20 January E.ON and RWE found Horizon Nuclear Power, a joint venture to develop up to 6 GW of new nuclear capacity in the United Kingdom in order to make the country's future energy supply more secure, climate-friendly, and affordable. Horizon begins operations in November. February E.ON and Rotterdam Climate Initiative agree to conduct a joint study for developing a carbon transport and storage infrastructure in Rotterdam. Such an infrastructure could be used for CO2 captured at E.ON's Maasvlakte power station. In December, the European Commission announces that it will support the project. E.ON, a global pacesetter in the development of carbon capture and storage technology, operates several carbon-capture pilot units and expects this technology to be commercially viable by 2020. March The European Commission's commitment decision for E.ON to divest certain generation activities and its ultrahigh-voltage transmission system in Germany took effect in December 2008. E.ON's first step to implement the decision is to sell its stakes in two coal-fired power stations, Lippendorf and Bexbach, to EnBW. May Dr. Wulf H. Bernotat announces at the E.ON Annual Shareholders Meeting that he does not seek to have his contract as Chairman of the E.ON Board of Management renewed again. His successor is appointed at a meeting of the E.ON Supervisory Board on August 12: Vice Chairman Dr. Johannes Teyssen will become Chair- man and CEO in May 2010. E.ON, DONG Energy, and Masdar announce that they plan to invest 2.2 billion to build the world's largest offshore wind farm, called London Array, which will be sited in the Thames estuary. The first phase will have a capacity of 630 MW and is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2012. When the second phase be- comes operational, London Array will have a total capacity of 1 GW. More offshore milestones follow. In September, Robin Rigg wind farm in the Solway Firth in northwest Britain begins exporting electricity to the mainland. The completed wind farm will have 60 turbines and 180 MW of installed capacity. In November, the last of 12 turbines is installed at alpha ventus, Germany's first offshore wind farm. June E.ON, which is expanding solar energy to be the second mainstay of its renewables business, opens its first solar farm, located in Le Lauzet in southern France. A few weeks later, E.ON acquires Conilhac, a photovoltaic farm developer, thereby further enhancing its expertise in implementing solar projects on an industrial scale. In November, E.ON successfully enters the concentrated solar power ("CSP") segment by forming a joint venture with Abengoa Solar to build and operate two 50 MW CSP plants in Andalusia, Spain. CSP uses arrays of mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto an absorber to produce steam that turns a turbine connected to a generator. CSP is one of the technologies planned for Desertec, a project to generate electricity in the deserts of North Africa. E.ON becomes a founding member of Desertec in July. E.ON and Dongjiang Environmental agree to partner on a Clean Development Mechanism ("CDM") project in China to recover landfill gas (which consists mostly of methane, a greenhouse gas) and use it to generate electricity. The project will displace the emission of 120,000 metric tons of CO2 annually. In October, E.ON and Bionersis form a partnership to conduct CDM projects across Southeast Asia. As part of its commitment to the European Commission, E.ON reaches an agreement to sell 13 run-of-river hydroelectric plants on the Inn River in Bavaria, Germany, to Österreichische Elektri- zitätswirtschafts-Aktiengesellschaft ("Verbund"). In return, E.ON receives power procurement rights from pumped-storage hydro- electric plants of the Zemm-Ziller Group and cash compensation. July E.ON takes a step into the future of human transportation when it distributes 15 battery-powered Mini E cars to test drivers and opens a public recharging network in Munich, Germany. By in- vesting in low-carbon generation technologies and smart grids, the energy industry will make a key contribution to sustainable climate protection in the transportation sector. That's why E.ON is spurring the development of electromobility with pilot projects like this one. Our Company The Year in Review 2009