Description of activity

The TAURON Group is a key energy holding in the Polish market. The company is the largest distributor of electric power and one of the two biggest energy producers and suppliers in Poland. It operates on an area covering almost one-fifth of Poland. Polish energy market has strong growth potential, among other things due to a growing demand for energy associated with the expected GDP growth.
The holding is a fully vertically integrated energy enterprise engaged in coal mining as well as production, distribution, trade and sale of electric energy. Approximately 30% of own demand for hard coal is covered by mines making up the group. Last year they extracted 4.9m tonnes of hard coal, 70% of which was sold to the group’s power plants and combined heat and power plants.
The group’s generation assets (of a total output of 5.6 GW) are located in southern Poland – in areas attractive due to their high industrialisation and population density, such as the Śląskie, Małopolskie, Dolnośląskie and Podkarpackie Provinces. Last year the group produced gross 20.5 TWh of electric energy, which ranked TAURON among top two energy producers in Poland, with a market share of about 14%. TAURON supplies energy to more than 4 million customers, including more than 471 thousand companies. Last year the Company distributed a total of 30.9 TWh of energy, giving it a leading position in the Polish market. The Company’s distribution area covers almost 53 thousand sq km, i.e. 17% of Poland’s area.
With sales volume amounting to 30.4 TWh, TAURON also ranked among the two largest energy groups.
The TAURON Group has developed a business strategy for the years 2008-2012, with further strategic investments to be implemented by 2020. An integral part of the strategy is an intense investment programme. First of all, the group intends to continue modernising the existing generation assets and create new production capacities, including those related to renewable energy. The group also intends to increase hard coal output in existing mines and acquire new mining facilities. As part of the investment programme, the company has been modernising and expanding its distribution network.
In 2009, TAURON completed the construction in the Łagisza Power Plant of a modern 460 MW power block with a CFB boiler. It is the first block of this type in the world, proving that the group is capable of implementing large-scale projects as regards construction of new energy production facilities. It also shows that investments in power blocks utilizing new coal technologies can be both effective and environmentally-friendly. The new 460 MW block in Łagisza has 45% effectiveness, compared with less than 40% in case of the majority of the existing blocks operated so far. At the same time, the Łagisza block produces much less carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
TAURON is actively seeking opportunities to reduce its operational costs, mainly by improved use of assets and business processes, as well as by optimising investment, financing costs, procurements and logistics.