Digital Green Schuldschein

Banks and insurance companies from Germany and Austria have been secured as investors in this innovative product.

To underline VERBUND’s sustainability strategy and respond to the rising demand on the part of investors for opportunities for ‘green’ investments, VERBUND has dedicated the proceeds from the green Schuldschein to one particularly sustainable project. All of the proceeds will be used to revitalise the 220-kV high-voltage grid for the section from St. Peter am Hart to Ernsthofen (Upper Austria). In this section, which is around 110 km long, electricity generated from renewable sources of energy in particular will be fed into the grid from the Aschach power plant on the Danube and several wind power plants before being distributed to some 250,000 households and 50,000 companies. The high-voltage line, which was built around 80 years ago, is undergoing natural material fatigue (such as rusting of the pylons, etc.). Among other things, the revitalisation will increase the security of supply, grid stability and efficiency, reduce grid losses by around 70% and diminish grid noise. Construction will take four years, from 2018 to 2021.

To increase credibility and transparency, the project being funded was subjected to an extensive voluntary review by the sustainability agency Sustainalytics GmbH. This review covered environmental management, sustainable power line management, social responsibility, occupational safety, citizen involvement, various certifications and much more. The assessment had a very positive outcome.

In addition, VERBUND AG, as an issuer of green Schuldscheine, has voluntarily opted to have the company’s sustainability evaluated annually by the independent sustainability agency oekom research. VERBUND AG currently has a prime rating and comes fourth out of 179 companies in the utilities sector.