About this report
The Alliander annual report provides an account of our activities from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. Starting points for our integrated reporting are transparency, the dialogue with stakeholders and the impact and value of our activities. We report transparently, based on the value we offer society and the matters our stakeholders find relevant. The annual report was published on 18 February 2020.
Guide to this annual report: a foundation of creating long-term value
Creating value for society is Alliander’s key objective. We accomplish this through our daily activities, by innovating, and by investing. Accordingly, Alliander’s value creation model is the recurring theme in this annual report. By following the value creation model, we explicitly show the relationship between social developments, our goals, our strategy, and how we maximise our contribution to society while minimising any adverse side effects. To this end, in 2019 we assessed and detailed our value creation process once more.
In the first section of this annual report, we discuss our role and the choices we make in the energy supply chain. Our mission, our trends and developments, and our strategy all form an integral part of this.
In the second section, we report on our activities in terms of the value we create in the long term, i.e.:
Ensuring a high level of supply reliability for a low cost
Being a credit-worthy company with solid returns
Making the energy supply and our operations sustainable
Ensuring a safe energy network, a safe working environment, and a safe data environment
Being an attractive, inclusive employer with equal opportunities for all
The final part of the report details the key effects of our activities on society and explains our contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here, we also explain our corporate governance structure.
Stakeholder dialogue
Our key stakeholders are our customers, employees, local and regional public authorities in our service areas, and the shareholders/investors. We also work closely with industry partners, national government authorities, supervisory bodies, social sector organisations, and knowledge centres. By maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the stakeholders, we stay informed of the trends in society, expectations regarding Alliander, and how we can work in unison to achieve a timely and successful energy transition at the lowest cost to society. We exchange thoughts and use these stakeholders as a sounding board for our policy choices and decisions. One example from 2019 is the session we organised for members of the new Provincial Councils in our service areas to engage on the impact the energy transition is having on energy infrastructure. We discussed the sustainable energy system and the role of the network operator.
Stakeholder panel
In keeping with last year, a stakeholder panel read the report at an early stage in its preparation. In December 2019, the dialogue we had with the panel centred on Alliander’s vision on and role in the energy transition, on transparency in the report, and on adding climate risks to the report. The panel also mentioned a number of topics it felt were not adequately covered in the report. An account of the opinion of the stakeholder panel is included in the report. At the start of each chapter we state for which stakeholders the chapter is relevant.
Material issues
We ask our stakeholders to tell us what topics they would like to see included in the annual report. We report on the 15 highest scoring topics (‘material issues’) in this annual report. These topics are shown in the following materiality matrix.
In 2019, after an extensive analysis in 2018, we reassessed the topics based on desk research consisting of a media analysis, research into equivalent organisations, and a review of industry reports, supplemented with the input we received from our stakeholders during the year. Based on our findings, we have combined the topics ‘Safe and healthy working practices’ and ‘Safe infrastructure’ into a single topic ‘Safe working practices and safe infrastructure’. Based on the research we also added two new topics: ‘Company’s adaptability’ and ‘A future-proof network’. Although, unlike last year, the topic ‘Responsible communication and information’ did not make it to the list of material issues, it is a topic that remains relevant for Alliander.
The introduction to each chapter of the annual report states which material issues are covered in the chapter. You can also click the materiality matrix online for more information and references. The complete materiality matrix showing all the issues is included in the appendices under Other information.
Numbering of material issues
We did not make any changes in 2019 in terms of the extent of the impact of material issues on the stakeholders and the extent of Alliander’s impact on the material issues. The number assigned to each topic indicates the extent to which attention has been focused on that topic over the last year. From the desk research we conducted it emerged that ‘Reliability of supply’ was the topic that drew the most attention in 2019.
>Materiality chart
Reliability of supply
Safe working practices and infrastructure
Promoting renewable energy generation
Working together on innovative solutions
Data-driven network management
Talent acquisition and development
Customer satisfaction
Responsible investment policy
Organisational capacity for change
Future-proof network
Corporate social responsibility in the supply chain
Corporate Governance and business ethics
Workplace well-being
Data security, privacy, and cybersecurity
Access to affordable energy
- 1Reliability of supply
- 2Safe working practices and infrastructure
- 3Promoting renewable energy generation
- 4Working together on innovative solutions
- 5Data-driven network management
- 6Talent acquisition and development
- 7Customer satisfaction
- 8Responsible investment policy
- 9Organisational capacity for change
- 10Future-proof network
- 11Corporate social responsibility in the supply chain
- 12Corporate Governance and business ethics
- 13Workplace well-being
- 14Data security, privacy, and cybersecurity
- 15Access to affordable energy
Integrated report
This annual report presents financial, operational and corporate social responsibility (CSR) information in an integrated manner, based on the following:
Relevant provisions in the Dutch Civil Code
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
Revised Dutch Corporate Governance Code 2016
GRI SRS reporting guidelines (‘Comprehensive’ option), Electric Utilities Sector Supplement
EU Directive on disclosure of non-financial information and diversity
International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)
The online annual report includes the GRI Content Index, which lists the relevant GRI indicators and allows easy navigation to the relevant pages in the report.
Consolidation
The financial and non-financial information in the report has been consolidated for Alliander and the subsidiaries that have a significant impact on the material aspects. Where information has not been consolidated, this is explicitly stated. In addition, we have included information on other Alliander business operations that are mainly dedicated to the energy transition. The information-gathering process was largely guided by the material issues.
In accordance with the Disclosure of Non-Financial Information Decree and the Disclosure of Diversity Policy Decree, Alliander provides information about certain non-financial and diversity aspects. For more information on the material aspects of the human rights topic, please refer to the relevant provisions in our Supplier Code of Conduct. Information about ethical business practices is provided in the ‘Integrity’ section of the Corporate governance chapter.
Transparency
Alliander operates in the complex dynamics of a rapidly changing energy sector. Like our shareholders, we place great value on transparency. We comply with the Transparency Guideline, the revised Dutch Corporate Governance Code 2016, and the Decree on Corporate Governance 2009. We also make it clear how we contribute to achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN Global Goals). In 2019, Alliander won the FD Henri Sijthoff Award in the non-listed companies category for its 2018 annual report. This award is presented by Dutch national financial newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad to companies that excel in their financial reporting. In addition, with our report for 2018 we came second in the running for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy’s Crystal Award (Kristalprijs) 2019 for the company with the best CSR reporting.
Invitation to stakeholders and readers
To involve our partners in the energy transition agenda at an early stage, we want to discuss with them their primary energy requirements and the best route forward to meeting these. To this end, Alliander is keen to engage with stakeholders about transitioning to the new energy system. We form coalitions to address the society-wide problem of the shortage of technicians in the labour market. We cordially invite readers of our annual report who wish to discuss topics like the energy transition or a natural-gas-free future, or who have any questions, suggestions, or tips for us, to contact us at communicatie@alliander.com.