Insider – Vattenfall lignite goes to Czech EPH – Reuters Germany

Prague / Frankfurt the lignite power plants of Vattenfall in East Germany and the associated open pit in the Lausitz go in all probability to the Czech utility EPH.

He had won through against the German-Australian consortium of Steag and Macquarie, which had planned a foundation solution for the loss-making business, said three of the negotiations people familiar told Reuters on Friday. EPH has teamed up for the purchase, according to an insider with the Czech financial investor PPF Investments. The third bidder Vršanska Uhelna had previously been out of the race. The lignite conveyor part of the Czech Czech Coal.

For the Swedish utilities should remain at the end of a lower positive purchase price. All bidders had financial concessions for the acquisition required, which is dominated by public utilities in North Rhine-Westphalia Steag and infrastructure investor Macquarie wanted according to insiders of Vattenfall a contribution of two billion euros for the foundation. EPH Board Chief Daniel Kretinsky had declared in March that one is aware that the business will burn money in the next few years and you can not pay a dividend will.

For Vattenfall work at Lausitz around 8,000 people. The contracts will be signed next week, said the insider. The Supervisory Board of the Swedish Vattenfall is to rubber-stamp the sale in about ten days. The former owner and said bidders declined to comment on the information.

Sweden Innovation Minister Mikael Damberg told Reuters , Vattenfall have the government still called a buyer. The opposition in parliament warned that the new owner must stand up for the clean-up costs. Previously EPH remained vague so. “Federal and state governments must ensure that EPH can apply these reserves and is, and must advance not issue new operating license,” the climate of the Green Party parliamentary group, Annalena Baerbock. “Everyone involved must be clear that it does not have to go to quick money, but the assumption of responsibility here.” The government had last year decided to take old lignite power stations train to train from the market, to achieve the CO2 targets to 2020th The reactors used until then as a reserve, the operators receive this compensation.

Vattenfall had been selling the end of 2014 triggered to improve its CO2 balance. The value of the lignite business but has since dropped significantly, the wholesale electricity prices by expanding solar and wind power in freefall. The Swedes had written off 1.6 billion euros on its lignite activities last year. In his native Scandinavia, the current group primarily on hydropower and nuclear power, in Germany and the Netherlands, he also operates gas and coal-fired power plants. The lignite-fired power plants account for almost a quarter of its fossil generation capacity. Last year, Vattenfall had discharged 84 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2020, the CO2 balance is projected to decline to 21 million tonnes.