Intellectual capital
Using its business experience and employees’ competences TAURON Group is developing to meet the challenges of the future energy sector. The key to maintaining competitiveness is modern management, the use of new technologies, digitization, corporate governance and relationships with the stakeholders, with all these elements jointly forming a compatible and consistent system that allows to efficiently conduct operations at every link in the value chain. Fast changing environment also implies the need to focus on innovation as well as research and development activities.
The potential of intellectual capital covers workforce capital, internal structural capital and external structural capital.
It is worth emphasizing that the main component of TAURON Group’s intellectual capital is the employees’ knowledge and their aggregate competences. Internal structural capital is another important component of intellectual capital. This capital includes technologies, methods and processes that enable the Group to function. Furthermore, research, development and innovation activities are carried out as part of internal projects and including the participation of business partners and the academic community. The last component, external structural capital, is related to intangible market factors. This capital includes the company’s brand and reputation, the network of associates and relations with the stakeholders, with a particular emphasis on relationships with suppliers and customers.
TAURON Group strives to deepen cooperation with the suppliers of technology and know-how, represented both by large industrial conglomerates, as well as by small companies – mainly start-ups.
Effective intellectual capital management provides a chance to increase adaptive flexibility and carry out transformational activities aligned to changes in the market environment. TAURON Group adopted the Intellectual Property Policy in 2019, which was a set of rules and standards of conduct with respect to intellectual property management and a description of good practices that are expected from counterparties (contractors) and associates, as well as TAURON Group’s Regulations of Intellectual Property Management that constitutes internal corporate documentation, superior in relation to the individual processes associated with intellectual property management.
As a result of the adopted documentation, processes related to employee originated technical improvement ideas as well as filing utility models, industrial designs and patents were regulated and implemented.
In 2020 TAURON Wytwarzanie obtained 5 patents (including one jointly with Kopalnia Wapienia “Czatkowice”), and TAURON Dystrybucja obtained a protection right for a utility model. The said solutions are the result of research and development works carried out within the Group and provide the exclusive use of the given solution for commercial or professional purposes on the territory of Poland.
Intangible and legal value, being an important aspect of the enterprise value, translates into building its competitive advantage. TAURON Group, apart from the formal regulation of the said scope of matters, also attaches importance to promoting the idea of employee originated technical improvements among employees, communicates and provides information related to IP rights through contests, webinars and press articles.
Key data on TAURON Group’s intellectual capital in 2018-2020
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Key data on capital – main components of TAURON Group’s intellectual capital |
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TAURON Group’s management of the intellectual capital is performed, first and foremost, through:
- implementation of projects with respect to research, development and innovations in the following portfolios: the customer and his/her needs, intelligent grid services, distributed energy, low-emission production technologies,
- use of dedicated NCBiR programs, Horizon 2020, KIC InnoEnergy, the Research Fund for Coal and Steel RFCS,
- cooperation with start-ups: accelerator programs (Pilot Maker Elektro ScaleUp, KPT ScaleUp, TAURON PROGRES), CVC EEC Magenta,
- TAURON’s participation in the Govtech Program,
- cooperation with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI),
- development of the platform called Innovation Zone,
- workshops with the representatives of universities and research institutes,
- cooperation with the leading universities, research units and technology companies from Poland and the EU,
- organization of competitions for the Group’s employees aimed at supporting innovation,
- development of IT systems, digitization and robotic automation of selected processes.
Results achieved as part of TAURON Group’s management of intellectual capital in 2018-2020
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Results achieved |
2020
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2019
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2018
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| The number of new research and development projects launched in all of the Group’s lines of business | 10 [including 8 projects
conducted in cooperation with start-ups] |
18 [including 9 projects
conducted in cooperation with start-ups] |
16 |
| Number of projects underway in the R&D Area | 52 | 67 | 57 |
| Total value of projects underway | PLN 109 million | PLN 178 million | PLN 261 million |
| Co-financing obtained from external sources for the implementation of the R&D projects | PLN 42 million | PLN 48 million | PLN 45 million |
| In 2018, a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) type fund – EEC Magenta, was established jointly with the Polish Ventures Development Fund, the National Center for Research and Development and EEC Ventures.
In 2019, EEC Magenta’s first investment projects were carried out – a PLN 13 million investment in the company Reliability Solutions (RS), specializing in predicting and minimizing the effects of failures. This is the fund’s first investment project. Continuing to build the strategic position of TAURON Capital Group with respect to start-ups, EEC Magenta carried out further investments in 2020, expanding its investment portfolio and currently it has 6 innovative start-ups therein. |
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| The cooperation with several start-ups was continued, as part of the ScaleUp acceleration programs, in 2019. TAURON became involved in the government acceleration program dedicated to electromobility (Elektro ScaleUp). As a result of its implementation, 6 pilots were carried out with the involvement of 5 of TAURON Group’s subsidiaries.
In 2020, TAURON continued working on projects with start-ups also as part of the KPT ScaleUp program, which in the second round of recruitment provided 6 innovative solutions, including Nanobots (a platform for collecting and standardizing data from IoT devices (sensors located in urban space) using various protocols, analyzing the collected data using artificial intelligence or machine learning, and sharing data in real time). As part of the TAURON PROGRES proprietary acceleration program launched in 2019, two pilot projects were implemented in 2020, including one with respect to digitization of service processes. |
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| In 2018, the cooperation with the EPRI Institute (USA) was established.
In 2019 and 2020, as part of the cooperation with EPRI, TAURON participated in two research programs: with respect to energy storage and identifying the needs of electricity consumers. |
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| Patents, inventions, know-how developed as part of R&D projects, increasing the potential to improve the Group’s financial result in the coming years – 13 inventions with patent protection in place and another 7 being under registration. | |||
| TAURON brand’s strong market position and recognition.
Modern IT systems supporting the core operations and customer service. |
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| Licenses for the core operations: coal mining, electricity and heat production, distribution and trading. | |||