Energy Efficiency and Sourcing Renewable Energy

As an integrated oil, gas, and chemicals company, the OMV Group operates large facilities and is also a major energy consumer. The amount of energy we use creates a significant impact on the environment. Effective management of energy consumption reduces the environmental cost of our operations, increases financial savings owing to our energy efficiency measures, prevents non-compliance with regulatory requirements on energy use, and reduces GHG emissions.

Energy efficiency measures therefore have a considerable effect on issues relating to energy consumption and are of particular interest to certain stakeholders:

• Government authorities: compliance with the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) regulations relating to the submission of emission allowances within the EU ETS, compliance with the national transposition of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, which requires greater energy efficiency in all stages of the energy value chain, and performing obligatory energy efficiency audits every four years
• Shareholders and other stakeholders with a direct financial interest in the OMV Group: financial savings resulting from reduced energy consumption, lower production costs, and lower GHG emissions
• NGOs/NPOs: reduced impact of our operations on the environment

Management and Due Diligence Processes

The OMV Group’s Environmental Management Standard requires that all OMV businesses and activities use energy responsibly, conserve primary energy resources, and implement energy management plans in accordance with ISO 50001.

Identification Measures

The potential for reducing energy use is identified in annual campaigns encouraging improved environmental performance, including energy consumption. For example, we have set targets for the refineries to reach certain energy intensity index ratings through annual monitoring campaigns. Based on their energy intensity, we identify and assess areas for improvement in terms of energy efficiency. Subsequently, we decide which measures to implement to reduce energy consumption as part of our environmental governance process.

Energy Consumption

In PJ

Borealis is responsible for 36% of the energy consumption of the OMV Group and has set a target for 2030 to improve energy efficiency measures equal to 20% of the absolute primary energy consumption from a 2015 baseline. As OMV and Borealis operate joint facilities in Schwechat and Burghausen, an initiative to identify and increase joint synergies across both sites was established. Projects identified in 2022 are under evaluation, with the potential for implementation from 2024. For instance, the Schwechat refinery currently supplies boiler feed water to the Borealis facility. By adapting the supply lines, this boiler feed water can be replaced with cheaper, colder, and fully desalinated water, resulting in energy and CO₂ savings.

Technical Improvements

Energy efficiency measures in OMV operations are closely linked with technical improvements directed at reducing energy use while achieving the same operational output. Process optimization and increasing energy efficiency to reduce costs and CO₂ emissions are also a priority at our refineries. In 2022, for example, at the Schwechat refinery, this included the optimization of the blade rows in one of the steam turbines, which resulted in an increase in the efficiency of the high-pressure section of the turbine, and a subsequent increase in the electrical output equal to the steam rate. Implementation of planned energy efficiency measures were on track in 2022 but were interrupted by the unplanned shutdown of the RD4 crude oil distillation plant at the Schwechat refinery, resulting in severe delays in implementation.

Sourcing Renewable Energy for Operations

We are increasingly turning to renewable sources of electricity to power our operations. One way of doing this is by purchasing renewable energy, which subsequently reduces our Scope 2 emissions. For instance, in our refineries in Schwechat and Burghausen, electricity contracts stipulate that 50% of purchased electricity must be from renewable sources. As such, in 2022, 50% of the purchased electricity at the Schwechat refinery and the Adria Wien Pipeline (AWP), 50.8% at the Burghausen refinery, and 82.5% at our tank farms and pumping stations came from renewable sources. 100% of the electricity purchased by OMV’s Austrian filling stations and the head office are obtained from renewable sources. For OMV’s refineries and the AWP, the electricity contracts are generally spot-indexed and contracted on a one- to three-year basis. Commodity pricing risk is managed using financial risk instruments.

In C&M, to reduce its Scope 2 emissions, Borealis has set a goal to source 100% of the electricity it uses from renewable sources by 2030. As such, in 2022, Borealis continued to establish Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to source renewable electricity on a longer-term basis, and sourced the electricity and utilities needed for its production processes. This subsequently resulted in the reduction of Scope 2 emissions.

Another approach is to produce renewable energy and use it to power our operations, subsequently reducing our Scope 1 emissions. In Austria, OMV and VERBUND built a ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) plant, which produced 12.9 GWh of renewable electricity in 2022. This electricity covered 11% of the electricity demand of E&P Austria. In addition, the commercial operation of OMV’s PV installation in Lobau began in early 2022, where a PV tracker system with an output of 5.6 MWh was installed. In comparison to a fixed installation, the tracker system, which follows the path of the sun, enables an increase in the generation of green electricity of approx. 10%. Production efficiency was increased by a further 5% by installing solar panels with bifacial (double-sided) modules.

In Norway, our joint venture partner Equinor has almost completed the construction of the largest floating offshore wind farm called Hywind Tampen, which will supply power to the Gullfaks and Snorre assets, contributing to a reduction in their emissions of 200 kta. The Hywind Tampen wind farm, when in full operation, will consist of eleven floating wind turbines with a total capacity of 88 MW, offsetting 200 kt of CO₂ emissions and 1,000 t of NO_x emissions per year. By the fourth quarter of 2022, seven turbines had been installed and started supplying clean electricity to the Gullfaks A, B, and C platforms. The last four turbines will be installed in the spring of 2023 and will deliver power to the adjacent Snorre A and B platforms.

2022 Actions

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency measures implemented at our three refineries in 2022 have made it possible to achieve an annual reduction of more than 38.5 kt CO₂e and energy savings of 510 TJ. These include:

• Ultrasonic atomizer nozzles for power plant boilers were installed at the Schwechat refinery to promote the atomization of liquid fuel to improve the quality of combustion. This resulted in a reduction in exhaust gas losses, fuel demand, combustion air demand, and CO₂ emissions.
• At OMV Petrom, the Petrobrazi refinery implemented several operational measures. For instance, repairing the TG3 turbogenerator resulted in a 1 MW increase in electricity production, improving the overall efficiency of the cogenerator. The steam traps were also replaced, subsequently reducing steam consumption by 8.3 t per day. During the shutdown in April 2022, the three-way valve was repaired, which reduced fuel gas consumption and subsequently saved approx. 1.3 t per day.

In C&M, examples of energy efficiency measures taken in 2022 were as follows:

• Borealis optimized the benzene purification column at Porvoo, which is expected to result in primary energy savings of 17 GWh/year.
• The extruder at Burghausen was improved and is expected to result in primary energy savings of 8 GWh/year.
• Borealis reduced the natural gas consumption of the regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTOs) at Borealis Polyolefine GmbH in Linz, Austria. This is expected to result in primary energy savings of 4.3 GWh/year.

In E&P, the key energy efficiency projects included the following:

• In Tunisia, additional electricity and gas meters were installed at the ISO 50001-certified Waha Central Processing Facility and Camp to improve energy monitoring.
• At the Māui Production Station in New Zealand, one recompressor was replaced with an electric compressor rather than upgrading obsolete control systems. This new compressor provides both an energy efficiency improvement (correctly sized for production rates and high-efficiency drive) and CO₂ reductions (approx. 3,500 t CO₂e per year).
• In Malaysia, SapuraOMV diesel consumption of the chartered utility vessel that supports B15 platform operations was optimized, resulting in a reduction in fuel consumption of 15%.
• At OMV Petrom’s Moldova asset, three engines from the Comănești combined heat and power plant were relocated to two new locations for better usage of the associated gas and to simultaneously obtain electricity and useful thermal energy. In parallel, in the Gas & Power division, the air conditioning systems in the T2 gas metering stations were changed to further reduce the electricity consumption of the new equipment.

Operational Renewable Energy Initiatives

Over the next few years, the OMV Group intends to continue scaling up the sourcing and use of renewable energy. In 2022, key actions included:

• In 2022, after the completion of Phase II, 12.9 GWh of renewable electricity was produced from the PV park at Schönkirchen. The generated electricity was used for ongoing operations in E&P Austria. It is estimated that if the PVs installed during both Phases I and II are simultaneously operational throughout the year, 15.84 GWh of renewable energy will be produced.
• Since the start-up of the PV plant at the Lobau tank farm in February 2022, approx. 7.2 GWh of renewable energy has been produced, covering approx. 45% of the annual electricity demand of the tank farm and resulting in savings of around 2,100 t CO₂ per year.
• OMV Petrom completed the installation of PVs at its first solar park in Icoana, Olt County. The park includes nearly 1,000 PV panels installed over an area of 5,500 m². The green energy produced (approx. 415 MWh/year) will be used to supply electricity for ongoing operations in the E&P segment. This will result in a reduction of more than 1,200 t CO₂ throughout the entire life cycle of the panels.
• In Tunisia, utility air compressors with photovoltaic panels were installed at the Waha wells, while the Nawara well sites and pipeline valve stations were also equipped with PV panels for autonomous electricity generation.
• By the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, PV panels were installed at 284 OMV and OMV Petrom branded filling stations. The electricity produced from these installations annually is estimated at 7,000 MWh.

Power Purchase Agreements

Several Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with renewable energy providers were signed by the OMV Group in 2022, including the following:

• In April 2022, a PPAPPA was signed between OMV and WEB Windenergie AG. With an output of 5.6 MW and annual electricity production of 13.7 GWh, the antici­pated clean wind energy supplied to the OMV Group will be used to generate green hydrogen using an electrolyzer at the Schwechat refinery in 2023.
• In February 2022, Borealis and Finnish energy company Fortum signed a long-term PPAlong-term PPA to source renewable energy from two onshore wind parks. Starting mid-2024, 800 GWh of renewable power will be supplied to the Borealis production operations in Porvoo, Finland, over the course of eight years.
• In October 2022, Borealis and Axpo Nordic, a subsidiary of Switzerland’s largest renewable energy provider, signed a wind PPAwind PPA, which includes the annual supply of more than 130,000 MWh of wind power to the Borealis production location in Stenungsund, Sweden, over the next ten years. The electricity will be generated by a new onshore wind farm (Hultema) located in central Sweden, with delivery expected to start in January 2024.
• In Belgium, Borealis signed a PPA with Eneco, a Dutch energy supplier. The energy will be generated by an existing offshore wind park (Mermaid) located in the North Sea.
• Borealis also signed a co-investment agreement with VERBUND to build a PV plant (4.8 MWp) at its production location in Schwechat, Austria, and simulta­neously entered a ten-year PPA to obtain renewable hydroelectricity from two existing hydro plants in Austria, which are part of VERBUND’s portfolio. As a result, Borealis further increased its renewable electricity and is on track to reach its 2030 target.

Outlook

We will continue to identify measures to improve energy efficiency and operational renewable energy initiatives, and take the following actions in the coming years:

• Waste heat from refinery plants HDS3, PTU, and FP3 will be used to replace steam for preheating the feed water in power plant 2 at the Schwechat refinery. This steam will be used to heat the existing and new Vienna district heating networks for Wien Energie and Vienna International Airport.
• As OMV and Borealis operate joint facilities in Schwechat and Burghausen, we will continue to identify and increase joint synergies across both sites. For instance, from mid-2023, flared quantities will be reduced, as the discontinuous nitrogen-rich gases produced by OMV will be combusted in the Borealis regenerative thermal oxidation (RTO) plant, rather than being sent to the elevated flare. Further energy efficiency projects are in development for implementation in 2024.
• By 2025, OMV Petrom aims to install PVs at half of its network of OMV Petrom filling stations. PV panels at additional OMV filling stations in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia are also scheduled to be installed in 2024.

We will continue to increase our sourcing of renewable energy to power our operations. In C&M, the segment purchasing the greatest amount of energy, our aim is to ensure that all energy purchased is renewable by 2030.

In the future, where local regulations permit, we also plan to produce renewable energy and feed it into the electricity grid for use by third parties. The potential for doing this in the countries where we have business operations is currently being evaluated.