Good morning, a warm welcome to Uniper's press conference on the first half results for 2026. Today, our CEO, Michael Lewis, and our CFO, Christian Barr, will take you through the developments of the first half year and give you an outlook for the coming months.

After that, we will be happy to answer your questions. With that, I hand over to you, Michael.

Thank you, Florian. Ladies and gentlemen, it's my pleasure to welcome you to the presentation of our first half year results.

A warm welcome to all of you. Three years ago, I gave my first media presentation here as Uniper's then new CEO.

We'd been financially stabilized by the German government just 8 months earlier, had achieved the turnaround, and were, as I said at the time, at the starting point of a new strategic realignment. The question was, would Uniper manage to get back on its feet?

Today, the question is a different one. Will our strategy hold up even if the going gets tough again?

I can answer this question with deep conviction. Yes, it can.

Resilience shows itself in times of crisis, and Uniper is a company that learned from the energy crisis. We've done a lot to reduce risks, and today, we are significantly more robust than we were just a few years ago.

In the first half of 2026, Uniper again posted solid results in what continued to be a volatile market environment. We generated first half adjusted EBITDA of €711 million and adjusted net income of €388 million.

My fellow board member Christian Barr will provide more details about the main earnings factor in a moment. Looking ahead, Europe is going to need more electricity, significantly more, for heat pumps, for electromobility, for data centers, and above all, for the electrification of industry.

The International Energy Agency forecasts that until 2030, electricity demand in the EU alone will grow by around 300 terawatt hours. At the same time, Europe's electricity system is becoming increasingly dominated by wind and solar power.

That's a good thing. That's what people want.

We can't forget one thing: wind and solar power alone don't guarantee security of supply. Periods of low wind and little sunlight are the norm now, not the exception.

They occur every 3 days us and last nearly 13 hours on average. Declines in renewable output by extremely hot weather have recently been more frequent as well.

Around 30 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity will exit the German market by the end of 2030. Anyone who wants to phase out coal, and we do, including our own plants, must build replacement capacity now, because ultimately, it comes down to a simple question: will Germany still have reliable electricity supply even when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine for extended periods?

Policymakers answered this question just a few weeks ago. The passage of the Electricity Supply Security and Capacity Act sends a clear signal.

The first auction for new dispatchable generation capacity closes on the 8th of September, and by September, we will know whose bids will be selected. A second auction is expected in December.

We intend to participate in both of these auctions by submitting two hydrogen-ready power plants at our Gelsenkirchen-Scholven and Staudinger sites. Their aggregate capacity is about 1.7 gigawatts.

Key permitting issues for Staudinger have already been definitely resolved. This is an important advantage given the tight construction timelines.

We also have Siemens Energy, which will be known as Ansaldo in future, on board as our strategic partner. This means that we acted early to secure production capacity and are thus superbly prepared for these auctions.

Strong partnerships are crucial elsewhere as well, in diversifying our supply chains, for example. Agreements with partners in Canada, the United States, and Australia strengthen our resilience and give us new options.

Cedar LNG of Canada is the latest component of this strategy: 2 million metric tons of LNG per year for up to 20 years. This is more than just a supply contract.

It's a long-term partnership between Uniper and Cedar LNG, and also a powerful symbol of cooperation between Canada and Germany. A few weeks ago, we reaffirmed our transformation strategy and sharpened our investment focus.

We intend to invest about €5 billion in security of supply and the transformation of Europe's energy systems by 2030. More than half of this planned investment will go into flexible generation.

We have a broad pipeline: new-build projects, but also the development of existing sites, and also the conversion of existing power plants to alternate fuels. These include the planned investments in new power plants under the previously mentioned capacity auctions in Germany, as well as other gigawatt-scale projects in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Our Connah's Quay project in the UK, for example, with fully integrated CCS technology, or the conversion of our Karlshamn power plant in Sweden, is another. We aim to decarbonize in Sweden 1.7 gigawatts of generating capacity by 2030.

About one-third of our investments until 2030 will go towards green generation. Happurg pumped storage power plant, which at 160 megawatts is the largest of its types in Bavaria, demonstrates our seriousness.

It is scheduled to reconnect to the grid by 2028, and we are investing €250 million in this. In addition, we're expanding our hydropower capacity in Sweden's Umeälven River by 54 megawatts.

Another of our objective is to make investment decisions on an average of up to 500 megawatts of solar and wind projects each year. These investments are significantly paying off already.

In early July, we signed a six-year supply contract with Respect Energy for electricity from our solar farms in Poland. At our Greener Commodities segment, we intend to continue systematically to diversify our gas portfolio and expand it to 250 to 300 terawatt hours over the medium term, primarily by means of long-term contracts.

Alongside the broad trend towards electrification, another very powerful driver of demand is now emerging. The next industrial revolution will be driven by artificial intelligence, and even the best AI ultimately needs one thing: secure and reliable energy.

The biggest obstacle or bottleneck facing the construction of new data centers is obtaining a grid connection. Developers in Germany often wait years for connection approvals.

Many of our power plant sites already have such connections. We've already identified more than 10 of our own sites with suitable infrastructure along Europe's data corridors.

Three projects are at an advanced stage of development. We've already completed an initial project in the UK and expect to make additional investment decisions in the remainder of this year.

Projects like these enable our power plant sites to serve as nodes in the AI economy. Power plants, wind power, hydropower, LNG, and grid connections are, at first glance, very different types of projects, but they all have the same underlying principle.

A single, perfect solution won't ensure the energy transition's success. What's needed is a system that works together: demand and generation, grids, storage systems, flexibility, and reliable capacity.

All relevant elements must function simultaneously. Our strategy demonstrates that Uniper is positioned exactly where Germany and Europe will need reliable solutions in the years ahead.

We've learned from 2022, strengthened our balance sheet, and set a clear strategic course. We are fit for the future.

That brings me to a topic that will surely interest you as well: reprivatization. I can tell you that we're thinking about this, too.

I must also tell you that the decision on the modality and the timeline of this reprivatization rests with the German government. Uniper is focused on its business: reliable earnings, a strong balance sheet, a clear strategy.

That's the best preparation, regardless of how and when this issue is ultimately decided. We've consistently developed Uniper over the past few years.

Today, we are financially strong, have a clear strategic setup, and are attractive to investors. This makes any decision regarding our ownership structure easier.

Ultimately, energy is never just a commodity. It's the foundation for so much: for industry, for prosperity, for autonomous decision-making.

Security energy therefore isn't just something that's nice to have. It's the foundation on which Europe's competitiveness rests.

Implementing our strategy is helping to build this foundation. That's what resilient ultimately means to us: not waiting for the perfect conditions, but building a foundation that remains solid even under pressure.

Thank you. With that, I hand you over to Christian.

Thank you, Mike. A warm welcome from me too, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm pleased to present our results together with Mike Lewis, and to present the main developments for the first half of 2026 in greater detail, and to answer your questions afterwards, again together with Mike Lewis. Let me start by saying already that despite a challenging market environment and difficult operating conditions, mainly in the second quarter, we achieved solid results in the first half of 2026.

Michael Lewis said it before: in the first half, we generated an adjusted EBITDA of €711 million and adjusted net income of €388 million. Earnings are therefore significantly above those of the prior year period.

A year ago, adjusted EBITDA amounted to €379 million and adjusted net income to €135 million. I'll turn now to our individual business segments, and let me start with Green Generation.

This segment's adjusted EBITDA of €302 million was significantly below the prior year figure of €420 million. The unscheduled unavailability of Oskarshamn 3 nuclear power plant, which began in February 2026, led to a reduction in power production and thus to lower earnings at our nuclear business in Sweden.

Oskarshamn, however, has been operational again since the 10th of July. Our hydropower business in Sweden had a positive impact on earnings.

In particular at the beginning of the year, it benefited from higher prices. These were caused by lower wind power output and dry weather in Scandinavia.

Earnings at our hydropower business in Germany were adversely affected by a decline in earnings on hedging transactions and by exceptionally low water flow. The Flexible Generation segment's adjusted EBITDA of €286 million was likewise significantly below the prior year figure of €333 million.

The absence of positive non-recurring effects from the settlement of legal disputes was the main factor here. This was partially offset by higher earnings from the UK capacity market.

In addition, market conditions resulted in our fossil trading margin surpassing the prior year level. The Greener Commodities segment's adjusted EBITDA of €260 million was significantly above the prior year figure of -€296 million.

The main driver was the gas business. In the prior year, the non-recurrence of generally profitable optimization activities from earlier fiscal years still had a significant adverse impact, but this negative effect no longer exists in 2026.

Our LNG business again posted good earnings, albeit slightly below the prior year level because favorable spread positions from the first half of 2025 couldn't be replicated to the same extent. The adjusted net income tracked our adjusted EBITDA performance with €388 million, which is well above the prior year level of €135 million.

In particular, thanks to a strong operating cash flow of almost €2 billion, it was possible to raise our economic net cash position to €4.5 billion at mid-year, which means that Uniper is debt-free on a net basis and has sufficient financial resources to carry out its planned investments, as Michael Lewis said before. The first half results demonstrate the strength of our diversified portfolio.

A variety of technologies, markets, and revenue streams ensure that individual adverse factors like the exceptionally low water flow don't determine the performance of the company as a whole. All three segments contributed to our positive first half results to a similar extent.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are well on our way towards achieving our financial targets for this year. We therefore reaffirm our full-year 2026 financial forecast, and after the first six months, we can even fine-tune it and raise the lower end of our target range.

We now expect an adjusted EBITDA of €1.1 to €1.3 billion for 2026. The previous range was between €1.0 and €1.3 billion.

We now anticipate an adjusted net income of €500 million to €600 million. The former range was between €350 million to €600 million.

The evolution of our ratings shows how far Uniper has come in recent years. Standard & Poor's, Scope, and since mid-June, Fitch as well, all give us an investment-grade rating.

That Fitch's first-ever issuer rating of us was BBB- is a particularly significant milestone for us. It strengthens our position on capital markets and expands our access to additional sources of financing.

All three rating agencies highlight our robust liquidity, the improved predictability of our cash flow, our disciplined finance policy, and the increased focus on more stable and contractually secured revenues. They confirm that our strategy puts us on a good course, and that our financial discipline and reduction of business risks are paying off.

The agencies' ratings provide additional momentum for the process of reprivatizing Uniper and sends an important signal to capital market participants. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our objective to make Uniper profitable, resilient, and fit for the future, even in a challenging market environment.

Today's figures confirm that our efforts are succeeding. The roughly €12 billion in equity on our balance sheet and our strong net cash position of 4.5 billion gives us the financial strength to make targeted investments, seize business opportunities, and continue to successfully develop Uniper.

At the same time, we remain true to our commitment to reducing risks and deploying capital in a disciplined manner to create long-term value. Uniper now stands on a strong foundation and is thus ideally positioned to shape the next chapters of the company's development.

Florian, over to you.

Thank you, Michael, thank you, Christian. Now that takes us directly to your questions.

What the procedure is. If you want to ask a question, raise your virtual hand in Teams and I will then call you one by one.

Keep your microphone muted until then, until it's your turn. We've already received quite a number of questions.

The first question is from Düsseldorf, from just the other side of the Rhine, from Ms. Hüning, Rheinische Post.

Please, the floor is yours, Ms. Hüning.

Hello, good morning, and thank you very much. I've got two questions.

How quickly do you need to win the auction for the gas-fired power plants for you to complete them by 2030? The auction or this process is being delayed.

Secondly, the German government has just stopped the report on the coal phase-out in North Rhine-Westphalia. Does that open new opportunities for you?

Let me summarize those questions. How quick does the process for the auction have to be completed for the target date to be met?

Secondly, does Uniper know anything about the coal phase-out in North Rhine-Westphalia? Mike.

Yes, I'm happy to take these two questions. One, for us, the timeline is fixed.

The first auction will be taking place in September, and the second in December. We have already prepared our sites, including the permitting processes, and for that reason, we are sure that we can reduce the construction time that will be required if we are successful in these auctions.

Our plan is to have our power plants ready for operation at the start of the 2030s, 2031. That's our fixed timeline.

That's important to us. The second question, just to be sure I understood, whether we have any information what this can mean for the coal phase-out in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The quicker we build new-fired, hydrogen-ready generation capacity, the faster can we or Germany shut down existing coal-fired power plants. For that reason, we are very happy that the Electricity Supply and Capacity Act has been approved and that we can now start with our new-build program.

Thank you.

Question number two is also from Düsseldorf, Ms. Krapp from Handelsblatt.

Ms. Krapp, please.

Good morning, everyone. I have three questions.

The first one is on the power plant auctions as well. You are pretty much banking on being able to build your 1.7 gigawatts.

You said that that segment accounts for more than half of your investments in the next four years. What happens if you do not win the auction?

Is that conceivable, and do you have a plan B, or do you simply expect this to happen? Question number two, on the reprivatization process: there are some investors who are interested in parts of the Uniper Group, the Swedish assets, for example.

Up until now, the communication of the German government was that individual parts of the group will not be sold, but only the group as a whole. If this changes and if they only find investors who are interested in parts of your organization, would you be able to veto any such decision, or do you lack power if push comes to shove and the company is broken up?

Question number three, relating to the drone incident at the Leipzig Airport: You are critical infrastructure as well with your gas storage facilities. Have you stepped up security in any way, or isn't that a particular topic for you at all?

Thank you, Ms. Krapp.

Let me summarize those three as well, or let's just start with the first question, which is about what happens if Uniper does not win or is not successful in the auction with the two power plant projects. Does Uniper have a plan B?

Thank you, Florian. We have many investment options in our portfolio.

Of course, these two new power plants are central to our strategy, and therefore, we want to be competitive. Therefore, we have taken a strategic decision together with Siemens Energy over the past years to be competitive with our price.

The permitting processes started for these sites for us to be able to build these power plants quicker. By the way, we have good sites ready to connect to the grid and also connections to the gas pipeline system.

Therefore, we believe that we have very competitive projects. By the way, there are two opportunities, one in September and the second in December.

We have other projects in our portfolio. I mentioned Connah's Quay in the UK as well.

That's a huge CCS project, and there we have almost reached an agreement with the UK government. We are continuing to work with the British government there.

Then we've got renewable projects in our portfolio: 500 megawatts is what we plan to build, and there are further projects down the road as well. We have developed very consciously a portfolio of projects in case we are not successful here or there.

Of course, we will do all we can to be successful in this auction as part of the Electricity Supply and Capacity Act.

The second question was about the reprivatization process: should part of the assets be disposed of, does Uniper has a veto?

Unfortunately, I have to repeat over and over again, the reprivatization process is for the German government to decide, and therefore, you should address this question to the German government. Our job as management is to have Uniper in a stable position.

We have achieved that. Christian mentioned we have a strong balance sheet, a strong rating compared with 3 years ago.

We've resolved the problems of the past, the arbitration process with Gazprom, and we have a clear strategy, and we are starting with significant investments. That's our intention and continues to be our strategy, which we want to implement.

The question as to who the new owner will be, that's for the German government to decide. What we believe is important is stability.

The third question was about security after the drone incident in Leipzig. Has that changed your perspective concerning security?

Are you taking any particular measures?

Of course, that's a very important question for us. We have critical infrastructure, gas storage facilities and power plants and so on, and we have stepped up security.

We see these topics as much more important than in the past. That's why we are doing a lot of work to ensure physical security for our sites, and also to improve cybersecurity as well.

We keep doing more and more every day in these two areas. It's a very critical area.

Okay. Then I'd like to continue with the next question, which is from Mr.

Hoeren from ZfK.

Hans-Peter Hoeren, Zeitung für kommunale Wirtschaft. I've got three questions.

One, very concretely, about the Electricity Supply and Capacity Act, the auctions that will be happening there. You have communicated several times that these two projects have a total output of 1.7 gigawatts.

Which projects will go into the auction in September, one or both? The deadlines are relatively short, and there are market participants who won't be taking part in the September auction for that reason.

That's question number one. The other question is about gas storage facilities.

Uniper, as the operator of gas storage facilities, over the last few weeks, we've seen a number of analyses saying that Germany, if it all goes well, will reach its national targets until the 1st of November, but the European ones will be difficult to achieve. If I talk to people from energy supplies, I often hear that there's fear out there that if we get a cold winter, that storage levels next spring will be very low in Germany, or could be very low in Germany next spring, which would lead to security of supply problems.

I'd like to hear your take or your perspective on this with regard to a cold winter. The next question is about LNG supplies.

Uniper communicated when the Strait of Hormuz problems started that they are not affected by the situation because we are obtaining our LNG from elsewhere, from other regions. Now, we are seeing that Asia is prepared to pay higher prices, that LNG from the US is being redirected to Asia instead of being supplied to Europe.

I would assume that Uniper has long-term agreements here, but is this nevertheless something that might be a challenge for you, or could be a challenge for you going forward if the prices that are currently being paid in Asia, if they remain that high, and if it continues to be attractive for LNG to be sold to Asia instead of Europe?

Sorry. Yeah.

Now the line is closed. The question was about the Electricity Supply and Capacity Act.

Mr. Hoeren would like to have some information as to what exactly Uniper plans to do in the first auction.

We want to be successful. I'm happy to repeat that and emphasize that, and for that reason, we are participating in this first auction with both power plants, 1.7 gigawatts in total.

Our intention is to build both. That's very clear.

Then gas storage: that's a very interesting topic at the moment. You're right.

At the end of the winter this year, we had a storage level of 20%, which was lower than normal, and we were very slow in putting gas back into storage this year because of the crisis in the Middle East. The gas price is so-called backwardation, it's more expensive in the summer than in winter, and therefore, there's no incentive to put gas into storage.

You need to separate here. We are the operator of gas storage facilities, we are owners, but at the same time, we are also traders and sales traders.

That means we buy gas for our customers, and there's a Chinese wall between these two businesses. We have bought gas for our customers.

We are hedged, and therefore, we are certain that we can find gas for our customers. By the way, in order to achieve the 70% target on the 1st of November, we have enough time, but the price needs to develop to create an incentive for putting gas into storage.

We're active in the market every day, and when and if we see the opportunity to store a little more gas, we do that. The market develops every day.

What is important is that we find a solution to this crisis in the Middle East. In the mid-term and on the long term, this would be catastrophic, having these high prices for Europe.

It's bad for our customers, bad for industry, and bad for our prosperity. Therefore, we need a solution.

You're right. I said we're not affected by the crisis, but what I meant at the time is that we are not purchasing any volumes from the Gulf region.

Of course, there's a price effect, but we don't have a volume effect. As I said, we have already bought the gas for our customers, which means we are hedged.

Therefore, for the winter period, we will take a look at the market and decide whether or not to put more gas into our storage facilities. At the moment, as I said, the so-called summer-winter spread needs to be turned around to make it attractive to put gas back into storage.

As long as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, we expect prices to remain in the region of 50 to 60.

Okay. Then we have our next question from Ms.

Becker from Börsen-Zeitung. Ms.

Becker, please.

Good morning. I have three questions as well, very different topic.

Data centers: can you say what you're expecting there in terms of earnings when it comes to reusing your existing sites, and would you set up a separate segment, or under which segment would it be put in the books? Then in your risk report, the risk situation has changed a little when it comes to the construction of technical plants.

Is this connected to the data center, or is it more about the gas-fired power plants? Then I'd like to know what was the dispute you mentioned in the Flexible Generation segment?

Let's start with question one: data centers, your earnings expectations. Can you already say anything about that, and in which segment would this be reported?

Christian.

Thank you. Data centers: we just had a discussion at board level about the strategic side of this topic and tackle this strategically in our German, Dutch, and UK markets.

We have identified 10 sites that could be suitable. Mike just explained what is required: so the plot of land, the connection to the grids.

That's important for the designers and for the builders and the project developers. We have the components required.

At the moment, we are developing 3 of these 10 projects. It's still early days to specify any earnings, sorry for not being able to do that just yet.

They are part of our conventional generation sites, the results would be reported in the Flexible Generation segment.

The second question was about the risk report and what technical facilities encompasses. I don't know whether we can answer that one straight away, or we can answer that later on and provide you with the answer after today's press conference.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure which part of the risk report you are referring to, or which—

It says that the risk has changed from moderate to essential when it comes to construction of plants. I simply wanted to know, is this about gas-fired power generation and technical plants, or is it data centers, that the sites are more expensive to prepare them for these facilities?

This comment refers to all of our plants, including we don't have power plants except those we have as reserve capacity, this would refer to gas-fired generation in Germany and abroad, and nuclear in Sweden. We don't have data centers just yet.

They will happen in the years to come.

The third question was about the legal disputes in the prior year in the Flexible Generation segment. Can we say anything more here?

I wouldn't want to say too much, because these are legal disputes we had with market partners, suppliers, contractors. There are some disputes about revamps or new projects that we managed to end, where we had different opinions.

All of these were sorted out last year, we wanted to get rid of those risks to open up a new chapter for Uniper, for the reprivatization process and the construction of new power plants.

This brings us to the next question. Mr.

Steitz of Reuters, you have the floor. Good morning.

Yes, good morning from Frankfurt, everyone. I have a question on the River Rhine and the low water flows or low water level.

You've said this morning that it has an impact on hydropower plants, not too much, but in general, maybe you could elaborate this new reality. What are the implications for the German economy as such, because many of your customers are affected by curtailed supply chains, low water levels, etc.?

Could you maybe give us some insights on what you are thinking about this? Then the gas turbine capacity reservations: 10% to 15% of the overall order volume is what this costs usually.

What if you do not get the contract? Will you still have to bear the cost?

Can you give us a figure, or would you find another solution for that with Siemens Energy? The way I understood it was that you have quite a broad agreement with them, but maybe you could give us an impression of what the financial hit would look like in that case.

The third question: the divestitures, Helium and OPAL pipeline, your share in that are up for sale at this point in time. What's the progression like?

What's the state of play? Thank you very much.

First question: please give us some more insights on the low water levels and its impacts on the German economy and the world of energy.

The impacts on the energy sector, because that is our world, let's start with that. Christian said it before: it had implications for our hydropower plants, not only in Germany, but in Sweden as well, and that continues.

The thermal power plants are not yet affected by that. Let's wait and see.

There are further implications for the German economy, which I cannot say anything about, really. I cannot explain that.

What is important for us is the repercussions for our own sector.

Second question was gas turbine reservations. Would you be faced with these expenses if you are not the winner of these auctions, and how much would that be?

Yes, that is a commercial matter between Siemens Energy and us. That is a secret, and I cannot talk about this.

Third question: the status of Helium and OPAL divestiture processes.

These processes are ongoing. We expect a result before the end of this year, and as soon as we have something to communicate about this, we will explain.

Right. Then this brings us to a question from the English channel.

Matt Hoey, S&P Global, you have the floor.

Hi. I wanted to jump briefly back to gas storage, and just ask if Uniper sees any need for the German government to intervene to spur more gas storage filling, and if so, what interventions would it like to see from the government to do so?

Then a follow-up question also on European gas prices: I did just want to check, how high does Uniper expect European gas prices could go this winter if LNG exports from Hormuz remain cut off through the winter? Thank you.

Right, let me repeat it. Question number one: Uniper, with a view to the German government, do you propose any interventions with regard to the storages?

German or English? German, please.

Right, to be honest, that is a question for the German government. What I can say is this: ad hoc interventions are always unforeseeable in their effect on market signals, market prices, etc.

It's always better to go without ad hoc interventions. We've always said that we need a long-term solution, which means a new regulatory framework for gas storage capacities.

We've mentioned the French system. The French system is a regulated system, and we are of the opinion that that would help us more with a view to the future.

The federal government already has a strategic reserve, 25 terawatt hours for next year. That might help us as well, but we need this medium-term solution.

Ad hoc interventions are not the best measure to take. The third question: right, I do not want to speculate future prices.

That's speculation. The price is in this forward curve, TTF forward curve, you can see it.

We cannot say much more about price development.

Right. The next question will be from Mr.

Jansen, Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper.

Hello, everyone. Thank you.

I would like to know this: how many of those 10 sites you've identified for data centers would be in Germany? Then, since I'm not so familiar with this topic, not as much as my colleagues here, could you please explain again what this heatwave means, as opposed to dark doldrums, now the heat problems?

Then, Mr. Barr, when you spoke, you talked about exceptionally low water flows.

What would you do if that was to become the new normal and wouldn't be an exception anymore? That's a follow-up question to what my colleague Mr.

Steitz asked. Thank you.

Right. Question number one: data centers.

How many of these more than 10 sites you've identified are in Germany, or are they abroad?

More than four in Germany at this point in time. However, we did not mention any specific number.

We just say more than 10 because we are assessing all of our previous sites, and then we have a better idea of whether they're suitable for a data center or not. We are convinced that we will have at least 10, and a significant part of that are located in Germany.

Right, second question, a follow-up question, Mr. Jansen: you've mentioned the excessive heat.

What you mean is less generation of power through wind because of the heatwave?

Exactly. That's my question, because this term came up in the speech, and I was wondering what that means.

Mr. Lewis talked about dark doldrums and that they are normal, and then he talked about heat and a lower generation due to heat, if I remember correctly.

Right, you wanted an explanation for that. What I meant is that dark doldrums are regular.

It's not just a few days in the winter, but we have dark doldrums on a regular basis, and they take about 13 hours on average. This is why we need this new flexible capacity in the event of dark doldrums.

This is what I said. Right.

The third question: what if the exceptionally low water levels become the new normal? Christian.

That's an excellent question. Thank you.

We've been looking into that for quite a while now, and not just on the occasion of this exceptionally dry year. Last year, 2025, was dry as well.

2024 was rather wet. This already shows that you cannot really say it's generally getting drier and drier.

There will always be droughts. This volatility of water availability, water volume of availability, on the example of Germany, for example, this volatility increases.

That is something that you cannot influence at all. As far as the marketing, sales and marketing is concerned, and we're already looking into this, we are looking at selling less early on, not 80% or 95%, but less so that we are more flexible, or to move closer to the actual delivery date.

We have to live with it. We have to set us up in a resilient position so that we do not suffer too much economic damage.

It's also important to explain that climate change does not only mean droughts, but sometimes also floods. In that phase, our plants are really important to manage high water or floods.

This is why we believe that it is essential that this fleet of hydropower plants is managed as one portfolio to manage the risk of floods.

Right, next question from Essen, Rouben Bathke from energate. Good morning.

Hello, good morning, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to ask a question. I'll come back to the Electricity Supply and Capacity Act and the auctions.

One of your competitors, EnBW, showed quite a bit of hesitation as far as the economic viability of these auctions was concerned. I haven't heard anything from you in that respect.

Can I conclude from that that you, given the framework conditions, do think that an economic offer can be made, an economic bid, or do you have any doubts as well? Then generally speaking, I heard quite a bit of optimism from your side that you would win the auction.

Do I perceive that optimism correctly, and what is it based on? That is a question with regard to this new act.

Then a question about the reprivatization process: you've made it very clear that you are not the one to take the decision, you're not in the saddle, you're rather the horse. That's legitimate.

You can have an idea, a wish. What would you wish for in the future as regards the future shareholder structure?

I would like to know, do you have any insights with regard to the schedule of this reprivatization process, and how quickly do you think it should be resolved?

May I start with the third question, because it's a brief answer. Reprivatization: any question has to be directed towards the German government, so that's the brief answer, that's very clear.

The Electricity Supply and Capacity Act: here, it's not about optimism, it's about doing your homework. We've done our homework.

We have a strategic vision with Siemens Energy. We have great sites.

We have the approval processes initiated already, etc., etc. We have the ability to have CCGT plants, to operate them, to build them and to operate them.

This is why we believe that we are competitive. The other question about the design of the auctions, does Uniper have any doubts as to the bids being economical or not: well, as I've said before, we've done our homework.

We believe we can be competitive with our bid, and we will not invest any money should we fail to reach our hurdle rate.

Right. Let me continue with dpa.

Hello, and thank you. One more question about the data centers: you said, Mr.

Lewis, that a first project in the UK has already been completed. Can you say a little more about that?

Can you name the site, and can you say how this project was completed? Was this site sold, for example?

Yes, that was a relatively small project, and the plot of land was sold. I don't recall the name, to be honest.

I think it was Taylors Lane, but we need to look into that, and we can come back to you after this press conference.

Was that it, Mr. Tohne?

Okay. It's only one question this time.

It's usually three questions. Let's continue with Mr.

Finke from Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Hi, and good morning. I have three questions concerning three different topics.

One is, for my understanding, this €5 billion, they refer to the period from 2025 to 2030, and now it's 2026 already. Can you already say how much of the €5 billion was already invested in the past 18 months, and how much is left to be invested?

That's question number one. Question number two also refers to the €5 billion: one-third is to go into green generation.

My question there is whether this includes investment in a potential expansion of the power plants in Sweden, an extension of the service life? This would be €1.3 billion.

Then I have a technical question as well. The thermal power plants, the coal-fired power plants don't have any problems as yet given the low water levels.

I'm not an engineer, but over the last few weeks, we heard that in neighboring countries, nuclear power plants had problems because of a lack of cooling water. The water flow in the Rhine seems to be low, but apparently it's not a problem for the German power plants.

Is there a simple answer that explains why coal-fired power plants can cope much better with low water levels than nuclear power plants?

Let's start with question number one: how much of the €5 billion has already been earmarked or actually invested? Christian, the question's for you.

Of the €5 billion investment until 2030, let me say clearly, this is about our so-called growth investments. Beyond that, we have €400 to €500 million which we invest in our existing sites, our existing assets, maintenance and revamping.

The €5 billion are exclusively for new facilities. For that reason, out of the €5 billion, €400 to €500 million has already been earmarked and actually spent in 2025 and 2026.

Then the extension of the service lives of the nuclear power plants in Sweden: the €5 billion for green generation does not include that as yet. That decision still needs to be taken.

Then the third part of the question was about the low water levels and the heat, whether or what your forecasts are, why are coal-fired power plants not affected, or why is that so?

Mr. Finke, it's not just coal-fired generation, but Uniper also operates gas-fired generation.

Our power plants are not affected. That's all I can say.

It depends on the specific location, you cannot give a blanket answer here. That's not possible for that reason.

Then I come to the next question, which is the last one actually on my list. Ms.

Demirdag, the floor is yours.

Hi, everyone. I'm Ms.

Demirdag from Montel in Frankfurt. Many of my questions have already been answered.

I wanted to ask about the coal-fired power plants and the low water levels. You said that the thermal power plants are not affected yet.

I would want to know, what would be the situation if the current low water level situation continues, and whether you would see any impact of the drought for the second half of the year for hydro and hard coal-fired power plants? Then you talked about your hedging processes, and said that the drought has an impact on hedging as well.

I've seen that the hedging quota has already gone down in comparison to March in June. Is that a first adjustment already?

Then back in 2018, we had low water levels in the River Rhine, and if I remember correctly, the operators of the coal-fired power plants were much more concerned at the time. This time, apparently, they are keeping an eye on that, but they're not panicking.

Can you say what has changed compared to 2018, and why is the market more relaxed, or so it seems? Or please correct me if I'm wrong.

Ms. Demirdag, your third question is about the transportation of the fuel?

Yes, right. On the River

Rhine. Let's start with the low water levels.

As I said, I can only repeat: we have very little coal-fired generation in our portfolio. Our thermal capacities are CCGT plants, and I can only confirm that we are not affected.

We don't see that we will be affected in the next six months to come. That answers that question.

Let me add to that if I may. If I understood your question correctly concerning the forecast into the second half of 2026, we've now published the numbers explaining how we are affected by the low water levels with our hydro fleet.

We do, of course, expect this drought to continue into the third quarter, and would then hope that towards the autumn, the hydrological conditions normalize once again. That is what we have factored into our outlook for the whole year, €1.1 to €1.3 billion.

A lot is being said here about coal-fired power plants. Uniper in Germany operates coal-fired generation only as strategic reserve, and they clock up very few operating hours, and therefore, at many sites, we have alternatives, coal could be supplied by rail as well.

This is, of course, different from 2018.

Let me take a last look at the list of questions. There is no further question, we would like to end this press conference.

Thank you for joining us. Thank you for your interest.

The press team is, of course, available for any further questions you may have. Thank you very much, and see you next time.