Vattenfall Begins Sale of German Coal-fired Assets

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)-- Vattenfall AB (Stockholm, Sweden), Sweden's leading energy company, has kicked off the process to sell all of its coal-fired power plants and mining operations in Germany.

The company has invited potential bidders to "state their interest in Vattenfall's German lignite assets." They include the Boxberg, Jänschwalde, Schwarze Pumpe and Lippendorf block R power plants, as well as corresponding mining activities at Jänschwalde, Nochten, Reichwalde, Welzow-Süd and Cottbus Nord. The power plants have a combined capacity of more than 8,000 megawatts (MW). The company said it also is planning to sell its hydro assets in the region, comprising 10 hydropower plants. They only will be sold as part of the lignite sale, not separately, the company confirmed.

"Vattenfall remains fully committed to its other business operations in Germany, such as district heating, electricity distribution, sales, trading and wind," the company said.

The company has been working toward cleaning up its energy mix in recent years, as it focuses most of its new investments on renewable energy projects. Last month, the state-owned company posted its largest operating loss due to financial write-downs associated with its nuclear power and coal operations. For additional information, see July 27, 2015, article - Vattenfall Profits Plunge on Weak Coal and Nuclear Assets.

Also in July, it announced the sale of its Nordjylland combined heat and power (CHP) plant near Aalborg, Denmark, completing the company's exit from the Danish conventional power sector. It sold the Amager Power Station in 2013 and Fyns Power Station in 2014. For additional information, see July 16, 2015, article - Vattenfall Exiting Denmark's Fossil Fuel Power Market.

Vattenfall's drive for cleaner energy is driven by the state. Sweden has ambitious green energy goals. In its latest budget, announced this month, the government reaffirmed that it wants to be one of the first countries in the world to remove fossil-fuel completely from its energy mix. It has pledged $546 million in climate protection funding for next year, with more money going to wind, solar photovoltaics (PV), smart grids and energy storage projects. Sweden gets almost two-thirds of its power from clean and green energy sources.

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