E.ON swaps power with EnBW and EDF

GERMANY - German power giant E.ON has announced a series of power swaps with rivals Electricite de France SA and EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG that will give the company a stronger foothold in the French power market.

The agreements will provide E.ON with 800 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power in France from EnBW in exchange for 800 MW of nuclear power in Germany. EnBW will receive E.ON's 50.4% stake in the Rostock coal-fired power station near Mecklenburg in Germany. EnBW will also obtain electricity-drawing rights from the 159-MW coal-fired Buschhaus power station.

In addition, E.ON has agreed to acquire EDF's and Charbonnage de France's 35% stake in the French energy supplier SNET to become the sole owner. SNET currently has 2,500 MW of power-generation capacity, mainly from coal-fired power plants, and is France's only private-sector power generator. The company is the third-largest electricity producer in France, supplying the local electricity market from four coal-fired power plants.

"By fully taking over SNET, we are now able to better bundle our activities in France and tap valuable synergies," said E.ON CEO Wulf Bernotat. "We are thus strengthening our position in the important French energy market, the second-largest in Europe. The swap of generation capacities and drawing rights with EDF and EnBW is also another important step towards promoting competition in Europe."

Hans-Peter Villis, CEO of EnBW, commented: "The acquisition of shares in Rostock power station and the rights to procure electricity from German power stations will increase our generating capacity in Germany by a total of 1,200 MW. This not only gives us more flexibility in the German electricity market, but we are also literally bringing our electricity closer to our customers. We have always emphasized that one of our key strategic goals is to strengthen and expand our generating capacity in Germany. This step, combined with the shares acquired in the Lippendorf and Bexbach power stations in May, and our persistent efforts to expand the use of renewable energies has brought us a long way towards our goal within just a few months."

E.ON is currently in the process of divesting itself of 5,000 MW of power in the German market to satisfy the European Commission's demand for greater competition. The company has also agreed to sell its transmission system network in Germany. Including this latest swap, E.ON has agreements in place to sell more than 4,400 MW of generating capacity in Germany to companies including Sweden's Statkraft AS, Belgium's Electrabel SA, and Austria's Verbund.