Verbund, Austria’s leading electricity company, generated approx. 85 % of its electricity from renewable hydropower in 2006. It is therefore one of the most environmentally friendly electricity producers in Europe. In addition, Verbund operates three modern thermal power plants. The activities of the group also include electricity wholesaling. Transactions are conducted bilaterally with traders and resellers as well as on the European electricity exchanges. Verbund sells electricity to large customers and resellers via its distribution companies in Austria and abroad and also supplies households and small enterprises in Austria. In 2006, a record result was recorded with a trading volume of 106,000 GWh.

The hydropower output of the group primarily comes from 66 run-of-river plants and 21 storage power plants as well as from procurement rights for the hydropower plants of Ennskraftwerke AG, the Österreichisch-Bayerische Kraftwerke AG, the Donaukraftwerke Jochenstein AG and e.on Wasserkraft GmbH (a total of 20 run-of-river plants). In total, Verbund therefore has a bottleneck capacity (BC) of 6,422 MW and a standard capacity (SC) of 24,704 GWh which can be used in the marketing of generation capacities from hydropower.

Following the decommissioning of the Voitsberg power plant in quarter 1/2006, group generation was further increased through three thermal power plants with a bottleneck capacity of 815 MW. Six thermal power plants have been taken off line or are leased out. Hence, Verbund has a highly flexible power plant park which can be utilized in a market-oriented manner.

Verbund conducts wholesale transactions in the European market in the form of standardized trading via electricity exchanges and bilaterally with over 150 partners. The group is represented at the electricity exchanges in Graz, Laibach, Leipzig, Paris and Rome. Verbund is also involved in key account sales and, in this capacity, supplies resellers and industrial enterprises in Austria and abroad. The company has subsidiaries in Germany, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia which are used to open up new markets. In addition to the joint venture in Italy, Verbund has now also established joint ventures in France and Greece. At the end of 2006, a company was founded in Rumania and further subsidiaries are planned for Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia in 2007.

Through its trading activities, Verbund optimizes power plant utilization and markets own generation in the best possible manner. Verbund is one of the leading electricity traders in Europe with a record trading volume of approx. 106,000 GWh in 2006. This is more than one and a half times the amount of electricity that is physically consumed in Austria.

On 1 July 2005, Verbund commenced direct distribution to Austrian end customers with the aim of strengthening its market position in Austria and enhancing vertical integration. By the end of 2006, the targets had been well exceeded and 62,735 households and commercial enterprises had already been acquired as new customers in spite of the difficult competitive situation.

The highest number of agreements were concluded in the provinces of Vienna, Lower Austria and Upper Austria. Thanks to the elimination of the middlemen, a lean distribution structure and an efficient IT structure, it was possible to offer the end customers price advantages of up to 20 %. Verbund aims to achieve sales of 5 TWh with Austrian end customers by 2010. This translates into a market share of approx. 10 %. Direct sales to end consumers should also compensate for the decline in sales to regional utility companies.