Sustainable value creation

The Group's business principles (”Statkraft's Code of conduct”) were revised in 2009. The principles were revised to better reflect the Group's international scope, developments in relevant legislation and expectations from the owner and other key stakeholders. Statkraft's code of conduct defines the framework for ethical conduct and promotes awareness of ethical issues. The code of conduct is supported by more detailed guidelines and tools. At the beginning of 2010, Statkraft became a member of the UN Global Compact, and the code of conduct has been formulated to include Global Compact's ten principles.

The importance of the code of conduct is emphasised by the fact that all employees must actively confirm that they have familiarised themselves with the document, while compliance and follow-up is reported regularly. Education and dilemma training are key aspects of the work in connection with ethics. A series of dilemma training sessions and courses were held for managers and employees in 2009. A new anti-corruption manual will be launched in the spring of 2010. The manual contains an overview of relevant statutory rules, internal procedures as well as specific examples and challenges in connection with corruption. The manual will be supplemented by an interactive education program for all employees. Corresponding measures are being developed for other sections of the code of conduct.

Statkraft encourages its employees to discuss ethical issues and to report any breaches they discover. The Group audit is an independent notification channel with a right and duty to report to the board. No whistleblowing cases were recorded in 2009.

Environmental impact

No serious environmental incidents were recorded in the Group in 2009, but 118 less serious environmental incidents were recorded. Most of these were in connection with minor and short-term breaches of the river management regulations and minor oil spills, and had little or no environmental impact.

Development projects in Statkraft are planned and carried out in accordance with the requirements in the International Finance Corporation's standard relating to sustainable behaviour. For the environment, this entails impact analyses as regards environmental impact and systematic handling of environmental aspects through the entire project process. In 2009, impact analyses were initiated for the Devoll project in Albania and the Çetin project in Turkey.
 
Statkraft's emissions of greenhouse gases amounted to 1 600 000 tonnes in 2009 (1 605 000 tonnes). The Group buys climate quotas in the voluntary CO2 quota market to neutralise greenhouse gas emissions from fuel consumption, business travel and accidental emissions.

In 2009, Statkraft consumed 1359 GWh of electricity. All electricity consumed in the Group has been certified as renewable in accordance with RECS (Renewable Energy Certificate System). Statkraft generated 39 700 tonnes of hazardous waste, which was handled in accordance with applicable regulations. The bulk of this volume is residual products from the district heating plant in Trondheim.

A major project aiming to develop a comprehensive environmental management system was concluded in 2009. The results from the project include Group-wide guidelines for environmental management in Statkraft with description of requirements related to mapping of environmental risk and impact. The Group was recertified in accordance with the environmental management system ISO 14001:2004 in 2009. For the time being, the activities outside of Scandinavia are not encompassed by the certificate.

Employees

At the end of 2009, the Group had 3378 full-time equivalents (2633). The increase in full-time equivalents in 2009 was 28 per cent. Of the new full-time equivalents, 466, or 63 per cent, were added in connection with the consolidation of SN Power. The Group now has employees in 19 countries, and 28 per cent of the staff work outside Norway. The average age among Statkraft's employees is 45 years, while average seniority is 12 years. In 2009, the staff turnover rate in Statkraft was 2.3 per cent.

Several different surveys indicate that Statkraft is an attractive employer. In Universum's annual survey among graduate students, the engineering students ranked Statkraft fifth among Norway's most attractive employers, while the economics students ranked Statkraft in 25th place. Also in 2009, Statkraft was ranked one of Norway's best places to work among businesses with more than 250 employees (questionnaire survey carried out by Great Place to Work Institute Norway).

Statkraft strives to attain an even gender distribution in the Group, and more women in managerial positions. In 2009, 22 per cent of the Group's employees were women and the percentage of women in managerial positions was 23 per cent. The percentage of women on the board of directors is 44 per cent. The board follows up the work to achieve an even gender balance, including compliance with statutory requirements relating to gender distribution in the boards of subsidiaries and companies where Statkraft has major ownership interests.

Statkraft strives to attain a diverse working environment and promotes equal treatment in its recruitment and HR policy. Employees and others involved in Statkraft's activities must be chosen and treated in a manner which does not discriminate on the basis of gender, skin colour, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, social or ethnic origin, political conviction, trade union membership or other factors.

Each year, Statkraft evaluates its organisation and management as regards strategy, expertise, organisational aspects and working environment. The results from the evaluation in 2009 were, as in previous years, very positive and indicate that Statkraft's employees are satisfied and motivated in their jobs.

Health and safety

There were a total of eight fatalities in connection with the international development projects in 2009, and another fatality in the period to mid-March 2010. This poses a challenge for Statkraft, and comprehensive HSE measures have been implemented to avoid future accidents. One contractor employee in Turkey and one person from a local community in Peru died in connection with the consolidated operations, and seven contractor employees died in connection with associated project activities - five in India and two in Laos.

Five of the deceased worked at SN Power's Allain Duhangan project (India). Four of the fatal accidents took place in the first quarter, while the fifth took place in March 2010. As a consequence of the fatal accidents, a new project manager was appointed in April 2009, and international experts in tunnel construction and HSE have become more closely involved in the project.

Two contractor employees died during project work in Theun Hinboun Power Company (Laos) and one contractor employee died at Yesil Enerji's project in Cakit in Turkey. In addition, a person from the local community drowned in a duct in the Arcata power plant in Peru (SN Power).

Most of the accidents took place in connection with transport. Work routines in connection with transport have therefore been made more stringent in all projects. Statkraft works to achieve increased understanding for and compliance with safety requirements within all development projects it is involved. Health and safety work and performance are followed up directly in the projects and through the respective boards of directors.

The absence indicator LTI was 3.8 in 2009 (4.6), while the injury indicator TRI was 8.4 (12.1). In total, 24 lost-time injuries, 229 days absence and 53 injuries were recorded in 2009. In addition, 19 lost-time injuries were recorded among Statkraft's contractors. Increased focus on reporting and analysis of incidents, near-misses and unsafe conditions, as well as stricter requirements for investigation of serious conditions are assumed to be the causes of the positive development. Measures and efforts to minimise the number of injuries will continue to have high priority. The Group has an expressed objective of learning the lessons from injuries, near-misses and unsafe conditions. In 2009, 5597 unsafe conditions and near-misses were recorded.

Absence due to illness in Statkraft was 3.3 per cent in 2009 (3.9 per cent). The company has a target of absence due to illness of less than 4 per cent. All Norwegian companies in the Group have entered into Inclusive workplace (IA) agreements, with active follow-up of absence and close cooperation with the company health service.

See graph Injuries and sickness absence

Our role in society

Statkraft is working to develop new production capacity which can contribute to long-term, reliable energy supply and we want to be a positive contributor in the societies in which we operate. We welcome a positive and open dialogue with all stakeholders and are working to develop the company in a manner which increases the value for the owner and the local communities and countries in which we operate.

Statkraft's economic value creation amounted to NOK 19 743 million in 2009. Of this, NOK 3740 million was returned to the owner as dividend and group contribution, while taxes and fees to the state and municipalities amounted to NOK 6202 million. Statkraft's total investments in 2009 amounted to NOK 4907 million (excluding loans given), of which NOK 2355 million was in Norway and NOK 2552 million abroad. Of these investments, 50 per cent were in connection with expansion of production capacity.

Statkraft's contribution to society includes knowledge enhancement and results created through innovation. We want to be a driving force in Norway's growing renewable energy and environment R&D sector. Our priority areas within R&D are channelled through three R&D programs within the areas marine energy, hydropower and customer activities. The budget for Statkraft's innovation projects in the period 2009–2011 is about NOK 500 million.