Summary: Essent's Corporate Responsibility Report 2011

Essent’s sustainability vision Responsible in society

Dutch Chapter

Essent is an energy company with its feet firmly in

Essent has been actively involved in the Dutch

society. We are involved with a range of different

Chapter of the UN Global Compact since 2007.

themes that currently concern society and that

The Dutch Chapter offers the Dutch business

interface with our core business: producing and

sector practical assistance in realising the

supplying energy. These themes include the

sustainable development advocated by the

climate, sustainability, sustainable methods of

UNGC. Another objective of the UNGC is to help

generating energy, Health, Safety & Environment

bring about the eight Millennium Development

(HSE), supply chain responsibility, and the

Goals defined by the United Nations. Two of

affordability and availability of energy. As a major

those goals are of particular interest to Essent:

energy producer, our concern with all these

1. eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; and 2.

issues is to find the right balance. For example,

ensure environmental sustainability.

conventional methods of producing electricity cause emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse

Conference

gases. At the same time, however, we do our best

In May 2012, in part to celebrate the fifth

to minimise the harmful impact of our actions.

anniversary of the Dutch Chapter of the UNGC

We take our responsibility for all these themes,

and to celebrate the fifth anniversary of our

and we enter into a dialogue with other parties

membership of that organisation, Essent will

involved. Corporate Responsibility (CR) has been

team up with RWE and the German Chapter

part of Essent’s policy and operations from the

of the UNGC to organise the annual Dutch UN

start.

Global Compact Conference. The members of the

UN Global Compact

German Chapter of the UNGC will also be invited.

The theme is the Green economy, in reflection of

Essent’s CR policy is based on the universal

Essent’s role as one of the leaders of the biobased

principles of the UN Global Compact (UNGC)

economy in the Netherlands. The meeting will

for sustainable development. Those principles

serve as preparation for Rio+20 in June 2012, the

also serve as the guideline for RWE’s Code of

third worldwide UN Global Compact Conference,

Conduct. By embracing the principles of the UN

which will revolve around the theme of the

Global Compact, Essent and its workforce take

Millennium Development Goals.

on the obligation to act with due consideration of such issues as human rights, working conditions,

ISO 26000

the environment and anti-corruption efforts. We

Corporate Responsibility (CR) has been fully

ask our business partners to adopt the same

integrated into Essent’s policy and operations

stance.

from the start. That integration was given formal

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De duurzame visie van Essent

shape in 2011, when we adopted ISO 26000. That

the targets are shown in our CR dashboard (see

quality standard is the international guideline for

annex). That dashboard makes Essent’s CR

Social Responsibility of Organisations.

objectives visible for everyone, makes them easy

CR Council

to quantify and allows us to adjust our policies if it looks as if we might not achieve our objectives.

To improve the transparency of its CR policy

Essent’s Executive Board assesses the progress

and to encourage the dialogue with society, in

made towards the results in the CR Dashboard

2011 Essent set up a Corporate Responsibility

every year and publishes its findings in Essent’s

(CR) Council: an independent council chaired by

CR Report.

Willem Ferwerda and made up of experts in the fields of nature and the environment, customers,

Affordable, reliable, sustainable

science, the business sector and politics. The CR

Essent feels a sense of responsibility for ensuring

Council advises Essent’s Executive Board and

an affordable and reliable supply of energy, which at

the CR Director on matters relating to Corporate

the same time also needs to become more and more

Responsibility. It puts forward ideas, identifies

renewable. Examples of how we give shape to that

areas of concern and presents its views on

responsibility include our efforts to increase the

Essent’s CR ambitions and dilemmas.

efficiency of our power stations, the replacement of

Nine spearheads

fossil fuels by biofuels wherever possible and our investments in renewable wind energy.

Every year, Essent gives an account of its CR policy in its annual CR Report. That report

The demand for energy will continue to rise

explains the outlines of our CR policy, what the

during the years to come. We cannot meet that

ideas behind it are, what we have achieved in

growing demand using only energy generated

practice and what our plans for the future are.

using

The focus is on nine spearheads, which together

produced electricity will still be needed as we

reflect the impact of the various facets of our

make the transition to a CO2-neutral supply of

operations on the society in which we operate.

electricity. Essent seeks to generate that electricity

Those spearheads correspond closely to RWE’s

as efficiently and as cleanly as possible. That is

principles. The nine spearheads are the reduction

why we are investing resources to modernise our

of emissions, the proportion of renewable energy

existing fossil-fuelled power stations and to build

in the energy mix, energy savings, innovation,

new ones.

HSE, sound employership, customer satisfaction, human rights and corporate citizenship.

CR Dashboard

sustainable

means.

Conventionally

Claus C and Moerdijk 2 In 2011, Essent’s fully modernised Claus C power station in Maasbracht became operational.

In 2010, Essent defined key performance

It now has a capacity of 1,300 megawatts and an

indicators (KPIs) for the nine CR spearheads

efficiency of 58 percent. The old Claus B had an

and added targets for those KPIs. The KPIs and

efficiency of 40 percent.

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De duurzame visie van Essent

The Moerdijk 2 power station also became

biomass is the most important sustainable

operational last year. This new power station

type of fuel. We believe that large-scale use of

features an ultramodern combined gas and

biomass, combined with wind energy, is the

steam turbine with a maximum capacity of 430

only way to achieve national and international

megawatts and an efficiency of 58 percent.

sustainability targets for the future. Replacing

Eemshaven power station

coal by biomass will significantly cut back CO2 volumes; moreover, biomass is the cheapest form

Near the Eemshaven seaport in Groningen

of renewable energy. The biomass that Essent

Province, Essent has for several years been

uses for generating electricity consists of what

working on building the Eemshaven power

are commonly known as wood pellets, which are

station. When complete, it will be one of the

made from, among other components, the clean

most

wood from fast-growing trees from production

modern

and

efficient

coal/biomass-

fired power stations in the world. It will have a capacity of 1,600 megawatts and an efficiency

forests in Georgia (USA).

of 46 percent. The power station will offer the

Energy value chain

fuel diversification needed for our energy mix.

Essent’s sustainability ambitions focus not only

In addition, as coal is one of the cheapest types

on how energy is produced and supplied, but in

of fuel and is available in ample supplies, once

fact relate to the entire energy value chain. We

operational the Eemshaven power station will

use several methods to address the origins of

help make energy more affordable. We will also

important fuels such as coal and biomass. An

be less dependent on gas, and Essent will have

example that illustrates this is our participation in

another location for co-firing biomass on a large

the Dutch coal dialogue in 2011, where we worked

scale to produce more renewable energy.

together intensively with other stakeholders to

Cleaner Europe

define sustainability criteria and improve the transparency of the supply chain for coal.

All these new and super-efficient power stations draw more energy from the same volumes of

For biomass, Essent uses the Green Gold Label

fuel. This makes them highly competitive. As

sustainability criteria. In 2011, in partnership

such, partly as a result of these power stations

with Utrecht University, we set up a research

becoming operational, older and therefore less

project to study the further development of this

clean power stations elsewhere in Europe might

quality label for biomass.

be shut down. In this fashion, Essent is helping to ensure cleaner energy supplies in Europe.

Biomass

Saving energy Saving energy is always the most sustainable option. That is why Essent encourages customers

Essent is investing not only in more efficient

to use less energy, for example using the Usage

power stations, but also in generating energy

Manager and the Savings Coach to provide

from renewable sources. In Essent’s vision,

customers with information about their energy

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De duurzame visie van Essent

usage patterns and where they can save energy.

flows can be used for producing energy. Using

With the E-Thermostat, which is part of the

various of these residual flows, a pilot project is

My-E sustainable product line, we also offer

being set up at the bio-power station in Cuijk to

customers a control mechanism for monitoring

put this principle into practice, experimenting

and changing the temperature in their homes

with new biofuels. Further to this pilot, Essent

from any location.

is investigating the possibilities for applying the even more important principles of Cradle-to-

We also seek to generate our energy in the most

Cradle to energy.

efficient and sustainable manner possible. This means that more efficient power stations and the

In Hoogkerk in Groningen Province, to better

use of biomass are important factors for making our

coordinate the use and production of energy,

energy supplies more sustainable. However, our

Essent is working on a pilot project for energy

customers can also help us further sustainability.

management,

With Essent, they can choose between traditionally

information about the problems of supply and

produced energy, traditionally produced energy

demand of electricity. It will also help us to make

with

appropriate

optimum use of the renewable energy from

sustainable measures or the products generated

systems with substantial fluctuations in supply,

using sustainable methods: Green Electricity and

such as wind parks.

CO2

compensation

using

which

will

provide

better

Green gas.

HIER Climate Campaign

One of the possible uses of renewable energy is the electric car. Not only do we have a great

Essent seeks to make its customers treat the

deal of experience with electric cars, we are also

environment with greater awareness. That is

focusing more and more on providing charging

why we increased the intensity of our partnership

stations and services to make those stations

with the HIER Climate Campaign in 2011. We

accessible to customers. eMobility offers a wide

will work together to motivate customers to

range of possibilities in terms of sustainability.

adopt a more sustainable approach to energy, for

It also represents a new commercial market for

example by saving more energy or by choosing

green electricity products and new services for us

Green Electricity and Green gas.

to develop. â–

Innovations For the energy of the future, we are investing in innovations now. Besides studies into new possibilities for wind energy at sea, Essent and its partners in the biobased economy are researching smarter uses of material and waste flows, to ensure that raw materials are used as wisely as possible and the eventual residual