Sustainability

In 2021, we created a "concept of success" for the entire PNE Group. It represents how we want to act as a company based on common goals and values. Accompanying this, we have developed focus measures to enable the "concept of success" to be deeply anchored in our daily business. The measures include, for example, the implementation of leadership standards, the improvement of our resource management, and continuous process optimization.

As a project developer of wind farms and photovoltaic plants, and a provider of clean energy solutions, transparent dialogue with PNE's stakeholders is of particular importance to us. For example, we always work in close contact with our stakeholders regarding approval procedures, environmental impact assessments or public participation. This dialogue enables us to recognize trends at an early stage, to enter into new partnerships and to establish a broad acceptance for our projects.

PNE takes responsibility for the value chain and aims for sustainable cooperation with all its business partners. This includes the selection and evaluation of suppliers based on high environmental and social criteria, the procurement of more sustainable input materials and products, as well as regional purchasing to promote local value creation. As an internationally active company, respect for human rights is a basic condition for our business activities. We reject any form of child, forced or compulsory labor, human trafficking or modern slavery and are committed to social and fair cooperation at every stage of our value chain.

It is also particularly important to us to keep the ecological footprint of our projects and services as small as possible. For this reason, we prefer to procure the turbines for our wind farms from suppliers certified to the ISO 14001 environmental management system. With procurement that is as local as possible to reduce long transport routes and the associated CO2 emissions.

Our employees are PNE's most valuable resource. Their competence, motivation, loyalty and commitment enable us to be successful on the market in the long term and to grow the business steadily. We want to be a first-class employer and focus on people, and we attach great importance to the professional development of our employees and the equal opportunity development of their potential. We support our employees with numerous initiatives and programs - from talent and personnel development programs to executive coaching. In this way, we want to enable employees to take on key positions in the PNE Group in the short to medium term. Within the framework of systematic personnel development, we identify our internal high potentials, discuss career opportunities and jointly determine the next steps within the framework of individual development plans. We also do our best to create an appreciative, attractive, safe and healthy working environment.

Through the PNE Academy and systematic onboarding, qualification and training measures, we create the framework in which learning and further training are part of everyday working life for our employees. Our culture of lifelong learning is based on mandatory basic training courses on relevant topics such as compliance and occupational safety, specific training courses for certain employee groups such as purchasing or sales, and individual learning opportunities for further training outside the company. The PNE Academy comprises a series of training courses carried out by internal experts on the various business areas and important organizational topics. In this way, we enable everyone to develop continuously at the same time, to fill our strategic agenda with life in their daily work and thus to contribute to the long-term success of the PNE Group. Training courses will initially take place as virtual seminars but this will be expanded in the coming years.

For PNE as a "Clean Energy Solutions Provider", climate protection and the consistent use of renewable energies are the central concerns. With the projects we develop and operate we make an important contribution to reducing climate-damaging emissions and driving forward the energy transition. With our full range of services in the fields of wind energy and photovoltaics, we help to ensure that the expansion of clean energies moves forward one step faster - for a healthier climate worldwide. In this way, we are consistently pursuing the goal of a secure, sustainable and profitable energy supply that is powered 100 percent by renewable energies.

Within our value chain, we promote the careful and efficient use of resources, participate in environmental and species protection studies, and implement energy efficiency measures at all our sites. Our overriding goal is to reduce the carbon footprint of our business activities in order to minimize our impact on the environment.

One issue often discussed by society in connection with the construction of renewable energy plants is the impact on the natural environment. We are constantly striving to minimize our impact on the quality and diversity of animal and plant habitats, while encouraging biodiversity at wind farms and photovoltaic plants that we develop.

We are also committed to protecting the environment at all our sites worldwide. To this end, we recently added a special provision for electric and hybrid vehicles in our company car policy. In the future, we want to reduce the use of fossil fuels for PNE vehicles and avoid them as far as possible. The new directive provides benefits for the use of electric mobility with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions from the company car fleet.

Accepting social responsibility and shaping a climate-neutral energy supply in a sustainable manner is part of PNE's corporate identity. At the core of our business model, we promote the development of innovative energy systems, advocate the use of new technologies and support local value creation. We see ourselves as a partner for the communities at our locations, offer secure and attractive jobs and promote the continuous training and qualification of young people on site. We want to make our contribution as a good corporate citizen to social, cultural and ecological coexistence, especially in the countries and at the sites where we ourselves are active. For this reason, we support various sports clubs, social and cultural institutions, and local charitable projects in the form of support and donations.

We have also further intensified our commitment at the level of citizen participation. PNE has taken on the development, planning and construction of citizens' wind farms and also supports the financing and operational management of the plants. In addition to the planning and implementation of the wind farm projects, we support local people with additional subsidies of various kinds. We plan holistic, sustainable projects for the future (including storage solution concepts and sector coupling projects), and we promote local institutions or support local educational opportunities; for example through the construction of an energy nature trail.