Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our press conference for the annual results of 2025. I'm Florian Dötterl, and I and my team are in charge of corporate communications here and our political relationships. We are happy to have you with us today because today we have the tenth annual results press conference of Uniper, and we can say it was never boring. Today we again have lots of interesting things to report, and we will do so in a minute. Our CEO, Michael Lewis, and our CFO, Christian Bahr, will present their take on the last financial year. After that, the entire board with our labor director and chief transformation officer, Ms. Twelemann, and our chief operations officer, Holger Kreetz, will be available to you. You are invited to ask questions. Let's start with the speeches.
Thank you, Florian. Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be able to welcome you today to our annual results press conference, both here in person in Düsseldorf and also virtually. This year is a special year for us. It's Uniper's 10th anniversary. One decade, that sounds like stability until you recall what has happened during these 10 years. For many companies, what happened in all those years would have been enough for three different eras. For Uniper, it was a decade in which we experienced a lot, learned a lot, and achieved a lot together. A decade in which we lived up to our responsibilities, shaped change, and repeatedly had to reposition ourselves in a not always friendly environment. That makes us well-suited for a world that is undergoing realignment. The world is indeed currently realigning itself, not slowly, but decisively and at a breathtaking pace.
We are witnessing shifts in power. Trade is again becoming geopolitics. Global cooperation and the common pursuit of prosperity are increasingly becoming a struggle for influence, dependencies, and ultimately bargaining power. This was particularly evident at this year's Munich Security Conference. Security is no longer defined solely in military terms. It's about supply chains, technology, critical infrastructure, and crucially, energy. It's also about vulnerabilities, leverage, and resilience. The world has become faster and more unpredictable, and it's become harsher. Why am I saying this at the start of an annual results press conference? Because today, energy is more than just a commodity. Energy is security architecture. Energy is industrial policy. Energy is sovereignty. Above all, energy is the ability to keep the lights on reliably and affordably. Considering the current situation against this backdrop, developments in the Middle East give cause for great concern.
My deepest sympathy goes out to those affected by the conflict and its consequences. The rise in gas prices may remind some of the energy crisis of 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At that time, Uniper was heavily impacted by the extreme volatility in the gas market. Today, however, the situation for Uniper is fundamentally different. We are operating from a much more favorable and resilient position. The Middle East conflict primarily affects the Indo-Pacific region. Uniper is currently not subject to any direct restrictions on LNG procurement, and there are no planned LNG deliveries from the affected region that would pass through the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, our earnings outlook and financial commitments do demonstrate that we have significantly reduced the risk exposure in our gas business.
Ladies and gentlemen, without reliable energy, there can be no competitiveness, and without competitiveness, there can be no prosperity. This means gas is more than one energy. It means access to a global market, and leeway, and therefore diversification is not just a buzzword, it means more business partners, more supply sources, more options, or in other words, as you would say in the UK, it's better to hedge one's bets. We've made considerable progress since the gas crisis of 2022. Our portfolio is less exposed to risk and therefore more resilient. Gas and therefore LNG will continue to play an important role in the energy transition. It is important to stick to medium and long-term goals, and this includes decarbonization, but it should be approached in as technology neutral and pragmatic a manner as possible.
Market-based instruments such as the EU ETS are the right approach. However, new flexibility options are needed. Regulatory measures should be sensible, well thought through, and implementable. Reporting for the sake of reporting cannot and must not be the goal. Ladies and gentlemen, today we have published our 2025 earnings. As anticipated, they return to a normalized level and are significantly below the exceptionally strong previous year, but they are still solid earnings. We generated Adjusted EBITDA of EUR 1.07 billion, and adjusted net income of EUR 545 million. We are within the range we communicated in summer 2025, which was subsequently narrowed in the summer of 2025. Uniper considers itself responsible for helping to ensure that Germany and Europe remain strong.
Our employees make Uniper a mainstay of Europe's energy supply. 18.45 GW of generating capacity and roughly 50 TWh of electricity output make us one of Northwestern Europe's top five energy companies. We are one of the leading gas suppliers in Germany, supplying some 140 TWh, and thus meet a large portion of the country's gas demand and operate about 25% of its gas storage capacity. Our 9 GW of power generating capacity in Germany secure part of the country's economic output. Our portfolio includes more than 100 hydropower plants, mainly in southern Germany, and 2.5 GW of system-relevant power plants, so plants that by definition are indispensable. Not only in production, but also in our partnerships, we prioritize diversity.
We have concluded important long-term gas and LNG purchase and supply agreements, including with partners in the United States, Canada, and Australia, such as Woodside Energy, Tourmaline, and ConocoPhillips. It is these new contracts that strengthen our portfolio and thus enhance our ambition to provide customers in Germany and Europe with a reliable gas supply. This winter has shown very impressively that storage is indispensable. On cold days in January, storage facilities met up to 70% of Germany's natural gas demand. Storage facilities provide backup for ongoing imports of pipeline gas and LNG, and they also help when Germany's gas imports temporarily decline. Germany's gas storage facilities are a key pillar of the country's energy security. Ensuring this security should be as cost efficient as possible.
The aim must be for the gas storage levels to be sufficient for Germany to get through the winter without any problems, but at the same time, storage facility must be operated such that at least the costs can be covered. Otherwise, there's a risk of closures, and this illustrates precisely why a systematic view is important when it comes to storage. Storage facilities aren't an end in themselves. They are part of an overall system that must achieve three things simultaneously: security of supply, affordability, and transformation. Ladies and gentlemen, Germany is good at the details. However, the energy transition won't be achieved by applying a single perfect rule, but rather by establishing a system that fits together generation, grids, storage, flexibility, and reliable generating capacity. In the UK, we say you can't run a modern system on yesterday's wiring. This is precisely the sticking point.
Germany wants to electrify space heating, mobility, and energy and is installing renewables at record speed, while in many places, infrastructure and regulations still date from a different era. The result isn't a lack of ambition, but a lack of coordination. The system's day-to-day functioning illustrates this. For example, electricity prices may be negative at some hours of the day, yet average wholesale electricity prices are high. Grid fees are rising because grid expansion isn't keeping pace, and electricity often remains too expensive for households and businesses, precisely for those applications where we want to electrify. That's why the next steps are the right ones, a power plant strategy, a capacity market, and the grid connection package. Because when electricity feed-in increases faster than the grid capacity, market interventions and costs will increase as well.
Redispatch costs in Germany around EUR 2.5 billion in 2025, paid for by all electricity customers. A clearly defined redispatch buffer in hotspots could make expansion smarter. New assets should only be added to such hotspots if they are more flexible as a result, so that the overall system becomes more stable and ultimately cheaper. New gas-fired power plants will provide a major source of stability. The construction of highly efficient and hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants, which is finally getting underway, is necessary to close Germany's capacity gaps following the country's phase-out of nuclear and also coal-fired power station, and these will continue to widen. In the past 10 years, Germany has experienced almost 470 Dunkelflaute lasting longer than 10 hours. That's around 470 days on which wind and solar power was effectively unavailable for many hours.
Such occurrences, thus, aren't the exception, but almost the rule. To be clear, the future will be electric and also renewable. If Germany wants to close its capacity gap, it needs to back up renewables expansion with the addition of new gas-fired power generation. Otherwise, recurring Dunkelflaute will provide the energy transition's opponents with their best arguments for turning back the clock. Uniper is prepared for its roughly 2 gigawatts of highly efficient and hydrogen-ready power plants at its facilities in Scholven and Staudinger to participate in the auctions under Germany's power plant strategy. Our preparations are progressing well. We expect this will enable us to shorten the construction phase, including planning and approval, from six to seven down to around five years. If we are chosen in an auction and receive full approval, we'd be able to swiftly move to implementation.
We are currently reviewing additional locations, and we plan to invest around roughly EUR 5 billion through to 2030 to ensure security of supply, growth, and transformation and to become climate neutral by 2040. Ladies and gentlemen, we have, however, not prepared for auctions under Germany's power plant strategy only. We've also moved forward with projects for low-carbon power plants across Europe, including a large CCS-ready gas-fired power plant in the United Kingdom, Connah's Quay. In addition, we are working to implement solar and onshore wind projects with a total capacity of around 600 MW, mainly in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Poland.
We also defined our new strategy for revamping our midstream gas business by reconfiguring our gas procurement and sales portfolio by means of long-term diversified LNG and gas supply contracts. Furthermore, we reassigned management board members' areas of responsibility to ensure that our leadership setup is ready to propel the next phase of our transformation. For precisely this purpose, we have created a new management board position and appointed Tiina Tuomela to fill it. She comes from inside Uniper and knows the company from a variety of perspectives, most recently as head of human resources and previously in communications and governmental relations. She's our chief people officer and transformation officer and labor director. She's responsible for human resources, IT, procurement, real estate, and operational excellence. These are among the very levers we need for the next stage.
We are simultaneously adapting our corporate functions to market developments to ensure that Uniper remains strong and competitive in the future. Ladies and gentlemen, since 2023, we've been steadily laying the groundwork for Uniper's capital market viability. The amendment of Germany's Energy Supply Security Act at the end of December 2025 now again enables Uniper to pay dividends to all shareholders. This is a fundamental step in enhancing Uniper's attractiveness on capital markets. It will benefit our shareholders, above all, our main shareholder, the Federal Republic of Germany. We intend to propose to the annual general meeting on May 29th, 2026 that Uniper pays out a dividend of around EUR 300 million or EUR 0.72 per share.
We are also making good progress on the remedies that the European Union imposed four years ago as a precondition for our stabilization by the Federal Republic of Germany. We have completed most of the disposals. Last year, we successfully closed the sales of Datteln 4, the coal-fired power plant, Uniper Wärme GmbH, our 18.26% stake in AS Latvijas Gāze, the Gönyű gas-fired power plant, and our North American electricity portfolio. The helium business, our OPAL stake, and our Russian business unit, Unipro, are still pending. The latter is subject to Russia's approval. Ladies and gentlemen, despite geopolitical unrest, we view the year ahead with confidence. Times of change amid a world undergoing realignment are precisely when movement ensues, and this creates opportunities to realign things in a new and better way.
The agreement between the German government and the European Commission on the power plant strategy finally creates the reliable framework that our industry needs. The macroeconomic outlook is brightening as well. A slight recovery is expected while the mood and momentum are picking up again. Uniper is ready to use the experience it has gained over the past 10 years to do its part. We have the necessary expertise, infrastructure, projects, and teams, as well as the clear determination to actively shape the future of our markets and make Europe's energy supply more resilient. Specifically, this means we're enhancing flexibility and diversification in our energy procurement and generation in order to remain independent and capable of acting in unforeseen situations. Second, we're investing in new and future-ready power plants in order to be optimally positioned technologically for the future requirements of Germany's economy. Pragmatic, efficient, future-ready.
Third, we remain a reliable partner for municipal utilities, companies, and Germany as a whole. Thank you. I would now like to hand over to you, Christian Barr.
Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Ladies and gentlemen, a warm welcome from me as well. I must say, I am very much looking forward to my first annual results press conference and to presenting our earnings and key developments to you, as Mike has mentioned, as well as answering your questions afterwards. Our 2025 earnings were in line with our guidance, as Mike said. However, as anticipated, they were well below those of the prior year. In total, Uniper generated an Adjusted EBITDA, that's before taxes, depreciation, and interest of EUR 1.097 billion and an adjusted net income after the deduction of all taxes of EUR 544 million. In 2024, the Adjusted EBITDA amounted to EUR 2.612 billion, and the adjusted net income was at EUR 1.653 billion.
Uniper pointed out back in the summer of 2024 already that its exceptionally good results of 2023 and 2024 wouldn't be repeatable at the same level in subsequent years. Our earnings decline, therefore, comes as no surprise. The Adjusted EBITDA for 2025, adjusted for portfolio changes, Mike mentioned some factors there, is roughly at the pre-crisis level and is normalizing as expected. The annual financial statements we are presenting today, and that's important, demonstrate that we've worked through the final effect of the gas crisis of a few years ago. We have a solid financial and our earnings position, and we are thus well-positioned for the challenges of the years ahead. I will now turn to our earnings by segment. Let's look at the segments one by one. Maybe we'll start with Green Generation.
Our green generation segment posted an Adjusted EBITDA of EUR 626 million in 2025, which significantly surpassed the prior year figure of EUR 498 million. This increase is mainly attributable to provisions recorded in the fourth quarter of the previous year, that is 2024, particularly for asset retirement obligations in Sweden, in Sweden's nuclear power business, and for dam repairs at our hydropower business in Germany. Earnings at our hydropower business in Sweden was at a prior year level. Higher output due to increased water inflow offset the effects of lower prices. Nuclear power's earnings were adversely affected by the unavailability of the Oskarshamn 3 power plant. Earnings from our pumped storage power plants in Germany were lower due to declining prices. However, this was offset by higher earnings from our run-of-the-river power plants, which benefited from a more favorable market condition.
Let's now move on and look at our segment Flexible Generation. The Adjusted EBITDA of this segment amounted to EUR 596 million. That was considerably below the prior year figure of EUR 998 million. As we've said before, we expected that. The decline in earnings on hedging transactions on the fossil fuel margin had a negative impact. As a result of lower market prices, electricity output could not be hedged at prices as high as in prior years.
It had a negative effect on the earnings, and the same holds true for the generally reduced generation portfolio, in particular, the decommissioning of Ratcliffe, the power plant in UK, and Heyden 4 in Germany, the sale of the Gönyű power plant, gas-fired power plant in Hungary to implement EU remedies, and the end of commercial operation and transition to grid reserve of the German power plants Staudinger 5 and Scholven B and C. The settlement of legal disputes, however, had a positive effect on earnings. Our Greener Commodities segment posted an A djusted EBITDA of EUR 16 million, which was well below the very high prior year figure of EUR 1.497 billion. This was mainly due to profitable optimization activities that we deliberately decided upon in our gas portfolio in the past, which had a negative effect in the 2025 financial year.
Furthermore, no additional income was generated in the reporting period on the replacement of undelivered Russian gas. As already indicated before, the earnings for 2025 for the last time reflected the consequences of the gas crisis. At the end of 2024, we were able to reach an out-of-court settlement that resolved long-standing legal disputes, and this settlement of the legal disputes led to a proportionate reversal of the provision created for this purpose in the fourth quarter of 2024. This positive effect from the reversal of the provision, this did not reoccur in 2025. Ladies and gentlemen, let's now look at the adjusted net income. The adjusted net income, EUR 544 million, essentially follows the Adjusted EBITDA. This is also significantly below the prior year figure of EUR 1.653 billion.
Despite the repayment in March 2025 of EUR 2.551 billion to the Federal Republic of Germany, Uniper has a positive economic net cash position of EUR 2.823 billion. This means that we are debt-free on a net basis and that we have free cash for our planned investments, which Mike already told you about. Let's look at CO₂ emissions. Uniper's direct Scope 1 emissions totaled 11.7 million metric tons in 2025. Prior year emissions in 2024 amounted to 14.2 million metric tons. This is roughly 20% less, primarily due to the decommissioning of Ratcliffe, the coal-fired power plant, at the end of September 2024, and the sale of Gönyű, the gas-fired power plant in Hungary, in January 2025.
Furthermore, lower electricity output at Maasvlakte, the coal-fired power plant in the Netherlands, contributed also to the decline. We expect our Scope 1 emissions in 2026 to be significantly lower than last year, mainly because of the sale of Datteln 4, the hard coal-fired power plant that was divested in November. Ladies and gentlemen, Uniper, following the biggest crisis in its history and its successful stabilization by the Federal Republic of Germany, is now back on solid ground. Our earnings reflected the consequences of the gas crisis for the very last time, and now I've said it before, we now have a stable and normalized earnings base. We've consistently reduced our business and financial risks. We've strengthened the risk management and established strict risk limitation guidelines. The implementation of EU remedies has been largely completed.
The Federal Republic of Germany's claims for repayment, I've mentioned it before, resulting from its financial stabilization of Uniper in 2022, have been settled. Our credit and liquidity profile has been strengthened, and our balance sheet has recovered exceptionally well. We're sharpening our business' focus on predictable and contractually secured earnings, earning streams from low-carbon business areas. These developments have also been recognized by the rating agency Standard & Poor's. Last summer, Standard & Poor's upgraded Uniper's standalone credit rating. Together with the government support, this gives us an issuer rating of BBB- based on Uniper's solid liquidity position. Our annual financial statements show liquidity of about EUR 5.5 billion. Due to its access to additional financing instruments, we were able to terminate the remaining EUR 1 billion KfW facility ahead of schedule in December 2025.
At the end of 2024, the credit facility amounted to EUR 5 billion. We secured two bilateral bank facilities totaling EUR 0.7 billion, which partially replaced the remaining KfW facility. Our Green Finance Framework, which we published last October, sharpens our capital market profile and expands our future financing options. As you can see, we've made significant progress towards capital market viability. Until recently, however, one important piece of the puzzle was missing, the possibility to pay dividends. Uniper's management board and supervisory board intend to propose to the AGM on May 20, 2026, a dividend payout of about EUR 300 million or EUR 0.72 per share. This was made possible by the amendment of Germany's Energy Supply Security Act in December 2025.
Following the restructuring of Uniper's balance sheet and the resulting technical ability to pay dividends in December 2023, it is now also legally possible for Uniper to again pay dividends to all its shareholders. This possibility of again paying dividends is a sign of Uniper's financial stability and a key precondition for its capital market viability. Uniper hasn't made any decision yet regarding its future dividend policy. We are currently developing a comprehensive framework for a longer-term dividend policy, and we're fully aware of the fact that an attractive dividend is an important criterion for shareholders. In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I will turn to our forecast for 2026. Based on the market and regulatory environment, we expect an Adjusted EBITDA between EUR 1.0 billion and EUR 1.3 billion and an adjusted net income between EUR 350 million and EUR 600 million.
Ladies and gentlemen, summing this up, last year Uniper achieved a lot. Uniper is now financially stable and is again viable for capital markets. From here, we're looking clearly ahead to the future and to growth. We're looking ahead to this year with confidence, and I believe, Florian, this sums it up nicely. Florian, back over to you.
Via. Thank you, Christian. Thank you, Mike. Let's start with the Q&As, which, if you're here in the room, please press the button on the microphone in front of you, and then I know that you want to ask a question. If you are with us via Teams, please raise your virtual hand, and then I will come back to you. If you're not asking a question, please go on mute again. I think the first question is from Ms. Krupp from Handelsblatt. Hello, everyone. I would like to ask about the current situation in the Iran conflict.
You said that you have left the consequences of the Ukraine crisis behind you in your financial numbers, but maybe you can explain what the impact of the Ukraine crisis could mean for you if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and what it means for your customers will then have to expect higher prices when it comes to new contracts during the course of the year. You ask about the consequences of the Iran crisis, the Strait of Hormuz, what impact does it have on Uniper's results, and what impact could that have on Uniper's customers? I will answer the first question. As we said, we are seeing a short-term price increase for both gas and power, and this affects the so-called front of the curves. That means 2026.
When we look at 2027 or 2028, the price effect will be much smaller, or there won't be one at all. That means that the market is expecting a quick resolution of this situation, and that's understandable. This situation affects everyone, the whole world economy, and we are not just talking about Europe here, also Asia, Africa, and also the United States. Therefore, it is key that a diplomatic solution is found as quickly as possible. For that reason, as I said, we are only seeing this price effect in the short term, and we are well-positioned. We have a strong balance sheet, we have strong liquidity, and a balanced and hedged portfolio, so we have no specific exposure. For that reason, we do not have a similar situation to what we had in 2022.
For our customers, as I said, in the short term, we are seeing a price increase, and that will ultimately be passed on to the customers. But if this remains a short-term development, then over the next stage, we can bring the prices down again if the back end of the curve is right. For that reason, we are currently expecting a short-term problem, but we will, of course, ensure security of supply for our customers, and what's also important to say, we are developing our new gas portfolio in such a way that we are able to secure long-term gas sources for Germany, for our customers, and for Europe as a whole. For that reason, this short-term price increase underlines that we need to find new gas sources, and that's what we're doing. The next question from Ms. Booth from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
I have a question concerning gas storage. You said the storage facilities need to be operated in a way that at least the operator's costs are covered. What's the situation at the moment concerning your storage facilities? You have reported that one of them will be closed. You've reported that to the Federal Network Agency. How will gas injection into storage develop prior to the next winter? What's your take? From political perspective, do you see the need for a government gas reserve? Well, at the moment, the summer spread is reversed because of the short-term price increase.
I don't wanna speculate how this price will play out, but what I can say is that we, as Uniper, have always argued that we need a new regulatory framework for gas storage, and we are expecting the French system to be a good solution. That means the Federal Network Agency will need to decide year on year how much capacity we need, and they are responsible for the auctions. We, as the owner, sell our storage capacity, and if we do not make enough money via these auctions, then we will receive money from the system. If we receive too much money, we will pay it back. It's a so-called contract for difference. In France, the system works exceptionally well and is very effective. What we need is a midterm solution.
Well, as far as the strategic reserve is concerned, that could be a solution for Austria, for example, but Austria have much more storage capacity in relation to gas demand. So in Germany, if we do build up a strategic reserve, we will have much less storage capacity available for the market. But the French solution means that we retain enough capacity, but, we will have a market solution. Okay. I continue with Mr. Steitz from Thomson Reuters. Yes. I would like to ask about the Middle East as well. You are not receiving any LNG from that region. You have no supply contracts with that region. I would nevertheless like to know that you accompanied Ms. Reiche on her trip into that region, and you talked about closer energy partnership there. What
How do you see these efforts against the backdrop of what's happening there at the moment? Given the current situation, is that still a valid option, a closer partnership with that region because you have heating partnerships with Qatar? What does the situation mean for that? My second question is Evergreen. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you mentioned Unipro yourself. It's a question for connoisseurs. How are talks with Brussels continuing about an exception to the rule? You won't be able to sell that asset by the end of the year unless a miracle happens. Maybe you can quickly comment on that. Well, let me first come to your first question. As you said, we have no long-term contracts with Qatar, and for that reason, we are not directly affected.
Of course, this gas is supposed to be shipped to Asia, so Asia has to purchase replacement gas, and that's why we've seen the price increase. We have always said we are talking about a diversified portfolio, and that means we will not bank on one single country or company and will not become dependent on that. We do, of course, want a potential partnership with the United Arab Emirates or Qatar, but we will always make sure that we do not have too much gas in our portfolio from a single source. That's important to say. Diversity of supply sources, and also countries, and also, durations and price indexations, that's how we can manage the risk. Your second question, Unipro? Well, there's nothing new to report there. As you know, we cannot dispose of Unipro.
It's still held by the Russian government agency, and if the situation changes then in a way, then we would share new information. There's nothing to report at this stage. The next question is from Ms. Brendel from Bloomberg. I have a question about the Middle East as well. You just said that you expect this to be a short-term development only, a not a long-term conflict. What exactly is short-term as far as you're concerned, or not long-term? According to what I've understood is that some energy analysts say that if the situation continues for five weeks, and if the available LNG has been used up, where will we stand? Okay, I'm gonna say something and then, pass on. I didn't say what we expect, but I said what the market expects.
The market shows that the front of the curve has seen a price increase, but the future is still normal, so to speak. That is reflected in our plans and in our forecast for 2026. Of course, there are many potential developments, but I don't want to speculate. I'm only talking about what we are seeing at the moment with the market prices. Christian? Yes, spot on. That's how it is. For our calculations and for the guidance we put out for 2026, we have used the current market price developments. For the longer-term end of the price curve for 2027, 2028, there are only limited movements out there at the moment.
Within 2026, it's within the, according to the framework we're seeing at the moment, the consequences are manageable because the situation is different, as Mike said, to what we had a few years ago. We have improved our resilience to a significant extent as well, as I said earlier. A further question from you, Ms. Brendel? Can you nevertheless say what would happen if this were to be a protracted conflict? I don't want to speculate. There are different potential developments, and we are only talking about facts here. Okay, I continue with Mr. Dreesen from Montel News. Yeah. Good morning, everyone. I have three questions, largely about the Middle East as well. The first thing I would like to know is that you said your gas portfolio is hedged.
What's the relationship, spot versus long-term contracts in LNG? Well, volatility is increasing at the moment. It started with the margining requirements in 2027, which caused a lot of problem for some companies. How do you see that situation in this crisis? Could there be problems again if the volatility is high? The third question is that, prior to the crisis, we saw some attempts with interventions in the pricing mechanisms, particularly in Italy. How do you see that discussion, market intervention at European level? Thank you. I'm going to summarize the three parts. First question was the relationship in the contracts spot versus long-term supply contracts. The second part was the increased volatility and the associated margining risks. Is that an issue, a problem maybe?
The third question was, pricing, price formation, and the debate about market intervention in various countries and what is Uniper's take on that. Let me start with the first question on the gas portfolio. I don't have the latest numbers here, but if you look at the countries with whom we have long-term contracts, Norway, the Netherlands, United States, and also Australia, where we are obtaining LNG or pipeline gas, then with regard to our sales portfolio, some 25% are left, which we are covering via spot deals on the exchange. That was your question, right? Yes. The third question, intervention and whether that's possible. We believe that the best possible system is for the market to send the right price signals. Then we have the right incentives to invest and to respond short-term.
For that reason, we don't see market intervention as necessary. I would now like to take a question from Teams from Ms. Bialdiga from the Manager Magazin, who has a poor Wi-Fi signal. Therefore, I'm asking what will the impact be of German government's legislation concerning the Uniper's renewables strategy and the planned onshore and solar projects in Germany?
Right. In our renewables portfolio, there are different projects, and it has always been this portfolio perspective, hence wind and PV solar in different countries. Germany, Great Britain, and Poland, I've already mentioned these countries, and in the past, there were other countries as well. We always carry out an assessment looking as to where we could achieve a return in line with our capital costs. This is why we have to assess for each and every project, whether we make an investment or not, and all of that is based on the return on investment. There is no one specific consequence, but of course, our portfolio will develop in line with our return on investment strategy with regard to our capital costs. Another question from the Teams channel, Ms. Becker of Börsen-Zeitung. Can we get the original sound, please? Ms. Becker, can you hear us?
Can we hear you? That's the question. Yes, I hope so. Hello. Yes, the sound is great. Hello, everyone. I would like to ask a follow-up question because unfortunately, you didn't really answer the question on margining. Before Russia started to limit and then discontinue the supply altogether, that was the first visible indicator of a crisis looming. If margining remains necessary for the time being, when will liquidity become a problem? I would like to know. Mr. Lewis, you've just now said the customers would be affected in the short run, but please correct me if I'm wrong. I always thought that you had long-term contracts at fixed prices, or did you change that as a result of the crisis? I can't imagine why a customer who has a long-term contract with you should be confronted with the higher spot prices. Right. Thank you.
The first question will be answered by Mr. Bahr, margining. Will there be a level at any point in time in the future that presents a problem for liquidity? And the second question, customers, especially industrial customers in Germany suffering. Right. Let me start with the first question, Ms. Becker, on margining. You are absolutely right. For trade companies, that is the factor, of course. If a crisis is looming somewhere and trade activities are done, stock market activities to hedge, the margining, of course, is a necessary instrument there. The more you trade at the stock market, the higher it is. At the moment, what we're seeing, as I've described before, we are seeing very low repercussions or limited repercussions. We have quite a balanced, well-balanced position. Our portfolio is well-balanced in terms of what we have to purchase and what we sell.
That is one option to limit the margining. Also, we have clear limit values we've set, which also means should such a case occur, when the numbers go up, you have to close positions, and you have to confront the crisis in the front office. At the moment, as I've said, we are not seeing any repercussions. We have a solid position. We're in a good position, and the LNG contracts that Mike mentioned before have been geared toward stability. Should there be unpredictable events we cannot foresee yet, and should the crisis worsen massively, a number of you have asked about this, should prices increase or become more volatile, we have a liquidity amount of EUR 5.5 billion from the annual results.
Let me add, just a few days ago, we talked to 19 banks, either extending facilities or agreeing on new ones. We're on the safe side, and we could master even a worse situation. That's also part of the resilience of a company. Thank you very much. Now, Mr. Lewis, on the second part of the question. Right. Yes, with regard to our customers, electricity or LNG is sold to industrial customers. Usually, the contracts run for two or three years, and this is why we purchase LNG at the point in time when we conclude the contract with our client. There is not an immediate effect, but should prices suffer or increase for that matter, in the long run, then we'll have to pass it on to our customers, of course.
At the moment, for the time being, we only see this short-term spike in prices, and our customers that have two or three-year contracts, they do not see any repercussions. For us, for our long-term portfolio, with regard to the energy portfolio, that's exactly why we have different price indexes, TTF or others, and our portfolio can thus be hedged. We are not always exposed everywhere. That's also part of our strict risk management strategy. For our customers in the medium run, they will not experience any effects with regard to prices right away. Thank you very much. I would like to move on. Another person here in the room has requested the floor. Ms. Schneider, Montel. Thank you very much. Two questions. The power plant strategy, let's come back to that.
What is your personal view with regard to the recommendation of 10%, a 10% threshold for bids by the Federal Cartel Office? You said you're aiming for 2 gigawatts. What's your position on that? I'll come back to the storage matter. As you've said before, the current spreads do not really give any incentives to feed in, but still we see a situation where storage facilities are filled a little bit. Do you have an opinion, or can you explain why that is happening right now? I also saw that Uniper is increasing its, the storage. Are you feeding gas into the storage facilities, and where does the gas come from? A follow-up question: What are your expectations? Can we reach the figures for the gas storage target this year?
Thank you very much, Ms. Schneider. The first question I'll direct to Mr. Kreetz. The Federal Cartel Office, with regard to auctions, the potential limit per provider to 10%, what would Uniper's position be? Well, from our point of view, the biggest challenge is this. When the capacity market was introduced and the strategy or the corresponding act aimed at enabling the coal phase-out and replacing coal with other capacities, that is a challenge which basically looks at 25 gigawatts in the 2030s, and this is why 10-12 gigawatts and to make some headway right away is the correct decision from our point of view. The biggest challenge is, after the 10 or 12 gigawatts we'll have to start with now, to then generate an additional 10-15 after that in the second wave.
This is why this question as to whether we need additional restrictions during the first wave, restricting them to 10%, you'd first have to look at the market and the providers, how many are there, who's there, can we manage these 10% in the first place? I don't know whether we can get together enough players. If there was to be a threshold introduced or a limitation, it would rather be 20%. The challenge is now, or the plan is now to get the gigawatts out there in the market to cater to the customers. Thank you very much, Holger. Gas storage facilities, several questions around that. Why do you increase the storage levels, or have been since the end of February, even though you see negative spreads? Why does Uniper also fill its storage levels and inject gas?
The forecast, can we store enough gas until we have the next winter? Right. First question, to be clear, we own these storage facilities. That doesn't mean that we ourselves inject gas. It means the companies that have purchased our storage volume, they are feeding in. Whether or not we can fill the storage facilities, it's much too early to say that. We will start in April, roughly. As I've said before, what we're currently seeing is a short-term price effect. As the year progresses, then we will see how prices will develop and what the storage situation will look like. Another question in person, and then I'll go back to the chat. Mr. Tob DPA. Hello, everyone. Thank you very much. Two questions. When will Oskarshamn, the power plant, be back on the grid?
Mr. Bahr, in connection with the conflict in the Middle East, you've talked about risks and opportunities. Could you maybe speak a bit to the opportunities that Uniper might discover there? Right. The first question on the power plant in Sweden, Oskarshamn, Mr. Kreetz. Right, of course. The audit that was originally planned for-
Outage.
The outage that was planned for May, we expect to be back in full operation on the 22nd of May. The second question goes to Mr. Bahr: Do you expect any opportunities to arise from the conflict in the Middle East? Thank you for this question. We're actually intensely looking into this. We are analyzing the situation, but we also have a roundtable with experts that meet two or three times a week here, that we talk about the developments in the Middle East, prices, et cetera. Currently, we only see a very limited effect. The margin in question was answered before. Right now we're managing the situation quite well. Should things change, should the conflict last much longer, should prices become highly volatile, of course the situation might change.
Opportunities to answer this question from a different perspective, I see opportunities in the context that Michael Lewis mentioned before. This crisis once again shows us that the energy transformation in Europe and in Germany is urgent. We need to act swiftly. We need capacities to remain independent, so that's part of the power plant strategy, electrification that we're pursuing within the context of the energy transition. Right. As promised, I'll go back to the Teams channel. Mr. Akoto of Energate, go ahead. My question is this, LNG and diversification. I'm wondering, just recently and before the conflict started, a lot of LNG came from the United States, and I'm wondering what Uniper's perspective is on the United States and U.S. companies that provide LNG, because the current administration exerts pressure. So my question is, the United States or U.S.
companies, are they good partners for the diversification that you are about to undergo or that you are undergoing? Well, the United States is an important market for us, and there are lots of new LNG projects that have been developed in the U.S. in the past years, and they will be operational over the next years. With one provider in Louisiana, Woodside, we've signed a contract, so that is an essential part of our portfolio. Let me also highlight this, we need a diversified portfolio which does not only cover the United States. We also have partners in Canada, Australia, Norway, and probably in the Middle East in the future. What is important is this, it's essential that we do not become dependent on one single country or one single company. Let's move on. Essen, Mr. Meinke of WAZ. Thank you very much. Hello from Essen.
I have several questions. Reprivatization is the first area, reprivatization of Uniper. What is the current state of play from the point of view of the management? It's clear that the decision has to be made by the federal government, but what would your recommendations be? Or do you have a preferred model, and to what extent have preparations already started? If tomorrow the decision was taken, would you be ready? And then a follow-up question, maybe I missed your answer. Do you still have to pay back something to the federal government, or have repayments been made in full? Second part, job cuts. Planned job cuts were reported in the media. What do employees have to expect? How many jobs are you looking at, across which period of time? And then a question on Gelsenkirchen-Schölven.
At this site, a new gas-fired power plant is to be constructed. In simple terms, what's the probability? What's the likelihood? What are you still waiting for? When could you start construction? Thank you very much, Mr. Meinke. Reprivatization, that question goes to Mr. Bahr for the preconditions of capital market viability. Then current situation, job cuts, that goes to Ms. Tuomela. Scholven, Mr. Kreetz. Of course. My pleasure. Thank you for the question. I'll tackle the topic of reprivatization. You've said it before. The Federal Republic of Germany will have to take a decision, but if or when it does so, whether or not and at what point in time and what path it opens up, whether it'll be an IPO or a divestment, all of that lies in the hands of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Of course, we are engaging in talks, but we are prepared for anything internally, and we have been for quite a while now. This covers all types of aspects, preparing a due diligence, et cetera. We are ready, and this is possible because all of the prerequisites have been fulfilled. EnSiG, the amendment of the Energy Security Act, Mike and myself, we've talked about this, now we are legally able again to pay a dividend. Our share of the roughly EUR 2.6 billion, we paid back our share. That is the share we paid back of the EUR 13 billion the company received to achieve stability again. All of that is dealt with, done and dealt with, the reprivatization in 2028 or by 2028 would be possible. Thank you very much.
Let me continue. Hello, Mr. Meinke. I'll be happy to give you a brief update on our reorganization. Let me start. In the first half of 2025, we saw the necessity to reduce labor costs. We decided 756 jobs will be cut by the end of this year, and I'm saying positions, not people. This involves a lot of vacancies. The first wave already happened. More than half of these positions were discontinued or we entered into agreements with employees that will leave the company towards the end of March. We're on a good path. An overarching theme is that there will be about 10% of our jobs will be cut contrary to the original plan.
Some Kraftwerk. Then the Scholven Power Plant. Thank you for the question on Scholven. Well, we need to say that Scholven is one of the transformation sites for Uniper. Here you can actually see every day how transformation is being tackled, what is happening. We've got 690 megawatts old coal-fired units, which we will keep in the network reserve until 2031. At the same time, we have an ammonia cracker, which we are building there at the moment, which will be commissioned at the end of the year to test how large amounts of hydrogen can be brought into Germany. At the same time, we've got Scholven 2, our power plant project, which we want to put into the auction for the Power Plant Safety Act.
This project is something we've been working on for a few years, actually. From a technical perspective and a planning perspective, it's made good progress. We are simply waiting for the auction now, for the auction terms and the auction, and we believe that we will have a good chance of actually winning the auction, but we'll have to wait and see. Shortly afterwards, we will then start construction to then be ready in 2031 and bring the power plant on stream if everything happens the way it is planned by the German government at the moment. One additional question concerning the job cuts. Are there any focus areas as to where these job cuts are to happen? Is it on the administration side, or is it at the power plant sites as well?
That is a good question in this context because we have defined some focal areas. We have ruled out the operating sites, the power plants, so it's mainly the administrative functions that are affected here, and also areas in the commercial units or areas, where planning work is being done for the operational units and where we maybe expected growth that is not happening for various reasons we already touched upon today. Okay. I have two further questions, one from Mr. Steitz and then Ms. Brendel, and after that, I'd like to close today's events. Mr. Steitz, please. I have another two questions. One, concerning your Swedish activities. You have a right of first refusal there until the end of the year.
If you want to dispose of your activities there, you don't want to, but are there efforts underway, nonetheless underway by potential buyers to get you to sell? Fortum and Vattenfall are probably two who would like to have these lucrative assets. Maybe you can report on that. My second question is. Can you put a price tag on the restructuring program at Uniper? What have you saved? What has been the financial effect? That's basically it. Thank you. Mr. Steitz, this price tag, what do you? Well, savings. In terms of savings, you have disposed of some of the assets, you have cut jobs. Costs or earnings? Costs. Yeah, let's try costs. Okay. The second question is then to Mr. Barr, and the first question about the market speculations. Well, yes.
I can confirm that Sweden is a very important part of our strategy. We are extremely happy with our Swedish business, and we do not plan to sell it, and we will not sell it. Can I ask again about the savings you meant? You referred to the assets, so the costs of the assets that we no longer have, or is it also the personnel savings? Well, both. Okay. Right. Okay. I do not have some of the figures. I will check up and let you know afterwards how much costs we have cut following the disposal in line with the remedies. What's more interesting though is the EBIT contribution that we no longer have. That is a small but three-digit million amount. Without Unipro, we have excluded that for the time being, as Mark said earlier.
This had some effect as to the overall structure, the functional positions. Because of that, we launched the program described by Fabienne Twelemann earlier. It's not just personnel, but also other costs, and that they add up to something like EUR 100 million, which we want to save. Then I'll have the pleasure of giving the floor to Ms. Bender for the last question. One question about the ETS. You said earlier that ETS is the right approach, but it needs more flexibilization. What exactly do you mean by that? Well, we believe that the best instrument to achieve our climate targets is a market-based instruments. That's why we've always supported the EU ETS, and we've really made progress with the EU ETS.
For that reason, we have not fully decarbonized our portfolio, but we have significantly reduced our CO2 emissions. Flexibility means that we need to see what industries that are competitive or that compete on a world market are affected by high prices, and how can we find a specific solution for these companies. We should not scrap the whole ETS or take away or remove the whole trading screen if we can find a specific solution, because it's been very successful over the past 20 years. Okay, ladies and gentlemen. With that, I close the official part of today's press conference, but I would like to ask for your attention for a quick surprise. For that, I'd like to ask a special person to come forward, Georg Oppermann.
Many of you will know that Georg Oppermann has supported many press conferences, and today, according to what I have learned, is his last press conference, because after 26 years with Uniper and the predecessor companies, he will retire at the end of March. Georg, you started as an analyst at PreussenElektra and then later E.ON in Munich. With the merger of the trading activities, you came to Düsseldorf. You were the chair of the trading business and then at E.ON. Then you were the chair or the spokesperson for the group in the last 10 years. In these last 10 years of Uniper, you were always or have always been a highly reliable information channel. You always kept your calm, and you did a lot in shaping Uniper's reputation.
We are grateful to you for that, and I'm sure I speak for many people in this room here. A big thank you for what you have done for this company. You know that supply security is particularly dear to our heart at Uniper. This also applies to Georg Oppermann, of course, even though it's not the usual commodities. Georg Oppermann likes our canteen food, and particularly stews. And we thought we give him a bit of a strategic reserve. But we are not concluding a long-term supply agreement with him. We've also added a book of recipes to the mix here. That's something to keep you busy going forward. Thank you very much. The press spokespersons you know will continue to remain there. We are in the process of refilling Georg's position.
Until then, Jutta Vinsken will be in charge of the press team. Now we are looking forward to chatting with some of you over lunch, and maybe answer a few more of your questions. Thank you very much.