This report summarizes our efforts in the area of responsible management, social engagement and environmental protection in 2020.
The COVID-19 epidemic has made this a unique time in the history of our Group. The new circumstances, in which the society and the economy functioned, required us to reorganize our work urgently and comprehensively. Our priority was to ensure safety of our employees and customers and guarantee stable supply of electricity to households, businesses and public institutions. At the same time we actively supported the measures taken at the government as well as grassroots level for combating the epidemic and its effects. The aggregate amount given, among others, to hospitals, sanitary end epidemiological centers and hospices, exceeding PLN 5.3 million, is a good measure of our involvement. What is important, ENEA’s activities were not limited to financial support only, but also included involvement of our volunteers.
In spite of the difficult social and economic conditions, we managed to generate stable financial results, including EBITDA of PLN 3.3 billion, which is similar to that earned in 2019.
We also continued our efforts to move away from traditional coal-based power production towards low-emission and renewable technologies. This is confirmed by our figures, such as: a 5% increase in the total volume of energy from renewable sources, a 2% decrease in the volume of CO₂ per 1 MWh of electricity generated, or PLN 273 million that we designated for environmental projects, including connection of commercial wind farms to our distribution grid and projects adapting our power plants to the requirements of the industrial emissions directive.
The topics of climate are very important for us and we take a very responsible approach to our impact on the natural environment. This is why we designated the ENEA S.A.’s Vice-President of the Management Board for Operational Affairs as the person responsible for managing the Group’s climate impact and decided to create a dedicated team responsible for ENEA’s climate transition.
In December 2020, we started working on the ENEA Group’s new development strategy, which will be fully adjusted to the current external conditions and will enable our reliable and effective transition. In the same period, our subsidiary Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka presented its new strategy. The two documents will form the foundation mainly for our continued support for sustainable growth of the energy sector our active participation in the strengthening of the Polish economy.
We have not forgotten about the remaining dimensions of our responsibility. In 2020, among other things, we continued to improve our corporate governance to ensure an even more effective prevention of all types of abuse. We adopted a document setting out our basic requirements from suppliers in terms of their compliance with the law and market and ethical standards, and we partnered with our stakeholders to implement numerous social projects. We continued to observe the principles of responsible sales and provided our staff with the sense of stability of employment and being able to influence the company.
In 2021 we will continue to pursue the goals described above and the report presented below describes the effects of our actions taken last year. What gives us the sense of special satisfaction is the fact that ENEA Group’s social and environmental activities are directly supportive of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We also support another important commitment of the international community, which is the Ten Principles of the Global Compact, which are embedded in the management of our organization, its organizational culture and stakeholder relations. Our success in following those principles is confirmed by the many awards and titles that we received last year in areas such as human rights, protection of the environment, Customer care, prevention of abuse or social engagement. They included, among others, POLITYKA’S CSR Silver Leaf, the “Friendly Workplace 2020” award from the MarkaPracodawcy.pl portal, or the Patron of Wielkopolska’s Sports in the poll organized by “Głos Wielkopolski”.
Please read the following summary of the non-financial aspects of the ENEA Group’s activity in 2020.
Yours faithfully,
Paweł Szczeszek
President of the Management Board of ENEA S.A.