E.ON companies in Romania contributed, last year, to supporting the local economy through partnerships with over 900 direct suppliers, respectively with approximately 2,300 suppliers of products and services along the entire supply chain. The value of the payments made to them was approximately 1 billion lei, according to E.ON’s Sustainability Report, released today.
The amount does not include the value of electricity and natural gas purchases, intended for the approximately 3.4 million customers in Romania. In 2021, 56% of new suppliers were also selected based on environmental criteria, up 5% from the previous year.
“Through the scope of our local activities, we support companies and jobs in Romania. At the same time, we are responsible for promoting sustainable development in the external environment. Therefore, we expect that our partners also meet the appropriate standards for ESG (environmental, social, governance) performance, including respect for human rights,” says Volker Raffel, the general manager of the E.ON Romania Group.
E.ON was also last year one of the largest contributors to Romania’s state budget, with a total value of over 1 billion lei in taxes and fees, which means a 24% increase in contributions from the year 2020.
In the 16 years of its presence in Romania, the taxes paid by the E.ON group to the state budget exceeded 11.8 billion lei.
Sustainable investments
Climate change is becoming more visible and customers have become more aware of the proportion of renewable energy they receive, with some opting to use green energy entirely. Anticipating this need of society, E.ON started several years ago an extensive process of modernizing the electricity distribution networks and the transformation stations, in order to be able to take over the energy from less exploited renewable sources and from prosumers, a process that will intensify, thus being prepared for the transformation that will take place in the electricity production process.
“In 2021 alone, we invested 644 million lei, 24% more than the previous year and almost double the investments made in 2019. Our investments in networks are vital for the transition to green energy and, at the same time, bring noticeable, tangible improvements in the quality of service to customers,” added Volker Raffel.
The number of prosumers connected to Delgaz Grid networks increased 25 times compared to the previous year, reaching 1,675 at the end of 2021.
The main performance indicator for continuity in the supply of electricity to customers, unplanned SAIDI (the duration of unplanned interruptions in the supply of energy in one year), was, 15 years ago, when E.ON took over the former Electrica Moldova, of over 1,500 minutes, and now it is 89 minutes per year, already in the range of 20-100 minutes per year recorded in advanced European countries.
