A word from our chairman
Dear Reader,
Once again, we had another year full of twists and turns in 2021. Fortunately, after an unprecedented year of the coronavirus, our operations gradually returned to a more normal state of affairs in the first half of the year. But, of course, with constant attention to the safety and health of our staff and customers. Together, we clearly demonstrated that we could safeguard continuity of service and help our customers unabated. A big thank you to all the staff for all of this! So, in 2021, we continued to collectively build a stronger Fluvius in the world of energy that is in full transition.
Changing energy landscape
We are facing important challenges. For Fluvius, the energy transition and climate objectives are our future challenges. These represent a major technical, economic, and certainly social revolution. With Fluvius Vision 2050, we are responding to this and are closely following the developments together with all stakeholders. After all, the necessary contributions to the realisation of the energy transition must fit into a collective, uniform, and efficient approach.
The five basic premises for that 'grid management of the future' are based on social responsibility, ecological responsibility, financial realism, technical feasibility based on mature technology, and safeguarding customer comfort. We want to use these foundations to make the necessary adjustments and investments in our systems, grid infrastructure, and operations to help create tomorrow’s future-proof energy and climate environment.
Importance of energy data
The digital meter is an essential tool that allows customers to monitor and adjust their consumption and align consumption and production. These are essential elements in making the energy transition a success and achieving the climate objectives on time. In the meantime, we installed the one and a half millionth digital meter in early 2022! This milestone shows that our roll-out is now at cruising speed.
But the project had a rough ride at times. The 2021 ruling of the Constitutional Court put an end to the principle of the reversing meter and created more headwinds in the field for the arrival of the digital meter. This led to a delay. Which is why we launched a large-scale campaign in October 2021 that clearly explains the how and why of the energy transition. We are doing so jointly with the Flemish government. This will help us increase support and once again provide the required confidence in the digital meter.
The Atrias central data platform was launched on 1 November. I cannot emphasise enough how important this step is for the energy landscape of tomorrow. A future in which we will be using more and more electricity. And it will be generated entirely from renewable sources. Atrias' central data platform, the digital meter, and the capacity tariff announced by VREG will help both our customers and ourselves to be ready for that future.
Multi-utility
Our core tasks go beyond electricity and natural gas. For example, consultations with Telenet resulted in a non-binding agreement that is currently being elaborated into definitive agreements. For 'heating', we continue to advocate a regulated framework. Concerning Public Lighting, the replacement programme is cruising along. And concerning sewerage, we are involved in the Blue Deal initiative, an initiative of the Flemish Government aimed at structurally tackling the problems related to water shortages and flooding.
Integration within Fluvius
The merger that led to the creation of Fluvius in mid-2018 gave rise to the profound integration process 'One Fluvius'. Customer friendliness, cost efficiency, and flexibility are paramount. The company's synergy plan to achieve this goal comprises more than one hundred different initiatives. In 2021, we once again achieved some important successes and thus continue the work on finally completing the integration, as planned, by 2024.
These efforts demand a lot from all staff. So, Fluvius wants to distinguish itself as a caring company with a good balance between work and private life and with camaraderie among our colleagues. The response rate to the employee survey in 2021 was particularly high, which indicates strong commitment. It taught us that we have to adjust as a company and also showed us which successes we can celebrate. It was an encouragement to keep on working on One Fluvius!
A strong example of camaraderie and collegiality was seen last summer when many Fluvius employees spontaneously volunteered to help the victims of the floods in Wallonia. Our gesture was greatly appreciated by our colleagues at the Liège grid operator and, of course, by the customers. A strong example of craftsmanship and solidarity!
In 2021, a lot was achieved that we can absolutely be proud of. Together, we have built a better Fluvius and that benefits everyone.
Piet Buyse
Chair of the Fluvius Board of Directors
