .;
  9. ↑ Personal details . Ad hoc announcement. RWE AG, July 17, 2003 .;
  10. ↑ a b Annual Report 2009 (PDF) RWE AG, 2010, p. 50 .;
  11. ↑ a b New transmission system operator Amprion at the start. Press release. Amprion GmbH, September 1, 2009 .;
  12. ↑ RWE strengthens the independence of its extra-high voltage network. Direct connection to RWE AG. Ad hoc announcement. RWE AG, February 24, 2009 .;
  13. ↑ a b c RWE repositions the transmission network company. Press release. RWE AG, June 30, 2009 .;
  14. ↑ Our responsibility. Report 2009. (PDF) Sustainability Report. RWE AG, February 28, 2010, p. 10 .;
  15. ↑ a b Ad hoc announcement according to Art. 17 MAR - RWE surrenders majority of the shares in Amprion GmbH to a consortium of financial investors. Ad hoc announcement. RWE AG, July 14, 2011 .;
  16. ↑ a b c d e Commerz Real Fund takes over RWE high voltage network. Press release. Commerz Real AG, July 14, 2011, archived from the original on January 13, 2012 .;
  17. ↑ Commerz Real completes acquisition of the majority in transmission system operator Amprion. Press release. Commerz Real AG, September 6, 2011, archived from the original on October 3, 2011 .;
  18. ↑ a b RWE completes sale of majority stake in Amprion. Press release. RWE AG, September 6, 2011 .;
  19. ↑ a b c d RWE sells majority of the German transmission system operator Amprion. Press release. RWE AG, July 14, 2011 .;
  20. ↑ a b c d e Commerz Real is placing temporarily acquired Amprion shares in full to institutional investors. (PDF) press release. Commerz Real AG, January 11, 2012, archived from the original on April 25, 2012 .;
  21. ↑ Commerz Real Fund finances network expansion. In: finanzwelt.de. FW-Verlag GmbH, Wiesbaden, July 7th, 2015, archived from the original on January 28th, 2016 .;
  22. ↑ The shareholders of Amprion. Amprion GmbH;
  23. ↑ Amprion: Lifelines | Magazine 2018 .
  24. ↑ a b European cooperation. Amprion GmbH;
  25. ↑ Control areas and network. Amprion GmbH;
  26. ↑ ENTSO-E Member Companies. In: entsoe.eu. (English).
  27. ↑ a b Information boards on the Natura 2000 area "Heidelandschaft west Mörfelden-Walldorf". (PDF) Darmstadt Regional Council , 2009 .;
  28. ↑ a b lifeline route. Biotope management at Amprion. (PDF) Amprion GmbH, October 2016 .;
  29. ↑ Hunter of the laid cables. In: Crisis Prevention . 22nd December 2014 .;

Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′ 57 ″  N , 7 ° 28 ′ 48 ″  E