A different kind of energy 2024

Alpiq expanded its flexibility portfolio and strengthened its position in this market by acquiring battery projects in Finland in June 2024 and France in November 2024. The 30 MW large-scale battery from Merus Power, a leading Finnish technology company, will have one of the highest capacities in Finland and will go into operation in Valkeakoski in in the second half of 2025. The primary role of the battery energy storage system (BESS) is to stabilise the grid and therefore balance out the fluctuating production of renewable energy. It therefore contributes directly to security of supply and facilitates additional projects for renewable energy.

Alpiq acquired a battery project from Harmony Energy France in the Oise Departement, north of Paris, France. The 100 MW BESS has a capacity of 200 MWh and is scheduled to be commissioned in autumn 2026. Both investments are in line with Alpiq’s strategy to continue focusing on flexibility, and its commitment to integrating renewable energy and strengthening the security of supply.

As part of the renewal of the water rights concessions of Forces Motrices d’Orsières SA, the communal assemblies of the Valais communes of Orsières and Liddes confirmed the sale of 10% of the company to Alpiq in September 2024. It will take effect from 19 January 2027 and have a term of 80 years. Alpiq’s convincing offer adopted a participatory approach. This extends the company’s portfolio of hydropower plants in Valais and means for the first time it becomes a partner of a power plant in which it did not previously hold a stake.

As a partner, Alpiq will be able to support Forces Motrices d’Orsières and all shareholders with its proven expertise in the fields of hydropower and energy marketing. The facility consists of the Orsières and Niollet power plants, generates around 110 GWh and supplies roughly 24,500 households with electricity.

Alpiq emphasised its commitment to climate protection and strengthening the security of supply by acquiring a majority share of the Finnish hydrogen pioneer P2X Solutions, which is headquartered in Espoo, in April 2024. As a result of this transaction, Alpiq holds 54.9 percent of the shares in P2X Solutions. P2X Solutions will continue to operate in partnership and as an independent company.

P2X Solutions is constructing the first industrial-scale green hydrogen production facility in Finland, in the south-western town of Harjavalta. The facility has started commercial operation in February 2025. It has an installed electrolysis capacity of 20 MW, making it one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

This acquisition shows that Alpiq is strengthening its position in the Nordic countries and becoming one of the leading companies in Northern Europe in the production of green hydrogen. P2X Solutions gives Alpiq a platform to produce green hydrogen and Power-to-X, and also to expand beyond Finland.

In 2024, Alpiq was once again able to sign additional long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) in several European markets. In Northwest Europe and France, for example, Alpiq used its comprehensive expertise in energy products and services to provide its customers with customised long-term agreements that meet their specific needs.

Alpiq is thus successfully positioning itself in a dynamic market environment as a reliable partner that guarantees its customers a carbon-free electrical power supply while promoting the integration of renewable energy sources into the electricity market by ensuring the purchase of energy.

Flexible power plants are crucial to the success of the energy transition and to ensuring security of supply. Like the Alpiq Vercelli gas-fired power plant, for example. In 2024, the power plant, which is located in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, has undergone a major overhaul. Thanks to this work, which was completely accident-free, Vercelli is fit for the energy future and can continue to provide valuable services for security of supply in Italy.

The work consisted in the replacement of the main components and it resulted in a number of improvements: the plant’s flexibility has been greatly increased, so that it can be fully operational within just five minutes and can be used to supply the grid several times a day. The plant’s output was increased and its efficiency was significantly improved. As a result, gas consumption has been reduced and, more importantly for the climate, emissions have been cut by 40%.

When the 2023 operating result was presented in February 2024, Alpiq could look back on a very successful year 2023 (Annual report 2023 – Key Financial Figures). The past year’s measures focusing on the core business, risk management and Alpiq group management brought about the desired progress and improved the operating result at all levels. The direct dependence on electricity prices was also significantly reduced. Alpiq continued to play a key role in strengthening the security of supply in 2023 by providing a hydropower reserve for the critical winter months in Switzerland as well as ancillary services for grid stability.

Alpiq’s Sustainability Report 2023 showed for the first time a comprehensive carbon balance, including all relevant Scope 3 emissions, i.e. all emissions caused indirectly by business activities. In terms of further development of the strategy, Alpiq set itself the goal of making the company net zero by 2040. This means the company would have a neutral emissions balance.

In the first half of the year 2024, Alpiq further consolidated its focus on the core business and expanded its business in the energy storage and flexibility sectors. Alpiq is in a very solid financial position according to the balance sheet when the half-year results were presented in August 2024 (Interim report 2024 – Key Financial Figures).

Alpiq was able to strengthen its market presence in the geographical core markets and consolidate its position. Alpiq’s power plants again featured very high availability in the first half of 2024. With their flexibility the power plants continued to make a significant contribution to security of supply in Switzerland and Europe.

In September 2024, Alpiq has used the existing call option to repay in full its public hybrid bond of CHF 650 million. As Alpiq has been able to secure the Group’s long-term financial stability over the last three years, the company can now back the hybrid financing after 11.5 years.

The key factors that contributed to the company’s resilience are the focus on activities in the European core markets, the stronger cooperation throughout the entire value chain and a risk management system that has been fundamentally adapted to the new market dynamics. Alpiq CFO Luca Baroni: ‘Alpiq has proven its robustness to crises in recent years, was able to build up sufficient financial resources and is now in a very solid operational position. The net financial situation and the equity base are the foundations guiding Alpiq strategically into the future.’

In connection with a review of its credit financing portfolio Alpiq has successfully established two new unsecured committed revolving credit facilities with a total volume of CHF 3.6 billion. The commitments were provided by 15 Swiss and 17 international banks.

Thanks to this very successful transaction, which was closed in December 2024, Alpiq has doubled its available committed credit lines. In addition, the company welcomed 10 new banks into its banking pool. The absence of financial covenants and removal of operational restrictions provides Alpiq with necessary flexibility in financing its strategic growth.

At Alpiq, our culture is our competitive advantage: our people make us successful, and our way of working together sets us apart. We believe in Secure Base Leadership (SBL) as a coaching-centric leadership style that strongly builds up on our values. It encourages collaboration and empowerment by cultivating a high-performance culture, one of profound critical thinking and ownership among team members.

That is why we invest in our employees: By the end of 2024, over 300 of our line managers and lateral leaders have completed the SBL training at IMD Lausanne. In 2025, more Alpiq employees will complete this training. SBL elevates communication and teamwork by prioritizing active listening, empathy, and open discourse, forging secure bases for constructive dialogue and daring decisions.

Alpiq wants to take the leadership programme to the next level in 2025 and fully internalise it within the organisation. To this end, six of our employees have been trained as coaches to provide internal training and education. This means that we align all our actions with the goals and values of our company. Because the way we work, collaborate, lead and live our values makes all the difference in a highly volatile, constantly changing and challenging environment.

The ‘Expedition Two’ event in September 2024 brought together a total of around 730 Alpiq employees from all over Europe for two days in Prague. The event’s motto was ‘Beyond the obvious’ and promoted team spirit in line with the company value ‘ALP1Q’. It gave Alpiq colleagues from several European locations the opportunity to participate in various programme items in a special setting to get to know each other personally, have discussions and work together on activities to find new solutions to challenges.

After receiving the well-known ‘Great Place To Work’ certification, Alpiq officially became a certified employer in Switzerland and the other company locations in Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Finland and Hungary for the first time in December 2024. This certification is largely based on a positive assessment of the workplace culture by the employees themselves, so Alpiq has demonstrated its commitment to promoting a workplace in which employees feel valued and can develop professionally. The certification also strengthens Alpiq’s employer brand and its profile as an attractive employer.

Andreas Büttiker was newly elected to the Board of Directors at the Alpiq Holding Ltd. Annual General Meeting held on 30 April 2024. He replaced Conrad Ammann, who did not stand for re-election after 12 years on the board. The new Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors is François Gabella, who was elected to the Board of Directors in December 2023.

Andreas Büttiker, the 63-year-old economist from Switzerland, has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBM (Genossenschaft Elektra Birseck)/Primeo Energie Group since 2022. Between 1996 and the end of May 2023, he was CEO of the Basel Landschaft public transport company BLT Baselland Transport AG.

Johannes Teyssen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alpiq, thanked Conrad Ammann for his many years of service and recognised him as a strong leader who used his great expertise in the energy sector to help shape Alpiq’s development with great care and empathy.

On 1 March 2024, Amédée Murisier took over as head of Alpiq’s Switzerland division and at the same time became a member of the Executive Board. The 41-year-old from Switzerland succeeded Michael Wider, who retired at the end of February 2024. Amédée Murisier has been with Alpiq since 2015 and has been head of the Hydro Power Generation business unit since 2019. He graduated from ETH Zurich as a civil engineer and then worked as an engineer in the Swiss energy sector. He then spent several years working in strategic management consulting in the USA, where he completed an MBA at Columbia University.

As part of the comprehensive brand refresh, Alpiq worked with the agency Jung von Matt BRAND IDENTITY to develop a new and holistic brand identity in 2024. At its core is a clear and compelling purpose: ‘Together for a better climate and an improved security of supply’. And the new brand promise is: ‘A different kind of energy’. The new brand identity succinctly expresses everything that Alpiq currently stands for and drives the company’s transformation. ‘The fresh brand identity not only hones our public profile but also inspires our employees to actively help shape the energy future and develop innovative solutions for the challenges of our age,’ explains Alpiq CEO Antje Kanngiesser.

As part of the brand refresh project, the new Alpiq corporate website went online in December 2024. It brings Alpiq’s new brand presence to life digitally. The website was designed and implemented in collaboration with Jung von Matt TECH and other long-standing partners. The new digital appearance combines modern and functional website design with the brand’s core values. The website conveys Alpiq’s new brand identity through intuitive user guidance, appealing visualisations and interactions.

There was cause for celebration in Milan in December 2024 as Alpiq Energia Italia celebrated its anniversary. The company was founded in 1999 and has been successfully operating in the Italian market for 25 years. Over the years, Alpiq has gained considerable market share in the sales and origination business by supplying energy to end customers with a team of around 100 employees. Power generation has always been the cornerstone of Alpiq’s presence in Italy. The first power plant in Italy was built and commissioned in 2004. The Group has invested around 800 million euros in Italy since 1999. Today, the company has a diversified and highly flexible power plant portfolio including 14 plants and a capacity of around 770 MW, 220 MW of which is renewable energy and 550 MW is gas-fired power plants. The annual total capacity of this portfolio is around 2,500 GWh.

In June 2024, the Swiss public voted in favour of the Electricity Act with a majority of around 70 percent. The new act provides the instruments required to drive the significant restructuring of the Swiss energy system. It strengthens the expansion of renewable energies and power production in winter. Alpiq welcomes the clearly positive result of the vote, with which Switzerland has decisively spoken out in favour of improved security of electricity supply using renewable and local energies at affordable prices. ‘The redesign of our energy system is something that affects us all. A secure electricity supply at affordable prices is the backbone of our economy and our society,’ says Alpiq CEO Antje Kanngiesser.

In October 2024, Alpiq and the Association of Concessionary Communes of Valais (ACC) honoured two Valais projects in favour of sustainable water management with the #prixalpiq for the fourth time. The winner of the #prixalpiq 2024 was the commune of Grimisuat with its project ‘Grimisuat irrigation network: storage and sustainable management of water’. The ‘Coup de Cœur’ award went to the Association for Water Management and Development Planning in the Aletsch Region for the project ‘Sustainable water supply planning in the Aletsch region’. A panel discussion was held during the award ceremony at the HES-SO Valais-Wallis in Sion on the topic of ‘Circular economy: utopia or reality?’ to stimulate discussions beyond water management.

At the end of November 2024, the Swiss federal government, the canton of Valais, Grande Dixence SA and representatives of the concession communes set up the Gornerli Support Group in the presence of Federal Councillor Albert Rösti. It aims to ensure the rapid realisation of the Gornerli multi-purpose reservoir, which is the largest project of the Hydropower Round Table and is planned for above Zermatt. At the first support group meeting, all participants confirmed their willingness to coordinate the milestones and next steps in the process and to work closely together. This means this multi-purpose storage project, which has many valuable aspects, will be realised in a targeted manner.