Currently, Energi E2 Renovables Ibericas generates electricity in Spain and Portugal from renewables with a net capacity in operation of around 260MW. Modern wind farms account for most of that capacity, with smaller hydropower and biomass plants making up the rest.
Further wind farms totaling 560MW are already being planned at various locations on the Iberian peninsula, and are planned for completion within the next four years.
The acquisition will enable E.ON to greatly expand its wind power business, increasing its installed wind power capacity to approximately 700MW. It also offers considerable potential for further expanding wind power in southern Europe.
The move will give the German utility a total generation capacity of over 7GW in Spain by 2010, in combination with the Viesgo and Endesa assets that E.ON has agreed to acquire from Enel and Acciona.
Energi E2 Renovables Ibericas ideally supplements our future activities in Spain. Wind power will play an important role in our future energy mix, commented E.ON CEO Wulf Bernotat. The wind farms are of outstanding quality with superb load factors and favourable regulatory regimes, and the projects being developed are also very promising. By acquiring E2-I, we are making a decisive step towards occupying a leading position in Europe in the wind power sector, too.
The purchase price includes E256 million for the assumption of existing net debt and is said to be in line with most recent transactions in the renewables sector.
In other news, E.ON, ThyssenKrupp and RWE have all agreed to sell their shares in coal company RAG AG to RAG-Stiftung.
