Czech power group CEZ has submitted a non-binding offer to acquire Vattenfall’s lignite and hydro activities in Germany, that the Swedish group put for sale in late 2014 (it invited bidders in September 2015).
Vattenfall's lignite assets are mainly located in the states of Brandenburg and Saxony (Lusatia region) and correspond to the Boxberg, Jänschwalde, Schwarze Pumpe power plants, to Lippendorf block R power unit and to lignite mining activities (Jänschwalde, Nochten, Reichwalde, Welzow-Süd and Cottbus Nord). Ten hydropower plants located in the regions adjacent to the lignite assets are also offered for sale but only in conjunction with the German lignite assets (they will not be sold separately).
Recently, CEZ acquired a minority stake in cleantech company Sonnenbatterie, Germany's largest supplier of battery systems for households and also a minority stake in Dresden based cleantech company Sunfire, which develops and market efficient energy conversion technologies (e. g. power-to-gas). The Czech company is interested in acquiring new generation assets, which would prove cheaper than building new capacities from scratch, even in a context of low power prices. CEZ, the seven largest utility in Europe, has been looking at expansion opportunities, especially in stable markets such as Germany, after a series of problematic acquisitions in the Balkans.
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