TIWAG

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TIWAG-Tiroler Wasserkraft AG

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1924
Seat Eduard-Wallnöfer-Platz 2
Innsbruck , Austria
management
Number of employees
  • 1133 employees
  • 0138 workers
  • 0042 apprentices
sales 1099.1 million euros (Group) or 808.5 million euros (TIWAG)
Branch Power generation , power trading , power distribution
Website www.tiwag.at
Status: 2017

The TIWAG- Tyrolean Hydropower AG is a power generation and distribution company based in Innsbruck and the largest power company in Tirol . TIWAG is a member of the Austrian electricity network and is wholly owned by the state of Tyrol. In 2005 the group achieved sales of € 1 billion for the first time.

The company produces the electricity mainly through hydropower in nine large and medium-sized power plants (over 10 MW expansion capacity) and 34 small hydropower plants. In addition to run-of- river power plants , TIWAG has, among other things , the Kühtai power plant (Sellrain-Silz power plant group), a pumped storage power plant that is used to provide system services for transmission networks. In 2017, 3,015.7 GWh of electricity were generated and 18,874.5 GWh were sold.

history

After the city of Innsbruck had bought the Achensee  from the Fiecht monastery in 1919 , it founded the Tiroler Wasserkraftwerke AG under the leadership of Mayor Anton Eder together with a bank consortium and the state of Tyrol in 1924, in which the city holds almost half of the shares and together with the state the majority held. The first power plant was the Achensee power plant with an output of 79 MW, which went into operation in 1927 and was the largest storage power plant in Austria at the time. It was not only able to cover Innsbruck's electricity needs, but also to supply other Tyrolean locations and the Austrian Federal Railways with electricity.

In 1934 there was a merger with the Zillertaler Kraftwerk AG. From 1938 to 1945 TIWAG was part of the German Alpen-Elektrowerke-AG (AEW) . During the Second World War , the Kirchbichl run-of-river power plant (commissioned in 1941) and the lower level of the Gerlos power plant were built with the help of forced labor. The Gerlos power plant is now part of the Verbund power plants .

Over the years, the systems in Imst (commissioning 1956), Kaunertal (1964) and Sellrain-Silz (1981) were built. Later the Strassen-Amlach power plant was added on the Drau (1988) and the Langkampfen run-of-river power plant on the Inn (1998). Since 2014 the joint power plant Inn (GKI) has been built on the Upper Inn in the Swiss-Austrian border area , a joint project by TIWAG (86%), Engadiner Kraftwerke (14%), in which Verbund AG was initially involved. Today, the core business areas are power generation, power procurement and trading, power transmission (networks) and sales.

Company profile

The company is a corporation based in Innsbruck, which employs 1,335 people (as of 2015). The company is 100% owned by the State of Tyrol. From power plant construction to power generation, trading and regulated network business to the end customer market, TIWAG covers the entire value chain in the electricity sector. In 2015 the electricity supply to Tyrolean customers amounted to approx. 4,600 GWh. Own generation amounted to 3,356.1 GWh and electricity sales to 17,456.9 GWh.

Power is distributed to over 220,000 extraction points via TINETZ-Tiroler Netze GmbH (100% subsidiary). The TIWAG Group offers energy services in the gas and heating segment through TIGAS-Erdgas Tirol GmbH (86% subsidiary).

TIWAG publishes detailed information and the balance sheet for the financial year every year in its annual report, which can be viewed online and can be downloaded. In addition, TIWAG publishes a sustainability report every two years, which highlights the ecological, economic and social sustainability of current and completed TIWAG projects and measures. This can also be accessed and downloaded from the TIWAG homepage.

Affiliated companies and significant holdings

Investments according to the 2015 annual report :

  • Achenseeschiffahrt-GesmbH (ASG), Pertisau (100%)
  • TINETZ-Tiroler Netze GmbH , Thaur (100%)
  • Ökoenergie Tirol GmbH, Innsbruck (100%)
  • Wasser Tirol - Wasserdienstleistungs-GmbH, Innsbruck (100%)
  • Stadtwärme Lienz Production and Distribution GmbH, Lienz (100%)
  • TIGAS-Erdgas Tirol GmbH, Innsbruck (86%)
  • Joint power plant Inn GmbH, Landeck (76%)
  • Bioenergie Kufstein GmbH, Kufstein (50%)
  • Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe Aktiengesellschaft (IKB AG), Innsbruck (49.99%)
  • Energie AG Upper Austria (8.24%)
  • VERBUND AG (8.22%)

Important power plants

Silz power plant

In addition to the large (hydro) power plants (see table), the TIWAG power plant portfolio includes 36 small hydropower plants, 8 photovoltaic systems and 3 biomass heating plants.

power plant Type Expansion capacity in MW Standard energy in GWh
Sellrain Silz power plant group (KW Silz / KW Kühtai) (Pumped storage power plant 781 718.6
Kaunertal power station Storage power plant 325-392 661
KW Imst Run-of-river power plant 89 550
Achensee power plant Storage power plant 79 219.5
KW Amlach Run-of-river power plant 60 219
Langkampfen power plant Run-of-river power plant 31.5 169
Kirchbichl power plant Run-of-river power plant 19.3 131
KW Kalserbach Run-of-river power plant 11.7 61.4

Projects

TIWAG is currently planning to implement four large new hydropower projects in addition to various small power plants. This involves expanding the existing Kaunertal and Sellrain-Silz plants as well as the new Malfon and Raneburg-Matrei facilities. The basis for these plans is the unanimous resolution of the Tyrolean state government and the positive resolution of the Tyrolean state parliament in July 2006. Due to objections regarding the touristic Prosegg Gorge and the Steiner waterfall, the Raneburg-Matrei power plant project was rescheduled and is now called Tauernbach-Gruben. According to a survey, the Tyroleans are predominantly in favor of the expansion of hydropower, but this survey was commissioned by a medium contractually bound to TIWAG (see section Criticism ). Over a quarter of those questioned were against further expansion, and the projects are also met with regional resistance. The population of the affected communities is predominantly against an expansion.

The expansion projects are pumped storage power plants . Due to its many mountains, Tyrol is particularly suitable for this type of power plant. The energy required for this is to come from base load power plants such as lignite and nuclear power plants , whose electricity, which is produced at night and then cheaply available due to low demand , can be stored and sold at high prices during the day at peak load times.

In the course of the German nuclear phase-out , which Chancellor Merkel announced under the impression of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima in 2011, the expansion plans are now justified differently: Pumped storage power plants are necessary stores of alternative energies such as wind energy . However, this would require a massive expansion of the power lines from northern Germany to the south, which is currently missing but is already being discussed. In addition, since February 2012, the feed-in capacity of photovoltaics in Germany has been covering a large part of the daily average and peak load relatively reliably , so that there is hardly any additional need for expensive peak-load electricity.

criticism

TIWAG is repeatedly exposed to criticism from the population, citizens' initiatives and opposition politicians of its approach to trading in nuclear power. For example, the federal spokeswoman for the Greens and member of the National Council, Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, said: “Overall, more electricity is generated in Tyrol than is used. The dirty nuclear business is not about security of supply, but about making profits. ”Also the fact that TIWAG has sold some of its power plants to foreign finance companies and legally only acts as a tenant of the supposedly own power plants ( cross-border leasing ) , offers concerned citizens, above all the environmental activist Markus Wilhelm , cause for criticism. Cross-border leasing enables TIWAG to finance expensive projects by selling them to investors and then leasing the power plants back for use. For foreign investors, such investments bring tax advantages in some countries, such as the USA. The conditions of such contracts also include the silence of both contracting parties, which is why little or nothing is known publicly about such projects. The United States has also tightened laws for such "bogus deals" in recent years, making secrecy even more important.

The explosiveness of this topic can be seen in the example of a citizens' initiative that made this procedure publicly known using the example of the Sellrain-Silz power plant group and was then sued by TIWAG for damage to its reputation. TIWAG speculated that the foreseeable legal costs would deter the citizens' initiative right up to the last instance . TIWAG's lawsuit to “block access to the www.dietiwag.org website and to remove websites under other domains on which the last cited statements damaging the credit can be accessed according to the www.dietiwag.org website”, in particular “information and documents on the cross-border leasing for the Sellrain-Silz power plant ”, but was rejected. However, attempts are still being made not to reveal any details. A broadcast manuscript for the contribution of the ORF news program Report with the title Power Plant Plans and Resistance in Ötztal from May 3, 2005, which could be read on the website of a TIWAG-critical citizens' initiative, had to be sent by ORF after the intervention of Tyrolean governor Herwig van Staa taken from the website.

In connection with the above points of criticism, the planned new power plants of TIWAG are also particularly criticized, as not untouched landscape is to be given away for dams and reservoirs. For future power plant projects, TIWAG is constantly trying to bring mountain rivers and streams under its control. The use by the population would be largely excluded as soon as the land with streams on it were owned by companies. In the past few years, numerous citizens 'initiatives have been formed in Tyrol, some of which have taken public protest actions against the sale of the landscape and water to the energy industry - for example the Ötztal alliance, the Matrei citizens' initiative and the Wasser Osttirol network. They are supported by tourism associations, the Austrian Alpine Association and some municipalities, among others. Several environmental organizations pointed out that according to the law, the water management framework plan submitted by TIWAG should only target the protection and rehabilitation of rivers, but not their use for energy purposes.

For the alleged "attempt to silence a critic" (Markus Wilhelm was meant), the TIWAG CEO was awarded the Big Brother Award 2008 in the Business and Finance category. TIWAG should have commissioned detectives in order to keep an eye on Wilhelm for a longer period of time.

If the technical aspect of the necessity of such pumped storage power plants as a supplement to inflexible electricity suppliers is ignored, criticism of the electricity industry at TIWAG remains. The company is charged with the fact that part of TIWAG's existing pumped storage capacity is already being used to store inexpensive night-time electricity from German nuclear power plants and then to transfer the electricity, declared as hydropower, back to Germany at peak times at a profit. The planned additional pumped storage projects are therefore intended to fully serve the expansion of this power carousel.

In connection with its power plant planning, TIWAG concluded so-called “media cooperation” with the Tyrolean regional media Oberländer Rundschau ( www.rundschau.at ), Tiroler Woche and the district sheets ( www.meiniertel.at ) in order to tend to previously agreed upon “editorial reporting on new power plants "through advertising prices, whereby" it must be made clear "that" the opponents do not have a say ".

Furthermore, TIWAG is often confronted with allegations of corruption. Before the Kaunertal municipal council elections - one of the election topics was the expansion of the Gepatsch storage facility - in March 2010, for example, TIWAG paid 40,000 euros as “sponsorship” into a savings account in favor of the Kaunertal mayor. The election campaign planning and materials for the mayor and his “home list” were provided by the TIWAG PR agency, but not paid for by the mayor, but appeared in a “Power plant options / TIWAG list of services”.

Dietiwag.at also speaks of the “suspicion of infidelity, possible abuse of office and incitement”. This brought TIWAG, among other things, a complaint to the corruption prosecutor.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c key figures ( Memento from July 5, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Commercial register data: TIWAG-Tiroler Wasserkraft AG
  3. ↑ Power plant park . TIWAG, accessed on July 5, 2018 .
  4. ^ Angerer: Mayor Dr. Anton Eder †. In: Official Journal of the State Capital Innsbruck, No. 10, October 1952, pp. 1–2 ( digitized version )
  5. ↑ Company history ( Memento of the original from January 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , www.tiroler-wasserkraft.at @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tiroler-wasserkraft.at
  6. ↑ Power plant park - TIWAG. In: www.tiwag.at. December 15, 2016, accessed December 21, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Tiwag takes over shares in Inn-Kraftwerk GKI. In: New Vorarlberger daily newspaper. Retrieved on May 25, 2020 (German).
  8. ↑ Key figures - TIWAG. In: www.tiwag.at. December 15, 2016, accessed December 21, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Key figures - TIWAG. In: www.tiwag.at. December 15, 2016, accessed December 21, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Home - TIWAG. In: www.tiwag.at. December 15, 2016, accessed December 21, 2016 .
  11. ↑ https://www.tiwag.at/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/downloadbereich/dt_gb2015_web.pdf
  12. ↑ Power plant park - TIWAG. In: www.tiwag.at. December 15, 2016, accessed December 21, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Our power plants at a glance ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at tiwag.at, accessed on July 26, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tiroler-wasserkraft.at
  14. ↑ TIWAG presents master plan for power plant projects: four new power plant projects for Tyrol. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012 ; accessed on June 16, 2016 .
  15. ↑ tiwag.at: Tauernbach power plant - Gruben. Archived from the original on February 24, 2013 ; accessed on June 16, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Michaela Ruggenthaler: Knalleffekt in Matrei: Kraftwerk ohne Proseggklamm , Kleine Zeitung of August 4, 2011, accessed on July 27, 2013.
  17. ↑ Alois Vahrner: Three annual profits as hypo injection , tt.com from December 31, 2011, accessed on July 27, 2013.
  18. ↑ 60% agreement: Tyroleans are fully committed to hydropower .
  19. ↑ TVB Stubai wants to form a citizens' initiative against water drainage
  20. ↑ Citizens' initiative WildeWasser on the “Kühtai storage power plant” project ( memento of the original from December 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.buergerinitiative-wildewasser.at
  21. ↑ Pumped storage plant ( Memento of the original dated December 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on strom-online.ch @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.strom-online.ch
  22. ↑ Heini Glauser: Pump storage, CO 2 and economic efficiency . using the example of the Oberhasli power plant. Ed .: WWF Switzerland . Zurich September 2004 ( online as PDF (3.04 MiB) [accessed on October 7, 2013] Figures mainly from 2001 to 2003).
  23. ↑ Green Club in Parliament: Glawischnig calls for the TIWAG payments to be stopped to the nuclear company . ots.at, APA, May 16, 2005
  24. ↑ die tiwag.org: “Mafia-like secret economy” - Interview with the “cross-border leasing” expert Werner Rügemer . dietiwag.at, April 6, 2006.
  25. ↑ die tiwag.org: Decision of the Innsbruck Higher Regional Court as appeal court (PDF file; 96 kB). May 24, 2005
  26. ↑ "Resistance in the Ötztal" is "to be stopped immediately" dietiwag.at
  27. ↑ die tiwag.org: It's about water! May 22, 2006
  28. ↑ "Rütlischwur" of environmental organizations against power station Kaunertal , wwf.at of 27 March 2012 called on May 7, 2013.
  29. ↑ Big Brother Awards: 2008 winners bigbrotherawards.at
  30. ^ "Editorial coverage as agreed!" , Dietiewag.org of November 8, 2010, accessed on May 7, 2013.
  31. ↑ Kaunertal: Around 50,000 landed on Sparbuch , ORF Tirol from May 12, 2010, accessed on May 7, 2013.
  32. ↑ Why would you call smear sponsoring when it's smear? , dietiewag.org of May 18, 2010, accessed May 7, 2013.
  33. ↑ Election campaign financing by TIWAG in Kaunertal: The dossier for the Corruption Prosecutor and State Audit Office , dietiewag.org of June 10, 2010, accessed on May 7, 2013.
  34. ↑ die tiwag.org - TIWAG campaign support for ÖVP: Report to the Corruption Public Prosecutor's Office. In: www.dietiwag.at. Retrieved May 30, 2015 .

Web links

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

Coordinates: 47 ° 15 '48.8 "  N , 11 ° 23' 44.4"  E