Vattenfall Plans to Blow $6 Billion on Windfarms

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Vattenfall's (Stockholm, Sweden) drive toward more renewable energy will include investments of 5.5 billion euro ($6 billion) in onshore and offshore wind projects by 2020.

The state-owned Swedish energy giant said the investment is roughly equivalent to what it has spent on wind power over the past decade. Gunnar Groebler, senior vice president, Business Area-Wind said: "We will invest 5.5 billion euros in wind energy by 2020." The company created its dedicated wind division last year.

Today, Vattenfall has approximately 4,000 megawatts (MW) of installed wind power capacity. The new investments will be spent on projects in the U.K., Germany, Sweden and Denmark. Last month, the company sold a 49% stake in the 150- MW Ormonde offshore project in the U.K. to Swedish pension firm AMF (Stockholm) for £237 million ($346.5 million).

Groebler said: "Our partnering strategy is now paying off and delivering additional funds to fulfil our ambitious growth targets within the wind area, thereby supporting Vattenfall's overall strategy to transform our production portfolio towards renewables."

The increased focus on wind and renewables dovetails with the company's efforts to sell off its coal-fired power and mining assets in Germany. Last week, Industrial Info reported that the Czech Republic's state-owned energy company CEZ AS (PSE:CEZ) (Prague) said it has made a non-binding offer buy the German coal-fired, hydroelectric and mining assets of Vattenfall. It covers the potential purchase of four power plants, five mines and 10 hydroelectric plants. For additional information, see January 4, 2016, article - CEZ Wants Vattenfall's German Power and Mining Assets.

In July, Vattenfall revealed that it had almost fully exited Denmark's fossil-fuel power sector with the sale of its Nordjylland combined heat and power (CHP) plant near Aalborg in northern Jutland. The sale, valued at approximately $122 million, followed the sale of 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.

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