OMV and VERBUND cooperation will focus on the future of energy

VIENNA, 29-Aug-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — OMV and VERBUND, Austria’s largest energy companies, are evaluating long-term cooperation initiatives in the operating business for the future of energy. The cooperation will focus on supplying power, innovative energy services, more flexible concepts for producing electricity and meeting power demand, along with joint activities in the hydrogen sector.

European energy companies are currently facing major challenges in terms of energy policy. The agreement in the course of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris is an important step towards a global approach to tackling climate change. The fact that 195 countries took part is a sign that this issue has become a shared international priority.

This process of transformation on the energy market is also making long-term, innovative partnerships more important than ever. OMV, the international, integrated oil and gas company, headquartered in Vienna, and VERBUND, Austria’s largest electricity provider and one of the largest producers of electricity from hydro in Europe, will cooperate at operational level for the future of energy. At the heart of the cooperation will be supplying electricity to OMV sites, innovative energy services such as more flexible concepts for producing electricity and meeting demand, as well as the joint evaluation of concepts for producing and distributing hydrogen

Hydrogen – the technology of the future
In future, green hydrogen will play an important role in the sectors of energy, industry and transport. It is produced, via electrolysis, from renewable energy sources such as hydropower, wind power and solar energy and has a wide range of applications for both companies: As an industrial commodity, as the fuel of the future on the road, as well as for energy storage in order to balance out the volatile power production from the new renewables.

“Global energy demand is growing. Fossil fuels will continue to play a key role in the coming decades. In the form of natural gas, OMV produces the most environmentally sound fossil fuel and is promoting hydrogen as a component for the future energy mix”, says OMV CEO Rainer Seele. Today there are already hydrogen filling stations in Vienna, Innsbruck and Linz, with further stations planned in Graz and Wiener Neudorf. Furthermore, OMV is working together with partners in Auersthal on researching the production of hydrogen from wind power, while also researching new ways to produce hydrogen with the help of sunlight at the University of Cambridge. “We are delighted to achieve a new milestone in the field of innovative partnerships. Together we will be able to secure reliable energy resources and supply Austria with energy well into the future”, added Rainer Seele.

Green electricity and energy services from VERBUND
“We are committed to cooperation and innovation”, says VERBUND CEO Wolfgang Anzengruber. “The clean energy future will become a reality if we all – from energy producers, suppliers through to major industrial consumers and also, of course, households – work together towards the goal of reducing CO2 emissions”. In July 2016 VERBUND announced a similar cooperation with Austria’s largest company for technology and industrial goods, voestalpine, involving electricity supply as well as possible photovoltaic projects, demand-side-management solutions and a joint research centre for hydrogen. “We are delighted about this additional, key industrial partnership with one of Austria’s largest companies. We are thereby consistently pursuing our goal to provide 100% renewable energy and innovative energy services”, said Anzengruber.

Background Information:

About OMV Aktiengesellschaft
With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of around 24,100 employees in 2015, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV focuses on three core regions – CEE (Romania, Austria), North Sea as well as Middle East and Africa – and selected development areas. 2015 daily production stood at approximately 303 kboe/d. In Downstream, OMV has an annual refining capacity of 17.8 mn tonnes and approximately 3,800 filling stations in 11 countries as of end of 2015. OMV operates a gas pipeline network in Austria and gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany. In 2015, gas sales volumes amounted to 110 TWh.

About VERBUND
VERBUND is Austria’s leading producer of electricity and one of the largest European producers of electricity from hydropower. The company produces more than ninety percent of its electricity from hydropower. VERBUND trades in electricity in twelve countries and in 2015 generated annual revenue of EUR 3 bn with around 3,000 staff. With its subsidiaries and partners, VERBUND is active in power production and transport through to international trade and distribution. VERBUND has been listed in the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1988; the Republic of Austria owns 51% of the share capital. More information: www.verbund.com.

For further information, please contact:

OMV Public Relations:
Robert Lechner, Tel.: +43 1 40440-21472, e-mail: robert.lechner@omv.com

VERBUND Corporate Communications:
Ingun Metelko, Tel.: +43 (0) 50313-53748, Mobile: +43 664 380 92 69,
e-mail: ingun.metelko@verbund.com

SOURCE: OMV Aktiengesellschaft