Fireside-Chats 2025: Outlook for Further Growth

W.E.B's traditional fireside-chats set a new attendance record in Vienna with more than 180 guests on site and 155 online participants. The Management Board took a look back at 2024 and its record number of commissionings and provided insights into future plans, including further growth and the consideration of an initial public offering (IPO) for W.E.B.

Stefanie Markut, Board Member for Corporate Development, explained the changes in the framework conditions in recent years and emphasized: “The renewables train is on the move.” In recent years, companies have learned to appreciate the importance of cheap, regional electricity from wind and photovoltaics. Climate protection is still an important issue for people.

The power plants that W.E.B commissioned last year have an output of more than 150 MW, as Roman Prager, Chief Operations Officer, reported in place of Florian Müller, Chief Project Development Officer, who could sadly not make it to the event due to illness In addition, W.E.B currently has projects with an output of more than 40 MW under construction. In the country organizations, the local teams have completed important project milestones. Roman Prager told an example from Canada “At the end of January, we were awarded a contract for three of our projects with a total planned output of 315 MW in the local tender, the Green Choice program. Although this is not the final milestone for project implementation, it is still a very important one.”

Roman Prager was able to present a new record in W.E.B's electricity production. In 2024, the W.E.B power plants generated 1,574 GWh of electricity, clearly reflecting the newly commissioned power plants. It was also his pleasure to announce a collaboration with voestalpine. In this pilot project, electricity from the W.E.B Maustrenk wind farm will be directly supplied to voestalpine and the interaction between steel production and electricity supply will be evaluated: “Together we are preparing for the challenges of environmentally friendly steel production - both what it means for the producer and what requirements we will face as electricity suppliers.”

Michael Trcka, Chief Financial Officer, showcased how the funds from the 2024 bond have been used to date, thus building a bridge to Roman Prager’s comments on the development of the project pipeline. He announced that W.E.B is evaluating an IPO and will shortly begin a dialog with shareholders on this topic: “W.E.B has been operating successfully as an unlisted private equity company for 25 years. We see a stock market listing as a possible next step in our growth path.”

News article: Award for participation in the Green Choice program

Presentation of the Management Board at the fireside-chat (in German)