09/12/2008

E.ON inaugurates the Livorno Ferraris (Vercelli) thermoelectric power plant

E.ON's Livorno Ferraris power plant near Vercelli will be inaugurated today before the local authorities and the management of the companies involved. Nearly 300 people including politicians, representatives of the entrepreneurial world and both national and international representatives of the different participating companies - including Siemens - will attend celebrations.

The opening ceremony will also feature a show entitled "City of lights", especially created by Studio Festi, company specialized in making entertainment shows around the world.

This is the first of twenty-five new power plants expected over the forthcoming years by the global development plan of E.ON, one of the major privately-held capital energy companies worldwide. From 2007 to 2010 E.ON shall invest a total of €63 billion, 32 of which to strengthen conventional production.

The Livorno Ferraris plant, materially built by Siemens, is 75% owned by E.ON and 25% by BKW, one of the largest Swiss energy companies integrated in the European interconnection network.
The plant is a tangible example of the contribution E.ON can give our country. The plant's construction only took 2 years and a €400 million investment, reaching a peak of 700 employees and involving many companies on the territory. For BKW, already present in Italy with eight small hydroelectric plants, this strengthens generation activities in our country.

The so-called combined cycle technology is based on a combination of gas and vapor allowing the optimal use of combustibles and featuring a 57% efficiency rate and an 800 MW generation capacity. Maximizing energy and limiting CO2 emissions is therefore possible.

The plant represents an important economic thrust for the entire province of Vercelli and an important step towards the country's safety in terms of availability of energy both for companies and end users. With an annual production potential of 5TWh, the plant can supply safe and reliable power to over one million families in the entire Piedmont region.

Besides from the recent integration of activities purchased by Endesa Italia (today E.ON Produzione), E.ON's generation capacity in Italy is now even stronger thanks to the Livorno Ferraris plant. E.ON installed generation capacity in Italy reaches approximately 6 GW, which add on to 280 MW wind energy, placing the company among the main energy operators in our country. Thanks to the participation to the plant, BKW increases its installed power in Italy to approximately 250 MW.
The plant will be fully operative during the next weeks, once the testing phase has been concluded.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by E.ON Group management and other information currently available to E.ON. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to mate-rial differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or per-formance of the company and the estimates given here. E.ON AG does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to con-form them to future events or developments.