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