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Vattenfall

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Vattenfall AB
Company typeGovernment enterprise
Industryenergy and water industries Edit this on Wikidata
Founded1909 as Kungliga Vattenfallsstyrelsen
HeadquartersSweden
Key people
President and CEO Lars G Josefsson
ProductsEnergy generation, transmission and sales
Revenue15.0 billion euros (as of 2008)
Number of employees
32,801 (2008)
Websitewww.vattenfall.com

Vattenfall is a Swedish power company and one of the leading energy producers in Northern Europe. The name Vattenfall is Swedish for waterfall, and is an abbreviation of its original name, Royal Waterfall Board (Kungliga Vattenfallstyrelsen). Vattenfall is wholly owned by the Swedish government.

46% of Vattenfall's production is from fossil energy, 28% from nuclear energy, and 24% from hydroelectric energy (as of 2008). Production resources for hydroelectric power is mainly located in Northern Sweden, nuclear power at two plants in Sweden (Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant and Ringhals Nuclear Power Plant) and at two plants in Germany, and gas- and coal-based power in Germany and Poland.

In Germany, Vattenfall is the electric utility for the states of Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. Vattenfall owns two nuclear power plants in the country: Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant and Krümmel Nuclear Power Plant, both located near Hamburg. It also owns a number of coal-fired power stations, including Jänschwalde Power Station, Boxberg Power Station, Lippendorf Power Station (owned in part), Schwarze Pumpe Power Station, and Rostock Power Station (in part).

History

Vattenfall was operated by Åke Rusck between 1948 and 1957. In the 1950s Vattenfall had a pivotal role in the development of the seat belt, with the intention of providing better occupational safety for their employees [1] .

Since the late 1990s, Vattenfall has used its operating profit, stemming primarily from its Swedish hydropower facilities, to expand in especially Germany and Poland. The strategy has involved the acquisition of multiple brown coal fired power plants. This has been highly controversial in Sweden due to the status of brown coal as one of the least environmentally friendly alternatives for generating electricity. In addition, brown coal is strip mined in a process that sometimes forces communities to relocate as mining fields expand. [1]

Vattenfall office building in Stockholm

Vattenfall however promotes itself as being on the cutting edge of global energy preservation, which they lay out in an initiative to lower global carbon dioxide emissions. During the year 2007, President and CEO of Vattenfall, Lars G Josefsson, introduced "global burden-sharing" during a presentation at the United Nations. This initiative is intended to provide flexibility between developing and developed nations (report available from Vattenfall: [2]).

February 23 2009 Vattenfall announced that they are buying Nuon. By buying Nuon, Vattenfall is aiming to become one of the largest power companies in Europe.

Timeline

  • 1909 - The restructuring of Trollhätte kanal- och vattenverk to Kungliga Vattenfallsstyrelsen (Swedish State Power Board) marks the birth of Vattenfall.
  • 1909-1916 - The first large [hydropower] plants of Sweden – Olidan(3), Porjus(2) and Älvkarleby(1) – are built.
  • 1952 - The entire Swedish national electricity grid is hooked together.
  • 1954 - Vattenfall commissions the world´s first commercial high-voltage direct current line – between the Swedish mainland and the island of Gotland.
  • 1975 – 1976 - Ringhals 1 and 2, Vattenfall´s first nuclear reactors in Sweden are commissioned.
  • 1992 - Vattenfall becomes a limited liability company Vattenfall AB.
  • 1996 - The Swedish electricity market is deregulated. The electricity grid operations are legally separated from electricity generation and sales.
  • 1996 - Vattenfall expands international with the acquisition of Hämeen Sähkö. A Finnish electricity distribution company. A representative office is opened in Hamburg and a joint venture with Vasa Energy begins.
  • 1999 - Vattenfall agrees to acquire 25,1% of the shares in HEW from the City of Hamburg Germany.
  • 2000 - Vattenfall acquires 55% of the Polish heat production company EW.
  • 2002 - Vattenfall´s various acquisitions in Germany are gathered under the name Vattenfall Europe AG and becomes Germany´s third-largest electricity generator.
  • 2005 - Vattenfall acquires 35,3% of the shares in Elsam A/S, Denmark.
  • 2006 - Construction begins of a pilot Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) plant at Schwarze Pumpe Germany.
  • 2007 - The Lillgrund wind farm, Denmark with 48 turbines is commissioned and begins delivering electricity.
  • 2008 - Vattenfall launches the Climate Manifesto to support decission makers to take the right decissions at United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009.
  • 2009 - Vattenfall join forces with Nuon (company) to create a leading European energy company - and announce a plan to be climate neutral by 2050.


Subsidiary Companies

  • Vattenfall Europe AG
  • Biq Location Development and Real Estate Services

See also

References

  1. ^ Andréasson, Rune (2000.). The Seat Belt : Swedish Research and Development for Global Automotive Safety. Stockholm: Kulturvårdskommittén Vattenfall AB. p. 9. ISBN 91-630-9389-8. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
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