GASAG

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GASAG AG

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1847
Seat Berlin , Germany
management
  • Gerhard Holtmeier, CEO
  • Michael Kamsteeg, board member
  • Matthias Trunk, board member
Number of employees 1,708 (2019)
sales € 1.3 billion (2019)
Branch power supply
Website www.gasag.de

The GASAG AG is a Berlin energy company and one of the largest regional energy supplier. With its subsidiaries, GASAG supplies over 700,000 household and commercial customers with natural gas , bio-natural gas and green electricity , but it is also a network operator and producer of renewable energies and an energy service provider . The history of GASAG began in 1847 when the first two municipal gas works in Berlin began to produce town gas. In the 1990s, GASAG was completely privatized in several steps. Since 1999, GASAG has spun off various subsidiaries and developed into the GASAG Group through participation in other energy supply and service companies. The group currently employs over 1500 people.

history

The first gas lighting institute (1825–1844)

Site plan of the first English gas lighting company, 1826

The Imperial Continental Gas Association (ICGA), founded in London, had set itself the task of establishing a gas supply in the larger cities of continental Europe . On April 25, 1825, she signed a contract with the Prussian Ministry of the Interior and the police for gas lighting of the streets for 31,000  thalers a year . The contract had a term of 21 years and contained the right to also supply private fireplaces ("private flames").

Just five days after the contract was signed, the foundation stone was laid for a "gas lighting facility" on a site (today's Kreuzberg summer pool ) between Communication at Halleschen Tor (today's Gitschiner Strasse ) and the Floßgraben , which was expanded into the Landwehr Canal in 1845 . On September 21, 1826 the Vossische Zeitung reported the burning of the gas lanterns in the street Unter den Linden up to the castle bridge .

The ICGA expanded the length of the pipe network to 100 kilometers by 1846 and supplied 1,019 public lanterns and 9772 "private flames". There was a long-term dispute between the city and the ICGA over disproportionately high gas prices and unenforceable demands by the authorities for a further expansion of the gas network. As a result, on August 25, 1844, the city received permission by royal cabinet order to take over the public lighting from January 1, 1847.

The city builds its own gas works (1844–1914)

Gas works III Müllerstrasse , around 1897

Rudolf Sigismund Blochmann , who had already built gas stations in Dresden and Leipzig , was commissioned in 1842 to plan the gas supply to around 25,000 delivery points. Looking ahead, the city had acquired land in the immediate vicinity of the English gas works for the construction of the planned gas works. On July 1, 1845, construction began on the first two municipal gas lighting systems. In the northeastern part, under the construction management of the son Georg Moritz Sigismund Blochmann, the I. Städtische Gasanstalt was built south of the Schillingbrücke between Stralauer Platz and the Spree, and in the southwest the II. Städtische Gasanstalt (Hellweg gasworks) east of Prinzenstrasse (today: Böcklerpark ) between the Gitschiner Street and the Landwehr Canal, which was then being expanded . On January 1, 1847, both gasworks began to operate and in 2055 city-owned public gas lamps lit the city center.

I. Municipal gas works on Stralauer Platz , around 1900
GASAG commercial building , the former administration building on Littenstrasse

The municipal gas works, led by a “Curatorium for urban enlightenment”, had no goal of making profits, but “to secure the cost contribution for public lighting in a moderate way”. Due to price competition with the ICGA, the increasing spread of gas stoves and the growing population, the number of gas connections rose rapidly. At the end of 1847, the gas works supplied 3,350 public gas burners, 2,164 royal gas burners and 15,114 private burners. Gas production increases from around five million cubic meters in 1850 to 149 million cubic meters in 1890. In 1890, four gasworks supplied a total of 27,900 public lights and 1.5 million private flames. Gas station III on Müllerstrasse (Sellerstrasse) at Nordhafen and No. IV on Danziger / Greifswalder Strasse were newly built and expanded several times . Gasworks V on Forckenbeckstraße in the Schmargendorf district followed in 1892 (shutdown: 1924) and the large gasworks (No. VI) in Tegel opened in 1905.

The municipal gas works had developed into the largest gas supplier in Europe. Due to the extensive administrative work, for example the preparation of around 1.2 million invoices per year, a central administration building was moved into on October 26, 1910 in Neue Friedrichstrasse 109 (today: Littenstrasse ). The listed building in neo-renaissance style planned by Ludwig Hoffmann remained in use by the GASAG Group until 2002. It subsequently became the seat of the private BEST Sabel University of Applied Sciences in Berlin.

First World War (1914-1918)

In the first two years of the First World War , gas emissions rose from 304 to almost 330 million m³ because the population switched to gas due to the lack of coal. In addition, operations important to the war effort were supplied with new gas. Heavy work, for example earthworks or coal transports, was carried out in large numbers in 1915/1916 by prisoners of war or foreign workers . Due to the war, gas withdrawal was restricted from 1917 and in 1919 even closing hours for withdrawal were introduced.

As a result of the war with England, the English gas company ICGA was liquidated in July 1916 . The dissolution of the ICGA initiated a fundamental restructuring of the gas industry in the Berlin area. Serious conflicts arose between the city of Berlin, the municipalities in the surrounding area and the state authorities. The city of Berlin was interested in a standardization, while the government agencies tried to prevent Berlin's efforts to form a local political union in the direction of a future Greater Berlin. The offer of the liquidator to hold a minority stake in Berlin was rejected as an affront by the Berlin magistrate . In April 1918, the districts of Teltow and Niederbarnim were therefore awarded the contract for the entire liquidation estate.

Redistribution of gas potentials (1919–1929)

Reservoir tower of the former Charlottenburg II gasworks, Gaußstrasse 11

On April 27, 1920, the Prussian state assembly passed the law on the formation of a new Berlin municipality ( Greater Berlin Law ). The amalgamation of eight cities, 59 municipalities and 27 manor districts created a completely new situation for the municipal gas works. It now owned 16 gas works and shares in the gas companies of the former peripheral areas, the Deutsche Gasgesellschaft AG for the Teltow district and the Gasgesellschaft Niederbarnim mbH . According to transitional regulations, three similar joint-stock companies were formed for the municipal works (gas, water, electricity) by resolution of the city ​​council on October 26, 1923 , in which the city owned 100% of the shares . The new company name was Städtische Gaswerke AG . The term Gasag has become established as an abbreviation .

The small, very expensive community gas works and the increase in the number of employees to 11,375 employees (with a production output of 2.172 million m³ per day and a pipe network length of 4148 kilometers) forced Gasag to rationalize. In 1921 the gas works in Wittenau and Tegel were closed, in 1922 the gas works Gitschiner Straße , Lichtenberg  I and Heiligensee , 1923 Friedrichshagen and Rahnsdorf , 1924 Schmargendorf and Hermsdorf and 1925 Köpenick . To standardize the Berlin gas supply, the Oberschöneweide and Weißensee  I and II gasworks and the areas they supply were transferred to Gasag on April 1, 1925. In return, Berlin left the supplied areas in the Niederbarnim district to the district free of charge for sole supply. With the connection of Falkensee and Staaken in 1927, Gatow / Kladow in 1927/28, Hennigsdorf in 1928 and Wannsee in 1929, the design of the long-distance supply network was essentially complete from today's perspective.

Gas in Berlin in the 1930s (1929–1939)

The Great Depression of 1929 also hit Berlin. Gas consumption by households and industry decreased from year to year and reached its low point in 1934 with an annual production of 390,000 cubic meters. The economic situation was so bad that in 1931 an attempt was made to sell Gasag. However, no buyer was found.

In 1934, the NSDAP government authority recommended that the city convert all gas works to modern coking plants over the next ten years with investments of around 50 million marks . As a first measure, the Lichtenberg gas works was expanded into a gas coking plant in 1935/1936. The directive issued by the National Socialists to make greater use of domestic raw materials led to the opening of a gas filling station for buses operated by the Berlin transport company in 1935 and the construction of benzene production facilities in the Lichtenberg, Neukölln and Charlottenburg plants.

In January 1937, the Städtische Gaswerke AG was transformed into a company owned by the city under the name Berliner Städtische Gaswerke (Gasag) . As a result of the improved financial situation, the city of Berlin was able in 1939 to buy all of the shares in the German company from the Teltow district . This increased the urban gas supply network by 2231 kilometers to a total of 6971 kilometers. As an outward sign of the now uniform ownership structure in the Berlin area, the name of the company was changed to Berliner Gaswerke .

War and the post-war period (1939–1949)

Gas filling station at the Dimitroffstrasse gasworks, 1948

After the beginning of the Second World War , the demands of the armaments industry increased the demand for gas to the record level of 871 million cubic meters per year by 1942. 93% of the 1.48 million households in Berlin cooked with gas, with 86,000 gas lanterns the gas lighting reached its highest level and due to the petrol shortage, more than 2,500 commercial vehicles were running on gas by 1944.

Despite the Allied air raids and the damage caused by the war, the city's gas supply remained fully functional until the immediate fighting began in April 1945. After the battle for Berlin and the end of the war, Berlin was in ruins. Of the 38 large gas tanks, one was undamaged and only one percent of the 7,000-kilometer pipe network was operational.

Coal delivery to the Greifswalder Strasse gasworks, 1948

The war-related damage to the pipe network could be provisionally repaired by the end of 1945. The lack of coal and the quick repair of the gas containers could not be solved. The Allied Command ordered the cessation of gas production in three gas works from September 1945, one each in the Soviet, American and British sectors . Nevertheless, by the end of 1945, 15 of Berlin's 20 districts had a reasonably functioning gas supply. At the end of 1946, 44% of the pre-war gas production capacity, 88% of the pipe network and 11,000 public gas lamps were in operation again.

As a political response to the currency reform of the western powers, the Soviet Union ordered the closure of all land and waterways between the western zones and Berlin. The Berlin blockade led to the establishment of the Berlin Airlift from June 26, 1948. Besides food, the most vital cargo was coal, especially for maintaining the gas and power supply. On June 26, 1948, the American military government ordered the gas supply to West Berlin to be cut off. With the founding of the Berliner Gaswerke (Gasag) on March 26, 1949 in the western sector, the organizational and legal separation of the gas supply companies took place, which was to last for several decades.

There are no indications that GASAG used forced labor during the Second World War . Rheinmetall-Borsig had set up a large warehouse called “Wohnheim West” on the GASAG site at Bernauer Strasse 96 . In 2000, GASAG, together with other former public utility companies in Berlin, paid four million marks into the “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” foundation of the German economy.

Gas supply in the eastern part of the city (1949–1990)

Construction of gas tanks in Lichtenberg, 1960

The eastern part of the Berlin gas works was converted on January 1, 1956 into the state-owned company (VEB) Gasversorgung Berlin . Responsibility for the operation changed from the magistrate to the GDR Ministry for Coal and Energy (and back again in April 1958). As early as the mid-1950s, the decision was made to build a disk gas tank in Lichtenberg and to connect East Berlin to the GDR 's municipal gas network. The gas tank was handed over in October 1961, the gas pipeline and the transfer station only at the end of 1962. After 1964, in-house production fell over the years and amounted to 40% in 1973/1974 and almost 15% in 1978 of total demand in East Berlin.

In January 1977 the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED passed the resolution to switch the gas supply to the capital to natural gas by 1985 . Complete conversion was achieved in October 1990 after twelve years. The VEB Gasversorgung Berlin was merged with the VEB Energieversorgung to form the VEB Energiekombinat Berlin (electricity, district heating and gas supply) with effect from January 1, 1979 .

Gas supply in the western part of the city (1949–1990)

Locomotive 8 (type Henschel DHG 700 C ) in Marienfelde station , 1986

The western part of the Berliner Gaswerke , written as Berliner Gaswerke (GASAG) since 1964 , was run as a municipal company , as in the pre-war period . Gasag was thus removed as a special fund from the general administration of the city and operated independently.

The early years up to 1952 were dominated by construction work. As the former head office remained in the eastern part of the city, there were no working documents or pipe network plans. The island location of West Berlin forced Gasag to promote its own generation of gas. The Mariendorf gasworks was modernized in four stages from 1952 with the help of funds from the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) .

The modernization measures continued in the Charlottenburg gas works in 1959. The focus here was on the creation of storage space to ensure the supply in the winter months with high demand. In 1965, the first light gasoline cracking plant for gas generation went into operation in Charlottenburg . The proportion of gas obtained from coal in West Berlin sank continuously until in April 1980 the last plant used in Mariendorf for coal gasification was shut down. The expansion of the Mariendorf and Charlottenburg plants made it possible to shut down the Tegel gasworks, which had been badly damaged by the war, in 1953 and Neukölln in 1966.

In addition to the in-house production of gas from coal and mineral oil products, the purchase of natural gas has also been discussed since the 1960s. On the other hand, the associated greater dependence, which in the event of a crisis would have endangered the supply of West Berlin. Due to the relaxation in Ostpolitik , a contract between Ruhrgas AG and the Soviet foreign trade company V / O Sojuzgasexport was signed in 1983 , which included West Berlin in Soviet natural gas deliveries . As a result, a gas pipeline was set up via Czechoslovakia and on October 1, 1985 the first Soviet natural gas was fed into the West Berlin network. The western half of the city followed the eastern part of the city, which had been supplied with natural gas since 1979.

Reunification and Privatization (1991–1998)

Logos of the merged companies GASAG and BEAG

The VEB energy Kombinat was after the fall of the wall of the THA on 1 May 1990 in the energy supply Berlin AG (electricity and heat) and the Berlin natural gas AG BEAG converted. In order to promote the operational merger of GASAG and BEAG, the State of Berlin, represented by GASAG, bought 51% of the shares in BEAG from the Treuhandanstalt on November 7, 1991. On the basis of the Municipal Assets Act, GASAG also received the remaining 49% shares. This meant that there were still two gas supply companies in Berlin, but the same management team ensured a uniform business policy.

After difficult negotiations with the works councils and trade unions, on June 25, 1992 the municipal company GASAG was converted into GASAG Berliner Gaswerke Aktiengesellschaft . The “GASAG 2000” concept drawn up by a management consultancy was presented to the managers and staff representatives of both companies in October 1992. It is based on a merger and the establishment of a "customer-oriented, flexible and results-oriented organizational structure" with six independent branches as decentralized units. On June 11, 1993, BEAG merged with GASAG. The new GASAG became the largest municipal gas supply company in Western Europe with around 835,000 gas consumers, a pipe network of around 6,685 kilometers and 3,800 employees.

Because of the drastic minimization of the decades of federal subsidies for the State of Berlin, the Berlin Senate decided in the summer of 1993 to sell GASAG shares. The privatization of GASAG took place in two phases: The first phase of equity shares were respectively 11.95% of the Ruhrgas AG and RWE Energie AG (April 1994), the Bewag (June 1994) and 12.95% of the VEBA Energiebeteiligungs -GmbH sold (June 1995). The State of Berlin was able to continue to act as the majority shareholder with 51.2% remaining equity. The chronic financial distress in the state of Berlin led to the complete privatization of GASAG in the second phase. After an intense bidding competition on February 6, 1998, Gaz de France received 38.16% and Bewag 13.04% of the GASAG shares. The history of urban gas supply ended in the 151st year after it began.

In the spring of 1991, the conversion of the western part of Berlin to natural gas began, which was prematurely terminated in 1996. From February 1993 the town gas generation plants were gradually shut down and the gas works in Charlottenburg and Mariendorf were decommissioned in May 1995 and May 1996 respectively. The rehabilitation of the pipe network and the systematic removal of leaks formed the focus of further technical work in the western part until 2000 and in the eastern part until 2003.

Transformation of the company (1999-2006)

Against the background of millions of dollars in losses in recent years, a far-reaching restructuring program was launched in 1999 that not only halved the number of employees from 2,450 by 2003, but also led to a complete reorganization of the company structure. After hard debates, the management board and works council concluded an agreement in April 1999 on the reconciliation of interests and on the social plan , in which redundancies for operational reasons were not generally excluded. The additional bonus for voluntary, quick decision-making (“ golden handshake ”) was accepted by around 450 employees.

Between 1999 and 2001 GASAG founded four subsidiaries in order to increase its competitiveness and offer new services on the third market. It started with the subsidiary BAS Berliner Abrechnungs- und Servicegesellschaft (today BAS Customer Service) for customer service and billing services on September 1, 1999 . The company's own information processing was outsourced in 2000 to the newly founded subsidiary BerlinDat Gesellschaft für Informationsverarbeitung und Systemtechnik (today: Vattenfall Europe Information Services ) with the Berlin electricity supplier Bewag (later Vattenfall Europe ) . In spring 2001, GASAG outsourced its heating business to GASAG WärmeService (later: GASAG Contracting ) in order to sell more heat generated from natural gas in addition to natural gas. The idea was to offer plant and operations management contracting to private customers in addition to industrial and commercial customers . The fourth outsourced division in 2001 was BEGA.tec Berliner Gasanlagen und Messtechnik for technical services.

With the transfer of an 80% stake to the regional supplier Mark Brandenburg GmbH (EMB) in Potsdam in 2001 from Gaz de France , GASAG operated outside of Berlin for the first time. EMB, which supplies 116,000 end customers to seven municipal utilities and a regional supplier in the state of Brandenburg , acquired minority stakes in the HSW Havelländische Stadtwerke in Werder (Havel) , the gas supply Zehdenick , the EVO natural gas supply Oranienburg and the municipal utilities Brandenburg between 2003 and 2006 . HSW was merged with EMB on October 1, 2012.

In January 2006, GASAG and EMB founded the group subsidiary NBB Netzgesellschaft Berlin-Brandenburg . As an independent network operator, NBB is responsible for the pipeline network of GASAG, EMB and HSW and offers services nationwide.

Development since 2007

In 2008, GASAG launched the GASAG 2015 strategy program . The company wants to strategically align itself with growth in competition and become a leading, Germany-wide partner for energy services and energy efficiency . In 2010 the original seven goals (storage expansion, sales in foreign markets, trading, renewable energies, contracting, smart metering and networks) were reviewed and summarized in four strategic subject areas:

  • Preservation and expansion of the network business, in particular the successful application for the concession agreement for the Berlin gas network, which expires on December 31, 2013
  • Renewable energies: generation and marketing of biogas
  • Energy solutions: Expansion of the contracting business and services in the area of smart metering
  • Sustainable sales: direct sales of electricity in the process of becoming a multi-line company

As part of the future GASAG 2023 strategy project, the 2013 strategy was adjusted again. The focus is on the aspiration to become the “energy manager for Berlin and Brandenburg”. In the potential market for integrated energy solutions, the goals of market activities are the planning, construction and operation of energy systems. In its home market of Berlin, GASAG has lost more than 100,000 customers to competitors since October 2006. The market share for heating gas is around 78%. To compensate for the losses, according to plans from 2008 to 2013, 25 percent of gas sales (around five billion kWh) outside the home market and 25% of sales outside of the previous core business of natural gas sales should be realized. These goals were not achieved. According to the current strategy, the focus is on the areas of Berlin and Brandenburg. GASAG has been offering electricity in Berlin since December 2013, also in competition with shareholder Vattenfall.

As part of its growth targets, GASAG acquired 74.9% of the shares in Stadtwerke Forst , a cross-network company with the gas, electricity, heating and water divisions, at the beginning of 2008 in order to expand its core business . The direct marketing of products was bundled in 2008 in the subsidiary DSE Direkt-Service Energie .

The company NGT Neue Gebäudetechnik , acquired on October 1, 2007, was separated into NGT Contracting and NGT Service in 2008 . With BEGA.tec (Berliner Gasanlagen ), which was founded by GASAG in 2001, the GASAG Group included two companies that provide installation, servicing and maintenance services for energy supply companies. In July 2011, NGT Service was merged with BEGA.tec in order to concentrate capacities in the group and to develop synergies in business activities .

On April 1, 2012, GASAG transferred its business activities in the field of natural gas storage to the newly founded subsidiary BES Berliner Erdgasspeicher GmbH und Co. KG . With this step, GASAG fulfills the requirements of the Energy Industry Act to unbundle the operation of storage facilities from the other activities of the energy supply company and bundle the construction, operation and marketing of storage capacities in the new company. As of April 1, 2013, the two subsidiaries GASAG WärmeService and NGT Contracting , which are active in the contracting business, were merged under the new company name GASAG Contracting , from which GASAG Solution Plus emerged in 2017 .

In a further step in the group's development, GASAG has reorganized the technical services and metering point operation divisions. In order to improve the competitive market chances of the technical service provider BEGA.tec , GASAG sold a total of 81% of its company shares to Dahmen Rohrleitungsbau GmbH & Co. KG on January 1, 2014 . GASAG still holds 19% of the shares in BEGA.tec . The NGT Service division was wound up in the course of the sale. The Essen and Erfurt locations with 26 employees were closed on May 31, 2014.

Concession procedure Berlin

The State of Berlin terminated the concession contract for the gas supply network in Berlin on December 31, 2013, whereby the existing contract will be continued until the new award by the GASAG Group. A three-stage award process has been running since December 2012 under the leadership of the Senate Department for Finance. In March 2014, two remaining providers submitted their final offers: On the one hand, GASAG with its subsidiary NBB Netzgesellschaft Berlin-Brandenburg , and on the other hand, Landesbetrieb Berlin Energie . Berlin Energie has been a legally dependent, separate part of the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment since March 2012.

According to information from the Senator for Finance Ulrich Nussbaum , the concession was to be awarded to Berlin Energie for ten years.

The new award was of considerable strategic and economic importance for the GASAG Group. He has filed a lawsuit with the Berlin Regional Court and a complaint with the Federal Cartel Office against the planned new award, which has since been granted.

The Senate then decided to take over a 51% stake in Gasag and to bring an industrial partner on board. In April 2016, the state announced that close cooperation had been agreed with the energy company E.ON. The Düsseldorf group is the largest shareholder in Gasag with just under 37%. The cooperating companies Vattenfall and Engie, each holding around 31.6%, have refused to sell their shares.

The Berlin Greens then demanded that Berlin pulls back, the Gasag leaves the gas network and instead of buying expensive company shares, the millions better invested in renewable energies.

Economic development (since 1990)

GASAG AG (according to HGB ) 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Sales in € million 383 463 499 456 431 411 499 654 611 660 649 731 965 787
Gas sales in TWh 10.9 12.8 15.7 14.5 14.3 14.8 15.0 17.0 17.8 17.9 18.2 17.8 17.5 15.9
Net income for the year in € million −69 −54 −22 −50 −46 −45 27 55 57 60 54 50 49 49
Balance sheet total in € million k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. 874 915 907 902 922 983 1075
Equity in € m k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. 471 513 516 513 509 505 504
Equity ratio in% 42 k. A. k. A. k. A. 35 k. A. k. A. 54 56 57 57 55 51 47
Cash flow current activity in € m k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. k. A. 47 65 72 62 46 106 −0.1
GASAG AG (according to HGB ) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Sales in € million 925 918 945 921 1053 1044 899
Gas sales in TWh 16.1 17.4 21.8 19.2 21.8 22.8 20.8
Net income for the year in € million 34 55 58 36 33 48 39
Balance sheet total in € million 1631 1600 1782 1732 1589 1568 1536
Equity in € m 490 510 514 550 551 568 549
Equity ratio in% 30th 32 29 32 35 36 36
Cash flow current activity in € m 58 241 −27 147 96 110 169

After the merger of the old GASAG and BEAG, GASAG had a number of structural problems: The old GASAG was run as a municipal operation for decades and was heavily subsidized . Due to the island location of Berlin, the demand for heating gas, which has been increasing since the 1960s, had to be covered by an own, expensive gas production facility. For political reasons, the costs were not passed on to the consumer. In addition, due to the construction of the storage facility in the 1980s, the company incurred financial liabilities that were transferred to GASAG. In addition to these western contaminations, there was the sometimes very poor technical condition of the gas network in the eastern part of the city, which resulted in correspondingly high costs for the renovation and removal of leaks. At its core, the company was sluggish to immobile due to its size and decades of mentality.

GASAG Group (according to IFRS ) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Sales in € million 910 1035 1181 1004 1178 1141 1162 1165 1346 1300 1099 1055 1167
Gas sales in TWh 26.1 25.5 24.8 22.5 21.8 22.1 24.97 22.96 26.19 25.16 20.37
Net income for the year in € million 54 50 49 78 93 91 77 57 −46 61 32 44 57
Balance sheet total in € million 2893 2873 2451 2466 2391 2368 2411 2481 2230 2303 2205 2092 2074
Equity in € m 625 624 647 678 702 760 789 828 733 777 704 695 757
Equity ratio in% 22nd 22nd 26th 27 29 32 33 33 33 34 32 33 36
Cash flow current activity in € m 144 106 224 96 145 321 34 212 80 160 194
ROCE in% k. A. k. A. k. A. 10.6 12.1 11.8 10.5 7.6 −0.5 7.9 6.6

Until 1999 the company reported high annual deficits . The high expenditures for the renovation of the low-pressure network, the accelerated conversion of natural gas in the western supply area and the formation of provisions for the dismantling of urban gas generation plants led to an annual deficit of 134.7 million marks in 1994 . Although considerably more gas was sold in 1995, the shortfall was 105.9 million marks. The high debt capital requirement and the high bank debts led in 1996 to a negative interest result of almost 90 million marks. The loan burden was so high that there was little scope for further development of the company. In order to be able to partially pay off the constantly growing mountain of debt, GASAG used the natural gas storage facility in a sale-lease-back transaction. The company received liquidity without having to do without storage. Bank debts could be reduced by 439 to 856 million marks. Nevertheless, the high proportion of debt capital used to finance the investments continued to burden interest expenses.

The equity ratio fell from 52% in 1992 to 35% in 1998. Disagreements within the management board and between the supervisory board and management board led to a restructuring of the management board in 1998. Against the backdrop of an extremely difficult economic situation and the threat of bankruptcy occurred in 1999 to a far-reaching restructuring program and the beginning of a fundamental change in the group structure.

Development of the number of employees in the GASAG Group 1997–2009

GASAG and BEAG had a total of 4,216 employees in 1991 and at the time of the merger just under 3,800 employees. The number fell to 2,450 by 1998 as a result of early retirement. The implementation of the decisions made at the “round table” between employer and employee representatives in 1999 and the restructuring of GASAG have significantly reduced costs. Another important step towards economic recovery was a sale-and-lease-back transaction carried out at the end of 2000, in which the gas network was sold and then leased back again. For the first time in 2000, GASAG was able to show an annual surplus and in 2001 it was able to distribute dividends to the shareholders. An increasingly agile end-of-gas distributor had developed from the state's former own operation and gas producer, offering services through its subsidiaries and investing in new business areas.

In 2003 and 2004 the company's development remained stable. Gas sales and the share of the heating market increased gradually. The annual result for 2005 and partly also for 2004 was significantly affected by the gas storage accident. In the course of the more intense gas-to-gas competition, GASAG lost around 22% of the heating gas market to competitors in the period from the liberalization of the energy market from 2006 to 2012 (2011: 19%, 2010: 17%, 2009: 13%, 2008 : 11%). At the same time, up to 2011 around 11% of the GASAG Group's natural gas sales were generated outside of Berlin.

The 2012 financial year of the GASAG Group was characterized by an unscheduled depreciation on the Berlin natural gas storage facility in the amount of 144.9 million euros and a resulting annual deficit of 46 million euros. The result normalized again in 2013 at 61 million euros. The Group's gas sales in 2013 fell by 3.8% to 25.2 million kWh compared to 2012, while sales revenue fell by 3.5% to 1,300 million euros.

Personnel costs rose to 106 million euros in 2015; 1.3 million euros of this went to the three board members.

Group structure

The companies of the GASAG group

(As of October 31, 2019)
  • BAS Customer Service GmbH & Co. KG
  • BEGA.tec GmbH
  • CG Netz-Werk GmbH
  • BES Berliner Erdgasspeicher GmbH
  • DSE Direct-Service Energie GmbH
  • EMB Energie Mark Brandenburg GmbH
  • G2Plus GmbH
  • GASAG AG
  • GASAG Bio-Erdgas Schwedt GmbH
  • GASAG Solution Plus GmbH
  • GASAG Windpark Verwaltungs GmbH
  • Geo-En Energy Technologies GmbH
  • infreSt - infrastructure eStrasse GmbH
  • KKI Competence Center Critical Infrastructures GmbH
  • NBB Netzgesellschaft Berlin-Brandenburg mbH & Co. KG
  • SpreeGas company for gas supply and energy services mbH
  • Stadtwerke Forst GmbH
Source: Gasag AG

Subsidiaries

GASAG reacted to the increasing competition in the energy market by founding subsidiaries and acquiring investments. The group subsidiaries include:

fully consolidated companies:

logo society Products capital
share
BAS Customer Service Beteiligungs-GmbH, Berlin 100%
BAS Customer Service GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin Customer service and billing services 100%
Berliner Erdgasspeicher GmbH & Co. KG Construction and operation of natural gas storage facilities; Marketing of storage services 100%
Berliner Erdgasspeicher Verwaltungs-GmbH, Berlin 100%
Begatec Logo.svg BEGA.tec GmbH, Berlin Maintenance and repair of power engineering systems; Meter management 100%
Bio-Erdgas Neudorf GmbH, Groß Pankow (Prignitz) Construction and operation of plants for the production of biogas, heat, electricity 74.9%
Dse-Logo.svg DSE Direkt-Service Energie GmbH, Berlin Sale of products and services in the energy industry and building services 100%
EMB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Potsdam 100%
EMB-Logo.svg EMB Energie Mark Brandenburg GmbH, Potsdam Sales and trading in energy 73.30%
GASAG Bio-Erdgas Schwedt GmbH, Schwedt / Oder Construction and operation of plants for the production of biogas, heat, electricity 100%
GASAG Solution Plus, Berlin
(since April 1, 2017 merger of umetriq and GASAG Contracting) 		Planning, construction and operation of energy and heat supply systems as well as metering point operation 100%
Geo-EN Energy Technologies GmbH Supplier of energy systems for heating and cooling from regenerative sources 100%
InfreSt Logo.png infrest - Infrastructure eStrasse GmbH, Berlin Line information portal for sending line inquiries, construction site atlas for construction site coordination 67.36%
KKI - Competence Center Critical Infrastructures GmbH, Berlin 74.9%
NBB Netz-Beteiligungs-GmbH, Berlin 100%
NBB-Logo.svg NBB Netzgesellschaft Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin Operation networks, services 100%
Netzgesellschaft Forst (Lausitz) mbH & Co. KG, Forst (Lausitz) 100%
Solar Project 19 GmbH & Co. KG, Cottbus 100%
Spreegas-Logo.svg SpreeGas company for gas supply and energy services mbH, Cottbus Natural gas supply, energy service 66.34%
Sw-forst rgb.jpg Stadtwerke Forst GmbH, Forst (Lausitz) Supply of electricity, gas, water and district heating 74.9%
VR-Leasing Solidus Siebte GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, Eschborn 100%
Dahme-Wahlsdorf GmbH & Co.KG wind farm, Zossen 100%

Companies accounted for using the equity method:

logo society Products capital
share
ARGE heat delivery, Cottbus 50%
Berliner Energieagentur GmbH, Berlin 25%
Gas and Utilities Cottbus GmbH, Cottbus 37%
Gas supply Zehdenick GmbH, Zehdenick 25.1%
GreenGas production plant Rathenow GmbH & Co. KG, Rathenow 49%
GreenGas Rathenow Verwaltungs GmbH, Rathenow 49%
Rathenower Netz GmbH, Rathenow 35%
Tevaro GmbH, Berlin 33.33%
NGK Netzgesellschaft Kyritz GmbH, Kyritz 49%
Netzgesellschaft Hennigsdorf Gas mbH, Hennigsdorf 50%
Network company Hohen Neuendorf Gas GmbH & Co. KG, Hohen Neuendorf 49%
WGI GmbH, Dortmund 49%

other proportions:

logo society Products capital
share
local energy GmbH, Greifswald 19.8%
Partner for Berlin - Society for Capital Marketing Ltd., Berlin <1%
Stadtwerke Brandenburg an der Havel GmbH, Brandenburg an der Havel 12.25%
Stadtwerke Premnitz GmbH, Premnitz 10%

In the past, the following companies also belonged to the GASAG Group:

logo society Products capital
share 		Employee
HSW Havelländische Stadtwerke GmbH, Werder (Havel)
(merged into EMB Energie Mark Brandenburg on October 1, 2012) 		Sales and trading in energy 91.155% 15th
NGT-Contracting-Logo.gif NGT Contracting GmbH, Essen
(merged into GASAG Contracting on April 1, 2013) 		Energy contracting 100% 16
NGT-Service-Logo.svg NGT Service GmbH, Erfurt
(merged into BEGA.tec on July 1, 2011) 		Adaptation of gas appliances, house connection and meter service 100% 11

Shareholders

proportion of Shareholders
36.85% E.ON Beteiligungen GmbH
31.575% Engie Beteiligungs GmbH
31.575% Vattenfall GmbH

The shareholders of GASAG, which has been fully privatized since 1998, are E.ON Beteiligungen GmbH (formerly E.ON Energy Sales GmbH), which belongs to the E.ON Group , the holding company of the international energy supply group Engie and the German subsidiary Vattenfall GmbH of the Swedish state group Vattenfall .

Corporate governance

The GASAG Executive Board consists of three members. The CEO Gerhard Holtmeier has been the CEO of GASAG since April 2018. Before joining GASAG, he was a member of the Management Board of Thüga AG from 2010 to the end of 2017 . There he was responsible for the energy industry, general law, corporate law, taxes and corporate development (M&A) departments. In addition, he was active in various supervisory bodies of municipal and regional energy suppliers of the Thüga Group. He has also been involved in associations on both a German and a European level. a. BDEW, VKU and Zukunft Erdgas as well as Eurogas and NGVA Europe (Brussels).

The second business area is responsible for trading, sales and renewable energies. This board position has been filled by Matthias Trunk since September 2016 (previously: SWN Stadtwerke Neumünster). The third member of the Management Board has been Michael Kamsteeg since 2017 and in this position is responsible for finance (previously: E.ON ).

In addition to the chairman Michael Hegel, the supervisory board consists of 20 other members:

  • as representative of the shareholders: three representatives each for ENGIE, Vattenfall and E.ON Ruhrgas as well as a company-independent representative of the shareholders
  • as employee representative: Deputy Chairman Andreas Otte, eight employees of the group and a company-independent representative of the union

Commitment to the environment

GASAG supports the Senate's goal of reducing CO 2 emissions in Berlin by 40 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. The capital produced 20.2 million tons of CO 2 in 2009 compared to 29.3 million tons in 1990 (minus 31 percent).

Since 1998, the State of Berlin and GASAG have concluded four cooperation agreements on commitment to efficient and environmentally friendly energy supply. During the term of the first three contracts (1998–2010), CO 2 emissions were reduced by a total of 1.11 million tons. In the 3rd cooperation agreement “Climate Protection and Air Pollution Control ” (2006–2010) concluded in May 2006, GASAG committed itself to reducing annual CO 2 emissions by 52,000 tons. According to the final report on the implementation of the contract, the savings target was exceeded. In the current, fourth cooperation agreement (2011–2020), GASAG plans to further reduce CO 2 emissions by 900,000 tons by 2020 to two million tons compared to the start of the first cooperation agreement in 1998.

GASAG is a member of the Working Group for Economical and Environmentally Friendly Energy Consumption (ASUE), an interest group for the dissemination and further development of environmentally friendly natural gas applications.

Decentralized energy supply

GASAG is promoting the expansion of decentralized combined heat and power plants , which can be divided into different size classes. In the upper performance segment, block-type thermal power stations are used, for example, to supply settlements and large consumers. The subsidiary GASAG Solution Plus offers the housing industry as well as industrial and commercial customers contracting models.

In the middle segment, GASAG has been promoting the introduction of mini-cogeneration units ( mini-cogeneration ) since 2004 . These are combined heat and power systems (CHP systems) with a connected load of 0 to 50 kW el . In contrast to thermal power plants , which are only designed to produce electricity, a much higher degree of utilization is achieved in CHP systems due to the simultaneous output of electricity and heat . CHP can therefore save fuel .

In the lower performance segment, the micro-CHP systems , "electricity-generating heaters" provide electricity and heat in one and two-family houses as well as in small businesses. With the so-called “WhisperGen”, Berlin's first micro-CHP system developed for a single-family home went into operation in July 2006. As of August 2009, around 30 systems were in the field test. After the start of WhisperGen series production, GASAG wanted to sell the systems in large numbers from the beginning of 2010 through its subsidiary DSE Direkt-Service Energie . After the insolvency of the mini-CHP manufacturer EHE in December 2012, the sale of the Whispergen Stirling engines was temporarily suspended.

Renewable Energies

The GASAG Group operates three biogas plants in Brandenburg. The nine million euro plant in Rathenow has been feeding around 44 million kWh of biomethane per year into the natural gas network and around 2315 MWh of electrical energy from a block-type thermal power station into the public electricity network . The plant works on the basis of renewable raw materials , which are grown by farmers in the region as corn , grass and rye whole plant silage . The system contributes to a reduction in CO 2 emissions of 15,000 tons per year. Since November 2011, another plant in Schwedt / Oder has been producing around 60 million kWh of biomethane annually. The twelve million euro plant processes 65,000 tons of silage per year and thus covers the heating and hot water requirements of around 3,000 households. A third system went into operation in the summer of 2012 in Neudorf ( Groß Pankow municipality ). According to GASAG, the original goal of building a total of 15 biogas plants by 2015 cannot be achieved due to the market situation (regulatory environment, energy prices).

Since 2007, GASAG has been promoting the installation of large solar collector systems (over 20 square meters of collector surface) in gas-supplied or new buildings as part of the “Erdgas + Solar XXL” solar thermal campaign .

GASAG has been operating its own photovoltaic system with an output of 100  kilowatts on the site of the former Mariendorf gasworks since 2009 . With an investment volume of around 4.3 million euros, this was expanded into Berlin's largest photovoltaic system in 2011. 7756 solar modules generate an output of 1.8 megawatts, with which around 2000 households can be supplied.

A geothermal pilot project for regenerative energy supply is to be set up on the premises of the European Energy Forum (EUREF) around the Schöneberger Gasometer . To this end, GASAG began exploring the use of geothermal energy in 2009. In the spring of 2010, GASAG agreed a collaboration with the International Geothermal Center at the Helmholtz Center Potsdam German Research Center for Geosciences . In March 2011 the exploration work for geothermal energy was continued with the implementation of a seismic measurement campaign on the Tempelhofer Feld . There are underground hot water reservoirs at various depths under the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district . The expected temperature ranges range from 25 degrees Celsius in the near-surface useful horizon to 150 degrees Celsius in the deepest horizon at a depth of around 4,000 meters. GASAG estimates that deep geothermal energy in Berlin can only be used economically with difficulty under today's framework conditions . A geothermal development is not planned.

Innovative Technologies

In 2011, the GASAG Group promoted the retrofitting and purchase of new natural gas vehicles in 197 cases. The use of natural gas as a fuel has developed continuously in recent years. At the end of 2011, around 4,200 natural gas vehicles were driving in Berlin (end of 2008: 2,850, end of 2003: 732). According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority , 406 new natural gas vehicles were registered in Berlin in 2011. In 2012, the GASAG Group's vehicle fleet included 161 natural gas vehicles.

The Berliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR) used around 100 gas-powered garbage trucks in 2012 . Up until now, the refueling has been done with natural gas purchased from GASAG. In 2013 a new BSR biogas plant was put into operation in Ruhleben and the biogas produced there is fed into the NBB network. This should save around 2.5 million liters of diesel per year at three BSR depots, each with up to 50 garbage trucks .

Since autumn 2009, GASAG has been adding around 23 million kWh of biomethane to the fuel at its twelve natural gas filling stations . This corresponds to around a third of sales of over 70 million kWh. By adding up to 20 percent biogas to natural gas, GASAG is meeting the requirements of the voluntary commitment of the German gas industry ahead of schedule.

The heat pump operated with natural gas is another CO 2 -reducing technology. In a two-year, nationwide field test up to 2008, practical experience was gained with a total of 22 gas heat pumps. GASAG tested eight devices in Berlin which resulted in energy savings of around 20 percent compared to condensing technology . From 2011 to the end of 2012, GASAG was again actively involved in the gas heat pump initiative in the form of field tests in the development of gas heat pumps for single and two-family houses.

Berlin institutions related to GASAG

Natural gas storage

GASAG has an underground storage facility on Glockenturmstrasse in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district , which is approved for around 1.1 billion m³ of natural gas. The aquifer is located about 800 meters deep under an area that begins west of the Berlin Olympic Stadium and extends into the Grunewald and the surrounding waters.

The storage facility was built at the request of the western allies before West Berlin, which until then had produced its own gas in the city , was allowed to obtain Russian natural gas via gas pipelines. The storage facility was designed for consumption in West Berlin for one year and was used from September 1992. Today the storage facility, to which wells have been drilled from four different locations, is used to cover seasonal requirements. Its volume ensures around a fifth of today's annual gas consumption in Berlin. In connection with the expansion of the storage facility planned by 2015 to its total permissible capacity of 1.085 billion m³, two deep boreholes were carried out in 2009. The decommissioning of the Berlin natural gas storage facility was decided in 2016.

Open-air gas lantern museum

Information board open-air museum

In 1978 the Senate Department for Building, Housing and Transport in cooperation with GASAG opened the Open-Air Museum for Gas Lanterns. The exhibition is located in the immediate vicinity of the Tiergarten S-Bahn station and, with 90 historical exhibits from 25 German and eleven other European cities, is the largest of its kind in Europe.

Dismantling of Berlin's gas lighting

Example of a ham lamp

The services of operation, maintenance and repair of gas lights previously carried out by GASAG were privatized in January 2001 and transferred to AT.Lux . The Senate Department for Urban Development is planning to replace the majority of the 44,000 or so gas lamps in the western part of the city with electric lights. The reason for this are planned savings in the millions in consumption and maintenance. The ham lights , of which around 5,600 are mostly in tourist areas, are to be preserved. In a first step, around 8,400 whip lights are to be replaced by 2013 at a cost of 25 million euros . In a second step from 2014, the dismantling of a further 30,000 gas lights is planned. With ProGaslicht e. V. , Gaslicht-Kultur e. V. and think of Berlin e. V. three associations are committed to maintaining the gas lights.

The Shell House

GASAG in the Shell house

The GASAG departments, which had previously been spread across Berlin at six locations, moved to the new headquarters in Shell in April 2000 . The Shell House is a listed building on Reichpietschufer . It was built between 1930 and 1932 based on a design by the architect Emil Fahrenkamp . The five- to ten-storey building is one of the first steel-framed high-rise buildings in Berlin and is one of the most important office buildings of the Weimar Republic .

In mid-March 2011, the company said goodbye to the Shell house and moved into a new main building in Hackescher Quartier . The new, rented company headquarters at Henriette-Herz-Platz 4 is an energy-efficient building. The largest tenant with a total of 8,500 m² is GASAG AG with various subsidiaries and the customer center. The subsidiary NBB has rented an additional 5,000 m².

Gasometer Schöneberg

gasometer

The Schöneberg Gasometer is the name given to a listed low-pressure gas tank in the Schöneberg district that was used until January 1995 . The "European Energy Forum" ( EUREF ), an interdisciplinary platform on all aspects of energy, is being built on the site sold by GASAG in 2007 . The core of the project is the establishment of an energy university. Starting in the 2012/13 winter semester, the Technical University of Berlin will be offering three interdisciplinary master’s courses on the subject of “City and Energy” on the new TU EUREF campus .

Public perceptions

Positive perceptions

As a traditional company in Berlin, GASAG sees itself as having a social responsibility and promotes culture, sport, the environment, education and science in the capital through numerous initiatives. The focus of the commitment is primarily on projects that are dedicated to promoting young talent.

The GASAG Art Prize was developed with the Berlin University of the Arts and from 1998 to 2001 was a prize to promote master class students . After a five-year collaboration with the university, the collaboration ended at the end of 2001. With the new partner Kunstfabrik am Flutgraben e. V. , the art prize has been awarded annually since 2002 as an award for young talent . The GASAG Art Prize has been awarded every two years in cooperation with the Berlinische Galerie since 2010 .

From 2002 to 2007 the corridors, stairwells and traffic areas in the Shell House were artistically designed on a total of six floors under the title “Art under Construction”. In this way a collection of current works of contemporary art was created. Since GASAG cannot show the collection at its current location in Hackescher Quartier, it handed over the collection - apart from the wall and roof work - to the Berlinische Galerie on permanent loan in spring 2010 .

In 2017, GASAG supported the Berlin Art Week for the first time . In addition, the company has its own exhibition space in the Hackescher Quartier, the GASAG Kunstraum. Three exhibitions by contemporary Berlin artists are shown here every year. Admission is free.

Presentation of the German ice hockey champion and cup winner 2008

The Neukölln Opera organizes the GASAG-sponsored composition competition Berliner Opernpreis every two years . The opera prize honors young composers and collectives for convincing compositional and musical theatrical designs.

Together with the children's and youth theater GRIPS , GASAG awards the Berlin Children's Theater Prize every year in a young talent competition for contemporary children 's theater . For the ACADEMY social sponsorship project initiated in 2003 , a stage arts school for young people in Berlin, GASAG received the German Culture Promotion Prize in 2007 .

GASAG has been the main sponsor of the Eisbären Berlin ice hockey club in the professional and junior sector since 1995 . The team plays in the Mercedes-Benz-Arena , which opened in September 2008 and where GASAG is the energy supplier.

GASAG is still committed to environmental education in the capital. Together with the Berlin Senate Administrations for Education, Youth and Family, as well as Environment, Transport and Climate Protection, the company initiated the Berlin Climate School pupil competition and has been promoting the Ökowerk Berlin nature conservation center on Teufelssee in Grunewald since 2009 .

GASAG has been certified for excellent service quality by TÜV Süd every year since 2008 .

Negative perceptions

Gas accidents

On December 8, 1995, a drunken householder removed the plug from a gas pipe. There was an explosion on Glienicker Strasse in Köpenick and seven people were injured. The worst gas accident in Berlin's post-war history occurred in August 1998 in Steglitz . Seven people were killed in the explosion of an apartment building. The suspect was a 13-year-old boy whose guilt could never be proven beyond doubt. The public prosecutor's office investigated unknown persons in August 2000 for attempted murder. The gas pipe in the basement of a house in Charlottenburg was manipulated and nine people were injured, some seriously. In January 2005, a suicide manipulated a gas pipe in a house in Oberschöneweide . The explosion destroyed the four-story house and left two people injured.

During cleaning and maintenance work on April 23, 2004 there was an explosion with subsequent fire at the probe location of the GASAG natural gas storage facility. Three people suffered serious injuries. According to a report commissioned by the Berlin public prosecutor's office, the explosion was triggered by the use of hydrogen peroxide to clean a clogged filter at a depth of 900 meters. Oxygen was split off from the hydrogen peroxide in the borehole and combined with the natural gas to form an ignitable mixture. Around two and a half years after the explosion, the public prosecutor's office has completed the investigation into financial restrictions. Those responsible are to be blamed for having misjudged the risk of an explosion. However, they would have made a serious effort to assess the potential risk correctly and to avoid accidents. The storage facility was resumed because the cause of the explosion indicates a technical error, but does not question the safety of the storage facility.

Pricing policy

GASAG has come under heavy criticism due to two price increases in 2006. According to GASAG, 41,000 letters of complaint were received. Almost all of these customers stated that they would only pay their bills with reservations. 3000 customers reduced their invoice amount. The Berlin consumer center filed a class action lawsuit at the Berlin district court because of unreasonable price increases . The regional court ruled in June 2006 that the GASAG price increase on October 1, 2005 was illegal and therefore ineffective. This judgment was confirmed by the Court of Appeal on October 28, 2008. On October 26, 2010 GASAG's appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal was rejected by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).

In another case, on July 15, 2009, the BGH ruled on the validity of a price adjustment clause that GASAG used from May 2005 to the end of 2006 in almost all contracts with its heating gas customers. During this time, GASAG increased gas prices twice. The BGH missed the express obligation to correct the price downwards if necessary and declared the clause to be ineffective. In the opinion of the Berlin consumer center, customers who would only have paid the higher prices with reservations can request a reimbursement of the gas prices paid too much. The consumer advice center also expects from GASAG that the repayment applies to all customers. GASAG replies that there are no claims for repayment on the part of customers. The BHG did not make a decision as to whether the complaining individual customer was entitled to recovery claims and whether his gas price was reasonable. However, the appropriateness of the price increases has been confirmed in a large number of legal proceedings before Berlin courts. GASAG only made price increases to the extent to which the upstream suppliers increased the gas price. This was assessed by an independent auditor for each increase. If GASAG had used a price adjustment clause that was not objected to by the BGH, its customers would never have paid a different price. In September 2010 , the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a complaint by GASAG about the BGH ruling on the basis of a violation of the fundamental right to freedom of occupation .

The Federal Cartel Office discontinued price abuse proceedings against GASAG that were carried out in 2008 with regard to 2007, as price abuse could not be determined for this period. According to the Federal Cartel Office, GASAG has not passed on a considerable amount of its own increased gas procurement costs to end customers. The investigations with regard to the year 2008 were also discontinued due to the particularities of the Berlin gas market as well as the anti-competitive measures offered by GASAG and the promise to bring forward a price reduction to February 1, 2009.

Alleged formation of an anti-competitive quota cartel

The news magazine Der Spiegel reported in April 2012 about the possible illegal formation of a quota cartel by GASAG co-owners and gas suppliers E.ON and GDF Suez . Background: On September 29, 1999, E.ON, Vattenfall and GDF Suez, as shareholders of GASAG, reached a “Basic Agreement” on a long-term “sharing” of GASAG's gas requirements. In the contracts, the gas price was linked to the oil price for a period of 20 years . According to the contract, GDF Suez should deliver around 200 million cubic meters of gas annually. The remainder was shared between the energy provider VNG - Verbundnetz Gas and E.ON. Since GDF could not deliver gas to Berlin due to the lack of a pipeline, E.ON delivered the gas to GASAG. In return, GDF is said to have promised to enable E.ON gas deliveries to France. The quantities are said to have been offset at the border. That would be a violation of antitrust law . E.ON and GDF Suez deny having entered into anti-competitive agreements.

Due to the excess supply of natural gas that has been recorded since 2009 , the gas price development on the European gas trading centers has decoupled from the oil price. Since then, natural gas has been available on the trading markets well below the import prices officially quoted by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control . According to GASAG, its own competitiveness suffers "from the high, non-market-driven gas procurement costs that are not in line with the market and are stipulated in long-term supply contracts". Due to the intense competition on the Berlin market, GASAG has lost a considerable amount of customers and GASAG's trading result has fallen since 2009. The damage to GASAG between 2008 and 2011 will amount to around 110 million euros.

Starting in 2009, GASAG has been negotiating oil-based prices with upstream suppliers. After the negotiations had failed at the beginning of 2011, GASAG filed a lawsuit against GDF Suez with the Berlin Regional Court in April 2011 . All contracts with E.ON and GDF Suez are void, argue the GASAG lawyers, because they are based on the allegedly anti-competitive quota cartel founded in 1999. A claim for arbitration was filed against E.ON Ruhrgas . In October 2011, in parallel negotiations, a settlement was concluded between GASAG and GDF Suez, which GASAG's Supervisory Board approved. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Karl Kauermann, who was in office until December 31, 2011, has filed an action for annulment against this resolution of the Supervisory Board. From Kauermann's point of view, the settlement was a unilateral concession on the part of the management board at the expense of GASAG. The regional court dismissed the lawsuit in July 2012.

In May and October 2012, GASAG concluded amicable agreements with E.ON Ruhrgas and VNG to terminate long-term gas supply contracts linked to the price of oil and new gas supply contracts at competitive terms.

literature

  • Hilmar Bärthel: The history of the gas supply in Berlin . GASAG (Ed.), Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1997, ISBN 978-3-87584-630-0 .
  • GASAG: Annual Report 2011, ISSN  1439-6114 , ( PDF; 1.6 MB ).
  • Brigitte Jacob: Emil Fahrenkamp: Buildings and projects for Berlin . Jovis Verlag, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-939633-31-0 .
  • Landesarchiv Berlin: Public Finding aid for 2006, B Rep. 155, Berliner Gaswerke (GASAG). State Archives, Berlin 2006
  • Landesarchiv Berlin: Public Finding Aid, A Rep. 259, gas supply company in Berlin ( PDF; 2.6 MB ).
  • Ulrike Schuster: Chronicle of the Berliner Gaswerke Aktiengesellschaft 1994-2005 . GASAG (Ed.), Trurnit & Partner Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-9806986-7-2 .

Web links

Commons : Gasag  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ Bärthel, p. 16 ff.
  3. ↑ Bärthel, p. 24 ff.
  4. ↑ Bärthel, p. 78
  5. ↑ Bärthel, p. 79
  6. ↑ Bärthel, pp. 80/81
  7. ↑ Bärthel, pp. 81-89
  8. ↑ Bärthel, pp. 90-96
  9. ↑ Bärthel, pp. 97-106
  10. ↑ Bärthel, pp. 107-109
  11. ^ Bernhard Bremberger: Research on Forced Labor in Germany . (accessed July 20, 2014)
  12. ↑ Klaus Neitmann (Ed.): Yearbook for the history of Central and Eastern Germany . From volume 45. Journal for comparative and Prussian national history . Vol. 53; ISBN 978-3-598-23202-2 , Verlag KG Saur, pp. 227/279.
  13. ↑ BSR, BVG and Bewag pay NS compensation . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 19, 2000, accessed on July 20, 2014
  14. ↑ Bärthel, pp. 136–151
  15. ↑ Landesarchiv: Findbuch p. 5
  16. ↑ Bärthel, pp. 161-163
  17. ↑ Schuster: pp. 17/18 and 75–78
  18. ↑ Gasag board of directors plans to cut more than 1000 jobs . In: Berliner Zeitung , March 23, 1999
  19. ↑ Gasag is outsourcing its billing service . In: Die Welt , July 1, 1999, accessed July 20, 2014
  20. ↑ Schuster, pp. 106-110
  21. ↑ GASAG: Annual Report 2008, p. 4, 35/36
  22. ^ Strategy program GASAG 2015. ( Memento from May 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) GASAG; accessed March 31, 2013
  23. ↑ GASAG: Annual Report 2008, p. 4
  24. ↑ Senate Department for Finance: New award of the gas concession contract (accessed on July 20, 2014)
  25. ↑ Concession for Berlin Energie - says Nussbaum . In: Der Tagesspiegel , June 4, 2014, accessed on July 20, 2014
  26. ↑ Gas prices are falling in West Berlin . In: Berliner Zeitung , June 17, 1997, accessed on July 20, 2014
  27. ↑ Warm winter hails the first Gasag balance sheet after privatization . In: Der Tagesspiegel , March 20, 1998, accessed on July 20, 2014
  28. ↑ Annual Report 2015, p. 104
  29. ^ The companies of the GASAG Group . GASAG AG. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  30. ↑ GASAG Annual Report 2014 ( Memento of November 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), p. 57
  31. ↑ GASAG: Overview of the Supervisory Board Members ( Memento from October 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  32. ↑ Statistical report E IV 4 – j / 09, energy and CO 2 balance in Berlin 2009 . (PDF; 254 kB) Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office, p. 33
  33. ↑ Appendix 1 to the Climate Protection Agreement 2011-2020 , December 8, 2010. ( Memento from May 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 69 kB) Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment
  34. ^ Final report on the implementation of the cooperation agreement 2006–2010 . (PDF; 205 kB) Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment, November 2012
  35. ↑ Climate Protection Agreement 2011–2020 “Berlin obliges” ( Memento from May 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 144 kB) Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment
  36. ↑ Sales of Whispergen Stirling engines temporarily suspended due to bankruptcy . PresseBox, December 3, 2012 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  37. ↑ Natural gas + Solar XXL practical guide . ( Memento of July 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.5 MB; accessed July 20, 2014) GASAG
  38. ↑ GASAG puts Berlin's largest PV system into operation . ( Memento of July 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) GASAG, March 30, 2011 (accessed on July 20, 2014)
  39. ↑ Deep geothermal energy - a new energy for Berlin? GASAG's first project experiences, May 23, 2012 ( Memento from May 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 6.7 MB; accessed on July 20, 2014) GASAG
  40. ↑ GASAG: Sustainability Report 2012 , p. 65 ( Memento of July 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 6.1 MB; accessed on July 20, 2014)
  41. ^ The BSR bio natural gas project . (PDF 6.6 MB; accessed July 20, 2014) BSR
  42. ↑ GASAG aquifer storage facility. State Office for Mining, Geology and Raw Materials Brandenburg (with memory image) (accessed on July 20, 2014)
  43. ↑ New tunnels for more energy . In: Der Tagesspiegel , May 27, 2009 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  44. ↑ [2]
  45. ↑ History of gas lighting in Berlin Berliner Verkehrsseiten (accessed on July 20, 2014)
  46. ^ Senate puts Berlin gas lamps in the museum . ( Memento from July 12, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) April 11, 2008 worldpress.com (accessed on July 20, 2014)
  47. ^ Association for the preservation and promotion of gas light as a cultural asset. ProGaslicht e. V. (accessed on July 20, 2014)
  48. ↑ Big plans on Hackescher Markt . In: Der Tagesspiegel , January 30, 2008 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  49. ↑ Site plan ( Memento from May 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (JPG; 210 kB) REM + tec project development (accessed on July 20, 2014)
  50. ↑ Studying in the energy-efficient city of tomorrow . ( Memento from January 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Technische Universität Berlin (accessed on July 20, 2014)
  51. ^ Art Prize ( Memento from August 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) GASAG (accessed on July 20, 2014)
  52. ^ Art under construction. ( Memento from May 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) GASAG (accessed July 20, 2014)
  53. ↑ http://www.kulturkreis.eu/images/stories/downloads/pb_deutscher_kulturfoerderpreis/gewinner2007.pdf (link not available)
  54. ↑ Residents were lucky in misfortune . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 8, 1995 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  55. ^ The wounds of Lepsiusstrasse . In: Der Tagesspiegel , August 4, 1998 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  56. ↑ Gas explosion: investigators suspect attack . In: Die Welt , August 15, 2000 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  57. ↑ 45-year-old wanted to die: He blew up a house . In: Berliner Zeitung , January 25, 2005 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  58. ↑ Explosion from wrong chemical . In: Berliner Zeitung , August 3, 2004 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  59. ^ After the gas storage explosion in Spandau: No trial . In: Die Welt , November 14, 2006 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  60. ↑ Gasag grows as far as Saxony . In: Der Tagesspiegel , April 26, 2006 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  61. ↑ Regional Court Berlin, Az .: 34 O 611/05, June 19, 2006 ( PDF; 448 kB )
  62. ↑ http://www.energieverbrauch.de/files_db/1247043110_2927__12.pdf (link not available)
  63. ^ Federal Court of Justice, Az .: VIII ZR 312/08, January 26, 2010
  64. ↑ Federal Court of Justice: Ineffective price adjustment clause in special gas supply contract , July 15, 2009
  65. ↑ Gasag disappoints 300,000 customers . In: Der Tagesspiegel , August 25, 2009 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  66. ↑ The ruling strengthens the rights of Gasag customers . In: Der Tagesspiegel , September 15, 2009 (accessed July 20, 2014)
  67. ^ Frank Dohmen, Martin Hesse: Festgezurrte prices . In: Der Spiegel . No. 14 , 2012, p. 74-76 ( online ).
  68. ↑ Annual Report 2011 . ( Memento of May 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF 1.6 MB) GASAG, p. 41
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on September 26, 2009 in this version .

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