700 Gigawatt hours Mark Cracked

A record in W.E.B production accompanied by a total production result above annual projections: the year 2015 was an extraordinary one in many ways, not just from a meteorological point of view. 

This past year’s excellent total production of 718,210 MWh (an increase of more than 100,000 MWh compared to the previous year) is primarily based on strong results in the months January to May, which produced well above target except for February. The month of January even boasted the new monthly record of over 82,700 MWh. In the same period, we opened five new Canadian sites with a total of eleven 2 MW wind power plants to further expand our potential output. The usually weaker summer months stayed below target all the way. In addition, day and week-long grid losses at Neuhof, Höflein and Wörbzig held down production as well. We had to wait until autumn and the stronger wind months of September and November to expand our production plus to such a level that we could even compensate for a weaker December. In early December, however, we also added six new wind power plants at Spannberg II and Auersthal II (about 16 MW in total) to further strengthened our production fleet. In the end, not only this year’s uncontrollable yet excellent wind conditions but also our technically reliable plant operation enabled us to maximize our wind production.  
        
Production below average in December
The warmest December since the beginning of weather recording concluded this climatologically exceptional year. The month of December was very warm and far too dry not only in Europe but also in Canada / Nova Scotia. It was primarily the stable air stratification in Central Europe that did not allow our total production of 65,553 MWh to reach its monthly target.  
Although the fading storm Nils helped our power plants to produce above target in early December, the wind then died away in Austria and South Bohemia. In many places, it was even possible to observe the stable air stratification (atmospheric inversion) without any wind flow. In consequence, our production in Austria and the Czech Republic stayed well below target. The story is quite a different one for Germany and France, though, where wind conditions were excellent all month long and lead to production results above target. Once again, Canada was able to boast positive results as well.   
The photovoltaic segment benefitted from the clear, sunny days of this December and performed very well in all our production countries.  
As the dry period continued in December, our hydroelectric segment could not reach its targets.   


Overview based on technology:

Wind power:

• Production below target: -9.7%
• Wind power plant with best relative results: Francop +56.7%
• Wind power plant with the strongest total production: Kuhs 895 MWh

Solar power:

• Solar power production above target: +20.4%
• Best relative plant results: Heidenreichstein +34.7%

Hydroelectric power:

• Hydroelectric power production below target: -28.5%

Production to date:

• W.E.B production results in December: 65,553 MWh*
• Accumulated result in the course of the year: 718,210 MWh*
• Percentage of annual projections: 101.2%*

* Participations included in all values.