Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply statistics - NACE Rev. 2

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Data from June 2011, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database

This article presents an overview of statistics for European Union (EU) electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, covering NACE Rev. 2 Section D, hereafter referred to as the network energy supply sector. Network energy concerns providing electric power, natural gas, steam, hot water and the like through a network (permanent infrastructure) of lines, mains and pipes, but also the generation of electric power and the production of steam, hot or chilled water and cooled air.

Table 1: Key indicators, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), EU-27, 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Figure 1: Sectoral breakdown of activity, EU-27, 2008 (1)
(% share of value added and employment within gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D))
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Table 2: Sectoral breakdown of expenditure, productivity and profitability, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), EU-27, 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Figure 2: Relative importance of gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), 2008 (1)
(% share of value added and employment in the non-financial business economy total)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Figure 3: Concentration of value added and employment, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), 2008
(cumulative share of the five principal Member States as a % of the EU-27 total)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Table 3: Principal Member States and most specialised Member States, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), 2008 (1)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Table 4: Key indicators, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Table 5: Key regional indicators, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), 2008 (1)
(top 20 NUTS 2 regions, based on % share of non-financial business economy workforce)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)
Figure 4: Degree of regional employment specialisation, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), 2008 (1)
(% share of non-financial business economy workforce by NUTS 2 region)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)
Table 6: Sectoral breakdown of regional employment, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), 2008 (1)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)
Table 7: Key size class indicators, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), EU-27, 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_ind_r2)
Figure 5: Sectoral breakdown of value added by enterprise size class, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), EU-27, 2008 (1)
(% share of sectoral value added)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_ind_r2)
Figure 6: Sectoral breakdown of employment by enterprise size class, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), EU-27, 2008 (1)
(% share of sectoral employment)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_ind_r2)
Table 8: Number of enterprises by enterprise size class, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (NACE Section D), 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_ind_r2)

The network energy supply sector can be further subdivided in the production, transmission, distribution and trade of electricity (NACE Group 35.1), the manufacture, distribution and trade of gas via mains (NACE Group 35.2) and the supply of steam and air conditioning (NACE Group 35.3) (see the more detailed description of what Section D covers exactly). 

Contents

Main statistical findings

Structural profile and sectoral analysis

The network energy supply sector (Section D) in the EU-27 employed 1.2 million persons in 2008 and it generated EUR 199 800 million of value added. The production, transmission, distribution and trade of electricity subsector (Group 35.1, hereafter electricity supply) was by far the largest part of the sector, contributing 82.3 % of sectoral value added and 74.5 % of the workforce. The manufacture, distribution and trade of gas via mains subsector (Group 35.2, hereafter gas supply) was next largest in terms of value added with a 13.2 % share, with the supply of steam and air conditioning (Group 35.3) generating the remaining 4.5 % share.

The network energy supply sector as a whole contributed 0.9 % of all persons employed in the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) in 2008 and 3.2 % of the value added. These very different shares of the non-financial business economy totals indicate a very high apparent labour productivity in this sector and reflect its capital-intensive nature. The EU-27’s electricity supply subsector invested EUR 52 500 million in tangible goods in 2008, the second highest of any NACE group within the non-financial business economy, while the gas supply subsector invested a further EUR 8 900 million; even without the supply of steam and air conditioning (for which data are not available) these two subsectors accounted for around 6 % of all tangible investment in the non-financial business economy, a greater share than the sector’s contribution to value added. The investment rate shows the ratio between investment and value added: in 2008 this was 31.9 % for the EU-27's electricity supply subsector and 33.5 % for the gas supply subsector, more than double the non-financial business economy average (16.3 %).

The workforce was one of the smallest of the non-financial business economy sectors in 2008, but almost certainly had one of the highest levels of apparent labour productivity: in the electricity supply subsector value added per person employed averaged EUR 184 thousand while in the supply of steam and air conditioning subsector the average was EUR 53 thousand, in both cases well above the non-financial business economy average of EUR 45.2 thousand per person employed. The average personnel costs for the whole sector were estimated at EUR 50 thousand per employee compared with 30.9 thousand per employee in the non-financial business economy as a whole. Again the electricity supply sector recorded a higher value, namely EUR 54.2 thousand. The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio combines the two previous indicators and shows the extent to which value added per person employed covers average personnel costs per employee. Due to the exceptionally high productivity and somewhat less elevated average personnel costs the subsectors within the EU-27's network energy supply sector in 2008 all recorded relatively high wage adjusted labour productivity ratios: 339 % for electricity supply, 330 % for gas supply and 200 % for the supply of steam and air conditioning.

Country analysis

In terms of its contribution to the non-financial business economy the network energy supply sector was generally more important in central and eastern European countries. In value added terms its contribution in 2008 was highest in Slovakia where it accounted for 10.8 % of the total and the shares in the Czech Republic (6.4 %) and Bulgaria (5.7 %) were also well above the EU-27 average. In most of the remaining Member States the share ranged from 2.5 % in Denmark to 5.1 % in Poland, with Luxembourg (1.3 %) and the Netherlands (1.9 %) below this range. The contribution to non-financial business economy employment reached 2.0 % in Romania and Slovakia, but was less than 0.5 % in the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.

An analysis of the three subsectors shows that the electricity supply subsector was particularly large in Slovakia, where its contribution to non-financial business economy value added was more than double the EU-27 average. Slovakia’s specialisation in gas supply was even greater, as this subsector contributed more than eight times as much to Slovakian non-financial business economy value added as the EU-27 average, while in Denmark and the Czech Republic this subsector’s contribution was also at least double the EU-27 average. An analysis of the specialisation in the supply of steam and air conditioning subsector shows a group of very specialised Member States composed mainly of Nordic, Baltic and central European Member States most notably the Czech Republic, Sweden and Slovakia; a second group is composed of countries that have very little or no activity in this sector, including Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain and Ireland.

Regional analysis

As a whole, the share of network energy supply in regional non-financial business economy employment is concentrated within a narrow range, with a small number of regions having a somewhat elevated degree of specialisation in these activities – see Figure 4. A critical mass of clients (from other enterprises or from households/consumers) within close proximity can drive specialisation, for example in the network supply of hot water or steam for district heating. Weather and the environment (natural or man made) can also play a role, for example in the demand for energy for heating in climates with colder winters and cooling for those with warmer summers. The demand for energy from industrial clients depends on the industrial structure, with demand higher in those regions with a specialisation in energy intensive activities such as steel smelting, aluminium production, coking, the production of cement and glass, as well as the desalination of water.

On a regional basis the highest share of network energy supply in non-financial business economy employment was 3.6 % in Severozapaden in Bulgaria. Among the 10 regions most specialised in network energy supply (in employment terms) were three each from Bulgaria and Slovakia as well as two Hungarian regions, Latvia (which is one region at NUTS 2 level) and one Italian region. The single largest regional workforce in network energy supply was 22 148 persons employed in Slaskie in Poland, which may well be related to the fact that it also had the largest mining and quarrying workforce.

Size class analysis

Large enterprises (with 250 or more persons employed) accounted for around three quarters of the EU-27’s network energy supply sector in 2008, both in terms of value added and employment, a higher share than in any other NACE section within the non-financial business economy. For value added this situation was essentially due to the dominance of large enterprises within the electricity supply subsector, as in the other two subsectors the contribution of large enterprises was notably lower although still dominant: in the gas supply subsector large enterprises generated a little over three fifths of the value added and their contribution in the supply of steam and air conditioning subsector was around a half.

In all Member States for which data are available large enterprises contributed at least 50 % of value added in the network energy supply sector except in Denmark where the share was 38.0 %. In contrast, in Cyprus there was just one large enterprise in the sector and so its contribution was therefore 100 %, while in Romania the contribution of large enterprises reached 90 % and in Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria and Poland large enterprises generated 80 % or more of value added. Micro enterprises (with less than 10 persons employed) generated around 10 % of value added in Finland, Sweden and Spain, around 20 % in Portugal, close to 40 % in France, and peaked at 47.5 % in Denmark.

Data sources and availability

Coverage

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, NACE Rev. 2 Section D, in this article referred to as the network energy supply sector, concerns providing electric power, natural gas, steam, hot water and the like through a network (permanent infrastructure) of lines, mains and pipes. Apart from the transmission and distribution through a network, this activity also includes the generation of electric power and the production of steam, hot or chilled water and cooled air.

The network energy sector comprises the following subsectors:

  • the production, transmission, distribution and trade of electricity (NACE Group 35.1), which can be generated from fossil, nuclear or renewable fuels;
  • the manufacture, distribution and trade of gas via mains (NACE Group 35.2), excluding the (typically long-distance) transport of gas through pipelines, the bulk sale and transport of gaseous fuels or its distribution in canisters and also the manufacture of refined petroleum products and industrial gases;
  • the supply of steam and air conditioning (NACE Group 35.3), including the production, collection and distribution of steam and hot water (for example for heating and power), cooled air, chilled water for cooling and ice; this network distribution of steam and hot water may be for the purpose of city heating, also known as district heating.

Data sources

The analysis presented in this article is based on the main datasets for structural business statistics (SBS) which are disseminated annually. The three data sets used are:

  • the national series which have the most detailed analysis by activity according to the activity classification NACE and the widest range of variables;
  • the regional series which provide an analysis at 2-digit level of the regional classification NUTS;
  • the size class series which provide an analysis based on five size classes reflecting the number of persons employed.

Context

The EU’s gas and electricity internal markets have been changing through the requirements of the second and third electricity and gas directives adopted in 2003 and July 2009. The aim of opening up European energy markets to competition has been to provide households and business with greater choice, lower prices, better service and improved security of supply.

Policies related to energy and to climate change are particularly important for many parts of the network energy supply sector. The EU aims to become a low-carbon, energy-efficient economy in the coming decades. The integrated energy and climate change policy laid out in December 2008 aims to cut greenhouse gases by 20 %, reduce energy consumption by 20 % through increased energy efficiency and to meet 20 % of the EU's energy needs from renewable sources by 2020 – these goals will have implications on the way network energy suppliers operate.

In March 2010 the Europe 2020 strategy was adopted: this is the EU's strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It is a strategy to enhance the competitiveness of the EU and to create more growth and jobs. A resource-efficient Europe is one of the flagship initiatives of this strategy that aims to support the shift towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon economy to achieve sustainable growth. Within this broad initiative are several energy related initiatives. The Energy 2020 strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy was adopted in November 2010 by the European Commission. It defines the energy priorities through until 2020 and sets out actions to be taken in order to tackle the challenges of saving energy, achieve a market with competitive prices and secure supplies, boost technological leadership, and effectively negotiate with international partners. The Energy infrastructure priorities for 2020 and beyond were adopted at the same time and are intended to serve as a blueprint for an integrated European energy network which defines EU priority corridors for the transport of electricity, gas and oil. In March 2011 the European Commission adopted the Energy Efficiency Plan 2011: energy efficiency is seen as one of the most cost effective ways to enhance security of energy supply and to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. In April 2011 the European Commission adopted the Communication Smart Grids: from innovation to deployment which sets out policy directions to stimulate the deployment of electricity networks making use of progress in information and communication technologies to make electricity distribution more efficient and so reduce costs and emissions.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

SBS - industry and construction (sbs_ind_co)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics - industry and construction (sbs_na_ind)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics for industry (NACE Rev.2 B-E) (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Preliminary results on industry and construction, main indicators (NACE Rev.2) (sbs_na_r2preli)
SMEs - Annual enterprise statistics broken down by size classes - industry and construction (sbs_sc_ind)
Industry broken down by employment size classes (NACE Rev.2 B-E) (sbs_sc_ind_r2)
SBS - regional data - all activities (sbs_r)
Regional data (NACE Rev.2) (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)

Dedicated section

Other information

Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

External links

See also

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