Glossary
E.ON's energy and financial terms.
(Incremental cost)
The cost of one additional unit of production (in the case of a power plant: one additional kilowatt-hour of production). To calculate whether this makes business sense, marginal cost is compared with the potential revenue from the additional kilowatt-hour.
Although the two terms are sometimes used synonymously, merger usually refers to the combination of two entities (like the merger of VEBA and VIAG to form E.ON) and acquisition to the purchase of one entity by another (like E.ON's purchase of Ruhrgas). A company may seek to combine itself with, or acquire, another in order to expand its geographic footprint, enhance shareholder value, lower costs by realizing synergies, or achieve a better position through the combined entity's greater mass.
Micro combined heat and power (microCHP) is an extension of the combined heat and power (CHP) to the single/multi family home or small office building. Generating technology in which both electric and thermal energy are obtained from a single energy source, which makes CHP generating units significantly more efficient. CHP is also known as cogeneration.
