Good morning, everyone. A warm welcome to all of you to the Hotel Widder here in Zurich and to those of you in the livestream. On behalf of BKW, I would like to welcome you to the Presentation of the 2025 Half-Year Financial Results. My name is Marisa Fetzer. I am the Head of Group Topics in Corporate Communications at BKW. On stage with me, I would like to welcome Robert Itschner, the CEO of BKW, and Martin Zwyssig, CFO of BKW. Also present on the slide behind me and on the cover of our half-year report is Mr. Stefan Annen. Stefan Annen is the Team Leader of Network Construction at BKW in the Bernese Oberland region. Together with his team, he has, among other things, replaced power cables in the municipality of Lauenen.
Thanks to his project, Stefan Annen and his team have increased the security of supply in the region. On a daily basis, they contribute to a reliable power supply for our customers. Together with over 12,000 other BKW employees, they are developing solutions for a comprehensive energy transition that includes energy production, marketing, energy storage, energy distribution, and energy-efficient Infrastructure and Buildings. Now, please allow me to briefly introduce today's conference program before I will hand over to BKW's CEO, Robert Itschner. First of all, Robert Itschner will start by briefly explaining the half-year results and the milestones achieved in the first six months. After that, BKW's CFO, Martin Zwyssig, will explain the financial results of the first half of 2025 in detail. Finally, Robert Itschner will provide an outlook for the current 2025 financial year.
As usual, there will be a questions and answers session after the presentation given by Robert Itschner and Martin Zwyssig. You, esteemed participants in the livestream, are welcome to submit your questions either online during the conference or later on, together with the questions from our guests here in the room during the Q&A. Let's now begin with the Presentation of BKW's Half-Year Results 2025. Robert Itschner, you have the floor.
Thank you very much. Marisa, I would like to welcome you to the presentation of BKW's Half-Year Results 2025. I would like to briefly go into the results. In the first six months, we have reached a good result within the line of our expectations. BKW in this time has reached a total operating income of CHF 2.252 billion. That's a minus of about 3.4% year on year. We have an EBIT of CHF 311 million.
It's a little bit lower than the previous year. This is due to the normalization in the energy markets that has continued, and we also had less hydropower available. This also influenced the EBIT. The reported net profit is also a little bit lower, but also in line as expected. We have had an impact due to the lower performance of the STENFO, the nuclear power plant of Mühleberg that had to be factored in. The difference is a - CHF 203 million. Now let me go into a few activities. First of all, the Energy Solutions segment. We have expanded our production and flexibility in the field of renewable energies. Here it is very gratifying to see that with various plans, we were able to make great progress for various facilities. First of all, we received the building permit for the Mont-Soleil ground-mounted PV facility in Saint-Imier.
For this, we had to abandon, however, the Alpine Chingle PV project. You might have seen that in our report. For us, it's also very important that the wind farm in Cerignola is very well proceeding. We're almost at half-time when it comes to the construction work. As you have seen, we invested into this wind farm. It will generate about 300 MW per year. Another highlight in July was the inauguration of the Oberhasli power plant. Spitallamm, the dam wall was tightened and renovated. That was about time to do so. We built a new wall that was now inaugurated. It's an extremely impressive facility and plant. If you ever go there, please have a look at it. It's really worth it. It's also very important to us to be very flexible and that we can proceed there.
We have a project that we've started with a facility for the start of a large battery storage project at Waltrop in Germany with 300 MW of performance or capacity, with a very high capacity. Here we want to invest about CHF 200 million. We assume that if everything goes well, that already next year we will be able to start with the construction. This facility is very well placed because a coal power plant was originally planned, but we already have a lot of facilities on site. The marketing of the flexible PV systems, such as Powerflex, for example, means that we can bundle certain systems, not only PV systems, but also others. Producers and consumers can be brought together and that can be controlled together in terms of PV systems that we can use those on the balancing energy markets. 370 MW has already been under contract.
For us, it is also very important to reach an agreement with the environmental associations when it comes to the ground-mounted PV facility at BelpmoosSolar . We were supported by our Federal Councillor, Albert Rösti. This PV ground-mounted system will become a little bit smaller, but I think we have better chances that it can be built in the near future. On to Power Grid. It is a very stable business segment as usual. The focus here is on our customers. We had a backlog which was also mentioned in the media when it comes to grid connections. We have now really worked on these grid connections. Everything is now done. All the applications have been granted and connected and we are well on track. In terms of smart meters, we've also made great progress.
It is now the case that we install over 500 of these smart meters per day. In total, it's more than 80,000 smart meters that have been installed and we will continue to do so until 2028. We've also communicated that the minimum feed-in remuneration for solar power that is actually due next year, that we want to introduce this already this year. The producers of small PV systems will receive CHF 0.06 per kWh. I think BKW has shown by this that we took their issues and their requests seriously. On to the segment of Infrastructure and Buildings. All business areas, meaning Engineering, Infra Services, and Building Service Solutions, have increased their profitability and their revenue use. We were able to reduce the operating costs in terms of engineering. We have completed our competencies and skills.
We have acquired various smaller plants of very specialized companies with targeted expertise, for example, in project planning and project controlling. Especially in Germany, we can see that large customers like to work together with local producers or local companies. That is why it is very important for us to be a kind of a one-stop shop. That is a major advantage for us. When it comes to Infra Services, we were able to work mainly in the high voltage cable area in Germany. We were able to strengthen our position in Germany as a leading company and provider. The Ostküstenleitung with 380 kV, for example, was one. This tender was won. This is a major order and assignment for us. All the areas had a very solid revenue income. Capacities were good, and the market still offers great possibilities and opportunities, even massive opportunities for the second half year.
There are some challenging situations as well. For example, the PV market in Switzerland has decreased quite a bit. It's not only us who feel this, but everyone can feel it. Building solutions will feel this impact as well. We assume that this will recover as well once the uncertainties coming with the Electricity Act have been handled. This was it from my side. I would like to hand over to Martin Zwyssig for the details of the finances.
Thank you, Robert, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I would also like to welcome you to today's analyst and media conference. I'm very pleased to take you through the details of the half-year results for 2025.
First of all, the key figures in an overview. BKW generated total revenues of CHF 2.25 billion in the first six months of 2025, and that corresponds to a decline of 3.4%. I will come back to the details of this development later on when I talk about the individual business segments. EBIT decreased to CHF 310.7 million, which corresponds to a decrease of 29.1%. While the Infrastructure and Buildings business segment was able to increase its earnings compared to the previous year, the EBIT result of Power Grid was slightly lower and that of Energy Solutions substantially lower. That was expected. Net profit declined by 43.9% to CHF 203.3 million, thus dropping disproportionately compared to EBIT. Considerable slide is due, among others, to the subpar performance of the Mühleberg STENFO funds. I'm going to cover this in a later slide.
Their operating net profit, that's STENFO, adjusted for the performance of the STENFO, the operating performance of the group also declines by 30.4% to CHF 210.4 million. Cash flow from operating activities is at CHF 161.6 million. Despite the lower operating result, it is only slightly below the previous year. The cash conversion rate has increased substantially over the prior year period. Details will be provided in the comments on the cash flow statement later on. Finally, equity ratio. The equity ratio was further strengthened to a very solid 50.9% thanks to profit retention. Now this slide shows you how the segments have contributed to growth, both in terms of revenue and EBIT. I already mentioned that earlier on. In Energy Solutions, the revenue decline amounts to CHF 66.6 million. The decrease in consolidated revenue is thus mainly attributable to the Energy Solutions segment.
Power Grid, the revenue of Power Grid also shrinks by CHF 20.7 million. The reason for this is the fact that we pass on Swissgrid's tariff reductions for ancillary services and for the winter power reserve, which, however, are both EBIT neutral. Infrastructure and Buildings, this segment increases revenue by CHF 9.1 million. The EBIT rate on the right-hand side clearly shows the expected negative impact of the Energy Solutions business segment compared with the previous year. At EBIT level, earnings dropped by CHF 133.3 million. Although prices were hedged at a higher level, they mostly cannot compensate for the lower management result from trading. In Power Grid, EBIT is lower than in the previous year's period due to the increasing costs in connection with the energy transition. Infrastructure and Buildings was able to increase EBIT by CHF 6.4 million. That is 26%.
All three units have contributed to the improvement, so all three units of Infrastructure and Buildings. On this and the next three slides, I will take a deeper dive into the individual segments, Energy Solutions, Power Grid, Infrastructure and Buildings. first of all, Energy Solutions. That's on this slide. The revenue of the Energy Solutions segment shrinks by 6.3% to CHF 992 million . The decline was driven by a generally lower level of electricity prices on the energy markets and lower generation from hydro and wind power plants. The EBIT of Energy Solutions amounts to CHF 207 million in the first half of 2025. That is a bit more than CHF 130 million less than last year.
Although prices were hedged at a higher level, and that's a plus of CHF 75 million for the first six months, this positive effect is offset by lower volumes from hydro and wind power plants, as well as the weaker performance of the STENFO of the Leibstadt plant. The main driver behind the EBIT decline is the trade and management result. In 2024, 65%, and that was a strong result, but that was all recorded in the first half of the year, and 35%, the normalization on the market materialized, which is why only 35% were generated in the second half of the year. That explains the rather large difference year on year. The increasing result was significantly lower than the first half of 2024. For the sake of completeness, I would like to mention that no significant impairments on property, plant, and equipment were recorded in the period.
In the prior year, a write-up of CHF 24 million on a new building in the Hydro Swiss unit was recorded. Now on the production mix, in the first half of the year, BKW produced 5 TWh of energy, and that's 5.2% less than the previous year. While the first half of 2024 was extraordinarily wet, the first two quarters of 2025 were much drier, so that hydro volumes declined by 0.5 TWh, and that is the blue bar that you can see here on the left, the first blue bar. Due to unfavorable wind conditions in Italy and Germany, 0.5 TWh less wind energy were produced, and that is the green bar that you can see here on the right-hand side. These weather conditions resulted in increased use of thermal power plants in both countries, albeit with hardly any effect on earnings.
After the annual results media conference in March, we presented this slide to you. Here you can see the factors that had a favorable effect in 2024. We have now amended the graphs to reflect the first half of 2025. Now on the left, that's on the volatility of power prices. What you can see here are the remarkable fluctuations of the three-year forward power prices in the corresponding year, while the dashed curve shows the development of average prices. Forward price volatility eased further into 2025 as expected, and this explains the lower trading result and portfolio management result. Now in the middle, you can see the hydro production. In 2024, high precipitation levels led to an increase in production from hydropower plants that was 0.5 TWh. In a multi-year comparison, production was 25% higher than normal.
This effect did not recur in the first half year of 2025, and we are now at 2023 levels, more or less as expected. Now on the right-hand side, you can see the STENFO performance. Just to remind you, BKW's result is impacted by STENFO's performance in two ways. The performance of our own STENFO for the Mühleberg plant impacts our financial result, while the STENFO of the Leibstadt plant, in which, and you can see this here, in which BKW holds a stake of 14.5%, influences the result with respect to higher or lower energy procurement costs. That has an impact on EBIT. In 2024, STENFO's performance was extraordinarily good. It was substantially above the target of 2.1%. In the first half year of 2025, the performance has now been negative for both STENFOs.
Despite rising stock markets, the funds didn't benefit because they mostly invest in US dollar denoted shares. The appreciation of the Swiss franc, because of currency effects, led to negative returns in the local currency. Overall, if we take a look at these three drivers, the factors that positively influenced results in 2024 did not recur, and that was actually expected. Now on to Power Grid. This segment too records a slight decline of CHF 20.7 million or 6.1%. The lower revenue is mainly attributable to tariff reductions. I mentioned the fact that Swissgrid and that we pass on the prices for the ancillary services and the winter power reserve. EBIT of the grid business drops by 4.4% from CHF 72.5 million to CHF 69.3 million. The reason is higher operating costs. Costs increased year on year, in particular due to increasing expenses associated with the energy transition.
These are in the main costs arising in connection with the smart meter rollout. There are also strategic staff increases, and also impairments had a profit-reducing effect. They are the consequence of a slightly expanded regulatory asset base, which has resulted from increased investing activities. Overall, the Power Grid segment has always been a very stable segment with year-on-year variances of just a few million. Now finally, Infrastructure and Buildings. First of all, revenue. Revenue rose by 1% to CHF 957.5 million. Revenue declines organically in those single-digit million ranges or slightly, and can be overcompensated by a slight growth from acquisitions in the amount of CHF 13.7 million. Now EBIT, in this business segment, the focus on improving operating performance remains more important than sales growth. EBIT improved further in line with this, rising by 26% to CHF 30.8 million.
All three areas, units, were able to outperform their previous year results. Operating costs were reduced by CHF 10 million compared to the previous year. This underscores the positive trend and shows that actions taken in the previous two years are bearing fruit. Overall, the infrastructure and building segment recorded an EBIT margin of 3.2%. That is 0.6 percentage points more than in the first half of 2024. This also makes it clear that we do not yet, we are not yet where we want to be, as we explained at the capital markets' same. It is another positive interim result. Let's now leave the income statement and move on to cash flows. Cash amounted to CHF 631.9 million at the reporting date. That's the bar on the right-hand side. That is a decrease of CHF 240.3 million in the first half year.
For the sake of comparison, and not shown here, at the end of the first half of 2024, cash came to CHF 586.8 million, i.e. CHF 45 million less. What is quite positive is operating cash flow before appropriation of nuclear provisions at CHF 211.8 million. Despite a low operating result, it is at the level of last year. In addition to influences from the valuation of energy derivatives, the seasonal increase in net current assets was lower than in the previous year by 76.5% and is at CHF 102.3 million. The reason for this is lower gas inventories. Gas used for the decommissioning and disposal of Mühleberg nuclear plant is more or less at the same level as last year at CHF 50.2 million. I will delve a little bit deeper into the actual investments on the upcoming slides.
At CHF 166.5 million, cash flow from investing activities before STENFO refunds was slightly lower than in the previous year, CHF 17 million. What is important here is that the cash flow from operating activities was once again such that net investments could be covered. We received STENFO refunds in the amount of CHF 33.4 million. The fact that as of the reporting date of June 30, the refunds did not balance out the payments for the decommissioning and disposal is solely attributable to timing differences in incoming and outgoing payments. The final payment for 2024 in the amount of CHF 27 million wasn't transferred before June 30, which is usually actually the means. That means free cash flow was positive for the first half.
The resulting free cash flow was not sufficient to finance the distributed dividends of CHF 208 million, but it is sufficient if it does so by the end of the year. We therefore resorted primarily to our existing liquidity, and that is also the reason why the cash level is lower. Now let's take a look at the investments and where BKW has invested. In the first half year, investments in acquisition of group companies, property, plant and equipment, and intangible assets came to CHF 226.7 million. That's what's in the center here of that circle. That's about CHF 4 million more than in the last year. Of these, 54.2% were for growth and 46% went to maintenance. On the growth investments in the Energy Solutions segments, CHF 59.9 million were invested in growth, CHF 37.9 million or CHF 38 million of these in wind and solar power generation.
The remaining funds were spent on additional batteries, district heating, or hydropower plants. In Power Grids, chf 30.1 million were invested in the growth of the strategic expansion of the Power Grid. In Infrastructure and Buildings, growth investments totaled about CHF 33 million. These comprise the considerations for three companies that were acquired, as well as considerations for acquisitions in previous years and investments in organic growth. On maintenance, that's in light blue of the CHF 103.8 million. That is, like a tradition, CHF 69.4 million was used for the Power Grid business. This overview shows you on the left-hand side, the development of net debt and the maturity profile of our outstanding bonds and notes on the right-hand side. Now, on the left-hand side, you can see the net debt liquidity. That's above the zero line. I've already mentioned what that is, but this now includes current financial assets.
That's cash and cash equivalents. The financial debt at CHF 1.9 billion remains stable. As a result of the decline in cash and cash equivalents and the stable financial debt, our net debt rose seasonally by a good CHF 200 million to CHF 1.084 billion on the reporting date, and that is slightly below previous year's figure. The maturity profile is relatively balanced. BKW holds an excellent diversification over time, and that means low financing risks, high flexibility, and flexibility for future growth investments. What's important for you, and that is not included in these figures, is the RCF, the syndicated RCF, in the amount of CHF 1 billion, which we renewed in spring 2024. It is a liquidity cushion, but we have not drawn it. It's not utilized. That's why it's not included in the figures.
The RCF's term lasts until 2030 with a one-year renewal option and an accordion option of CHF 0.5 billion. Thanks to our A rating, BKW 's financial corset can be adjusted at any time according to our needs. Now, let's take a look at the balance sheet. Since the easing of tensions on the energy markets, the balance sheet has remained fundamentally stable with slight shifts between current assets and non-current assets and a slight decrease in total assets. Current assets have declined by CHF 0.5 billion due to a lower level of cash and cash equivalents and lower inventories and receivables. Liabilities also decreased by CHF 0.5 billion due to a lower level of accounts payable and customer premains, as well as lower tax liabilities.
Equity declines slightly by about CHF 70 million in the first half, and there is a net profit of CHF 203 million that increases equity, while dividends distributed have a corresponding contrary effect on equity. That was CHF 208 million. That is why, ultimately, we also have actuarial losses on defined benefit obligations, and we also have slightly negative currency effects from currency translation. The equity ratio increases to a solid 59%, which will continue to bolster growth and our active role in shaping the energy transition. Finally, let me comment, let me make a comment on the return on capital employed or the net debt to EBITDA ratio. ROCE is at 7.8% and thus markedly exceeds capital costs of BKW, leaving the record year 2023 out of the equation. ROCE can also be considered very stable.
Turn to the right of the slide for the net debt to EBITDA ratio. Thanks to the stable EBITDA, net debt zeros in at a bit more than 1, which is pre-crisis level. With this, I'd like to close my part and shall hand back to Robert Itschner for the outlook. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you, Martin. It's not quite usual that we sometimes also include political conditions. However, please allow me to give you a brief overview because I think that the discussions going on in the political realm have not decreased. No, the intensity is quite high and the energy industry is also affected. Let me mention four points here. For example, the procedures acceleration bill or decree. This is really important for us in order to implement the projects that we have agreed upon.
This is now almost there, almost at the finish line, but we're not yet there. BKW is clearly promoting that this bill will reach a majority support in politics because we are afraid if this is too one-sided, this might lead to detrimental impacts and might lead to delays. We've also discussed in politics very many times the rescue package. Certain companies were in trouble with their liquidity and that's why they got this rescue package. We were also part of this rescue package. However, basically, BKW was and still is against the possibility that a state takes over responsibility. Maintaining sufficient liquidity is the core task of any company. We do this very gratifyingly and therefore it is our opinion that we should not delegate this task to a state or to our government. Therefore, we do not want to pay a contribution.
Then electricity agreement with the European Union. I do not want to go into all the details about our relationships with the European Union. However, let me state the following. This agreement is extremely important for the stability and the security of supply for Switzerland. We need access to the domestic energy market and we need energy. We need electricity during the winter months. This agreement will help us, will support us, and the liberalization of the energy market will also be helpful and we will also gain efficiencies here in Switzerland due to this. Last but not least, the Grid express initiative is also very important for us so that we can expand the plants and the facilities. However, we think that the distribution grid should be considered to a greater extent. It is crucial for the energy transition.
That is why I included our political stance because these four points are time and again discussed in the political realm. Now about the outlook for 2025. We assume that we will have a stronger half-year, second half-year, be it in Energy Solutions, but also Infrastructure and Buildings. Power Grid will remain very stable. In terms of Energy Solutions, we want to expand the renewable energy production. First of all, the price of the electricity has already been hedged at very gratifying prices and we will be able to achieve further milestones. Especially Cerignola should be finished now and this is certainly a milestone for us and will also make a contribution to our capacities. When it comes to the Power Grid segment, we want to advance digitalization, for example.
This is really the basis for our cooperation with customers, but also with other companies in order to offer grid-friendly possibilities and enhance the flexibility. When it comes to the segment of Infrastructure and Buildings, we would like to focus on our path that we've chosen. We want to increase our profitability in the second half of the year. We have a very selective growth that we have chosen here and some units are already working profitably here. However, we also see that the markets in the mid and long term really offer great opportunities, such as corporations in Germany. We've already mentioned that there is really a turbo booster that has been initiated in terms of the construction of residential homes. That is certainly something where we will play a part. That is very important for our engineering, which is active in Germany as well.
We will have certainly infrastructure expansion to the tune of about CHF 500 million. Within the next 12 or plus months, we will be able to benefit from this boost. We expect by the end of this year, we will not be too much affected by geopolitical upheavals or disruptions. We are set up very gratifyingly and in a solid way. Maybe there will be some pressure on prices. However, we can still confirm our EBIT guidance of CHF 650 million - CHF 750 million. We stand by this. Thank you so much. I'd like to hand over to Marisa for the Q&A.
Thank you very much, Robert and Martin, for your explanations of the 2025 half-year results. Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time for your questions. Before we get started, I would like to make a few organizational remarks with regard to the Q&A session.
We kindly ask our guests here in this room to wait for the microphone before you ask your questions. We also ask you to state your name and company before you ask your question. To ensure that those participating in the livestream can hear the questions quite clearly, we also kindly ask you to hold the microphone close to your mouth and speak clearly. Thank you very much for this in advance. Now, are there already questions here in the room from the audience? Please. Yes, please.
Thank you. I'll do it in English. Good morning, everybody. Emanuele Oggioni at Kepler Cheuvreux . The first question is on the generation development. You mentioned the projects scrapped or confirmed, et cetera. I have a question on the other main projects in Switzerland, in particular for Grimsel or Trift, if you have some update on that. Secondly, the moving parts for H2, if you can detail more the visibility of the evolution of H2 and in particular the sensitivity of the EBITDA range. In order to get the top end of the range or the mid-range guidance, what are the moving parts in by division, if possible? Some more granularity, if I may. The third question is on networks. You mentioned in the presentation, in the report, that there was a tariff reduction by Swissgrid. I think this was expected, but if you can add more color on this.
I stop here for the timing. Thank you.
Thank you very much for these questions. I shall repeat these questions in German. The moderator is now repeating the questions in German.
[Foreign language]
I'd like to hand over to Robert, first of all. Trift and Grimsel, now, we have had a positive development here with the appeal that was withdrawn by AquaViva, which affected this project. This is a major step that we achieved, and we are very happy about this. There is still one organization who has initiated an appeal. That's the Grimsel Association. However, on a national level, they are not entitled to advance their appeal. That will be handled within the canton of Bern. If everything goes smoothly, we might get started in 2029 with the construction. Of course, there are certain questions that need to be answered first. With the Grimsel, nothing has changed concretely. KWO is intensively discussing with other NGOs. There are other balancing measures being discussed.
We do have a hope that we will get a consensus there so that we will be able to increase the dam wall of the second wall sometime in the near future. This is about the status as it is right now to Grimsel and Trift. We also have Grimsel 4. This is a pump storage facility. Maybe I could add something to that. Here we have already received the concession, so we are in the preparation works for the construction of this pump storage facility that's close to Bodensee. This will allow us to get more flexibility, which is quite important and welcome to us if we can reach this. It will be very positive if we can start construction in the next two to three years. The new construction of Spitallamm dam wall is also something that we've already started.
We have a pipeline into the lake, so that means that we will be able to do this rather smoothly. Thank you, Robert. The next two questions, please, over to Martin. Thank you.
You would like to get a bit more visibility on the guidance. First of all, we only would like to give you a range, and that is a very deliberate choice. I can only explain how this guidance or this range comes about. Of course, it's a bottom approach that we have here. If we give you a range, it is according to our best knowledge, and we probably reach about in the very middle of this range. We very deliberately provide you with a range. Please bear with me that we cannot really tell you where exactly we will land within this range that we have given you.
However, I can maybe say a few things about the individual division or segments. Power Grid, first of all, as I said, is very stable. Plus minus, we're not getting down to the individual million. However, the result will be stable at Power Grid. That is quite easy to estimate here. The feed-through is very important here. How much electricity will be consumed in the second half of the year? That very much depends on the weather conditions. We have operating tariffs. They are active. They are established. That will influence or that drives the Power Grid result. Infrastructure and Buildings from the past, we do know that the first half of this year, they show some fluctuations, but it only makes up about a third of the result here. It depends what we can construct, and two-thirds of this result will be generated in the second half.
Please don't pin me down. This is a more or less estimation how you can model the EBIT range. Energy markets, of course, is actually the part that is impacted by fluctuations. It really depends on the weather conditions. Do we have precipitations or not? The production is the major part because prices are more or less hedged and fixed. The level is more or less trading. In the second half of this year, we are very optimistic that we will increase this result. How do we know this? Today already, because we do have positions and we know how they are positioned, and they are already assessed and evaluated. However, there is a caveat. They have been valued at today's date or now. The due date will be December 31, 2025. There are evaluation or valuation concerns that come into play.
As I said, trading, there are some uncertainties there, but that's the main lever for the second half of the year 2025. I do hope that these elaborations are of use to you. The tariffs of Swissgrid. For us, as long as the tariff changes are transferred on, we have a neutral result. We get the burden by Swissgrid. However, we feed them on or we transfer them on. Energy procurement on the one hand side and energy supply on the other side. This is neutral if these changes are always transferred on to the customers. There is, however, an impact, and that's what I showed on the slide. You will have an impact on the revenues, but not on EBIT because we hand them over or feed them through via both sides.
Thank you very much, Martin, for your elaborations and explanations. Let's take a look at the livestream. We have a question of Robert Green of UBS stating the two initiatives that were recently submitted and what are the legal risks? The question connected with these initiatives against wind parks in Switzerland. Of course, BKW clearly rejects these two political initiatives. It would be a ban of wind farms, and the locations that are good for wind farms do already have certain facilities. These initiatives would mean that our targets in terms of wind power would be greatly diminished, and this is not a good development. In one of the initiatives, there is even a retroactive effect, and that means that some wind farms that have already been constructed would have to be dismantled. This is completely not in line with the Swiss legal system to have such a retroactive effect.
It is not only a ban on new wind farms or a retroactive ban on wind farms, but it could also be expanded to the construction of roads and other infrastructure setups. Definitely, these are not in legal line with the Swiss legal system. Any further questions in this room? This is not the case currently. Yes, please. Mr. Rechberger. Thank you. Armin Rechberger, ZKB, Zürcher Kantonalbank . You have mentioned that the minimum remuneration for PV owners amounts to CHF 0.06 per kWh. We very often have negative prices. We've seen negative prices. If solar produces a lot, you will pay a lot of money, it seems. Don't you feel bad about this? I mean, you will have to pay the CHF 0.06 per kWh. You have to pay the difference. Yes, someone has to pay the difference. It is clear.
Is it those who consume electricity or not? In the long term, we will have a retroactive remuneration also vis-à-vis us ourselves, which is coupled to the market value more closely. In the solar industry, this has been implemented. In the long term, you do not have guaranteed tariffs at the very time when you need electricity. However, we decided this. The Swiss Parliament decided on this, and it will apply as of January 1, 2026. In the foreseeable time, we will have to work for this. There will be some reviews, or there are some reviews going on on the timeline. Maybe it will be quarterly calculated. There will be a lot of political discussions when it comes to the tariffing of the remuneration. We are of the opinion, of course, that we need to consider and factor in the market development as well.
The Grid express initiative has been mentioned. You'd rather get more finances for the distribution grid. Does that mean the promotion or the acceleration of high voltage power lines? If we do not factor in the distribution grid, I mean, it's not only about the promotion, but it's about the acceleration of these procedures. A traffic, for example, that is extremely important or necessary outside of certain areas. Is it still possible, for example, in isolated areas? If you have very densely populated areas, you will not have space to do this. We need to adjust the procedures and adjust the procedures to the needs. Therefore, the net Grid express bill is very important for that. Of course, every procedure has to be assessed and evaluated by many authorities. Maybe there might be one authority session that could be streamlined between various authorities, and therefore, procedures could be accelerated.
You can imagine, if you, for example, want to connect a large PV system, it is very frustrating to wait for a connection that will only come in about three to four years' time. That is not the goal of such facilities. Actually, key message: batteries. You have a stake in large battery storage facilities in Germany. These large battery facilities, I mean, of course, it does make sense, but maybe your PV owners who probably should have batteries as well and not pay CHF 0.06 per kWh, and then you'll have the fluctuations in the grid. Don't you think that this is not correct, or do you rather view it as a business model to sort of capitalize on these fluctuations, really? Large batteries and I think it will be both. Both of these things will be used.
Batteries at home, storage facilities at home in order to be autonomous in terms of energy consumption. That's certainly the best business case if you do not have to pay CHF 0.30 to BKW , but you can use your own battery that you have stored. The large battery storage facilities, of course, mean that we can balance energy. That means that the whole facility park, the power plant park, is changing greatly in Germany, but also in other countries. That creates a huge need for battery storage facilities in order to balance out these requirements of the grid. We are missing something on the production side because there are less, for example, coal power plants. There are many projects in this realm. However, not all of them are proceeding very well. Everywhere, we have major discussions going on in terms of building permits and so on.
Therefore, I think this is still very early on, but we are still seeing a lot of opportunities with the large battery storage facilities. I do have one last question, though, with regard to the electricity agreement. You have a lot of bound customers. They will be, of course, affected by the liberalization of the electricity agreement. In total, you think this is a positive thing?
Yes. I mean, we did weigh the interests. Of course, there are opportunities and challenges. We have to bundle the offers. BKW will remain the owners of these systems. With liberalization, we will be able, or we will have to develop new tariff models. We have to be more attractive or attractive to our customers. There is a lot of opportunity in there because we can react quickly to the market developments. Overall, we think this is a major opportunity for BKW.
Market access in Germany would be very difficult for us without an electricity agreement. This might not be very clear in Switzerland. The European grid is not controlled or is controlled by price signals, and this is a fact. We have to bear with that. We have to take care that we do not have a completely different system in Switzerland because we are all very much interconnected. Power plants in Europe will not be used because the energy levels go down, but because of the price levels. This works very well. The European grid is an extremely well-working system, one of the best in the world, I can tell you.
Just a few explanations and discussions of grids. I would like to go back to the livestream and actually would like to wrap it up in a few minutes. There are questions that we would like to cover. Andreas Vonachs. The production quantities in the second half of 2024, after 4.7 TWh in the first half of 2024. The terawatt value, terawatt hours , and will BKW be able to achieve this in the second half of 2025? There is a question whether the long outage of Gösgen has any impact on the production quantities in the second half year. In the second half year, it was 5.9 TWh in production. Please remember what I said, that the first half of 2024 was extraordinary. Of course, we cannot exceed this in production in 2025. The first half, 4.7 TWh, last half year was 5.9 TWh.
We do not assume that we will repeat or be able to repeat what happened in 2024. There is a question whether the outage of Gösgen had an impact or will have an impact. BKW has no stake in Gösgen, so it doesn't have an impact. There are three more questions in the livestream that we would like to answer. I'd like to continue with two questions from Andreas Vonachs. [Foreign language]. BKW and the locked-in power price, will it still be CHF 650 per MWh ? For 2027, the price is already locked in, and it is not CHF 65. It is CHF 60. No change there. It's as usual. That's the internal price. It's the price based on which you can calculate a production result.
What the trade does with these initial hedges during the following three years, and once they are delivered, this is something that is then reflected in the trading and portfolio management results. That is something that trading does. If we didn't do that, they wouldn't have those trading results. It's CHF 60, locked in at CHF 60 for 2027. Thank you, Martin. The last question for Andreas Vonachs before we move on to the final question. The mean of the 2025 EBIT is at CHF 700 million. The consensus for 2026 is at CHF 830 million. About +20% year on year. Is this something that BKW regards as realistic? The guidance for the following year is something that we are going to communicate at the annual conference because we don't have the guidance for that timeframe yet.
Of course, we have a strategy and we know where we're headed, and that's what our orientation is. Thank you, Martin. We have Julian Ricci from Bernese News. What went wrong with the Tramelan wind park?
Building construction activities were stopped. That was ordered by the authorities. Of course, we do have our permits to continue. Of course, we are going to present our position to the building authorities of the canton of Bern. What went wrong? Actually, property owners do not want to give up. They want to stop the project. That is what went wrong.
Thank you very much, Robert. At this point, we would like to close the conference on the half-year results of BKW. On behalf of BKW, I would like to thank you very cordially for your interest and for the guests here on site. We are happy to serve an apéro to you.
The final financial results will be presented on March 11th, 2026. We would look forward to seeing you there again. Until then, we wish you a wonderful autumn and auf Wiedersehen. Thank you.