EPH buys Uniper's stake in 900 MW lignite-fired power plant (Germany)

Uniper and Saale Energie, a subsidiary of the Czech group Energetický a Průmyslový Holding (EPH), have signed an agreement on the sale of Uniper's 58% stake in the Schkopau lignite-fired power plant in Saxony-Anhalt (Germany). The stake will be acquired by Saale Energie, which already holds a 42% stake in the power plant, thus making it Schkopau's sole shareholder as of October 2021. The Schkopau lignite-fired power plant consists of two 450 MW units that were commissioned in 1996, it consumes up to 6 Mt/year of lignite from the Profen open-cast mine and supplies electricity to a neighbouring chemical complex and to the Deutsche Bahn. Under the German coal exit law, the Schkopau power plant is allowed to operate until the end of 2034. In late January 2020, Uniper presented its strategic roadmap that included provisions for phasing-out its own coal-fired power generation in Germany. With the sale of the stake in the power plant, the group will withdraw completely from lignite-fired power generation.

EPH is the second-largest power generator in the Czech Republic. In the last few years, EPH acquired multiple assets in Europe: in Slovakia, it acquired a 66% stake in Slovenske Elektrarne (4.5 GW) in 2015, a 49% stake in a regional electricity distribution company and a 49% stake in gas transit, transmission, distribution and storage companies, all from Enel; in the United Kingdom, it acquired the 2 GW Eggborough (closed in late 2018) and the 420 MW Lynemouth coal-fired power plants; it also acquired 4.4 GW of coal-fired and CCGT power plants in Italy, as well as assets in Hungary (gas-fired CHP) and in Germany (lignite mining and power assets). More recently, EPH acquired an 80% stake in a 400 MW CCGT power plant in Ireland and took over Uniper's power assets in France, consisting of a 600 MW coal-fired unit and two 433 MW gas-fired units at the Emile Huchet power plant in Saint-Avold (Lorraine), a 590 MW coal-fired unit and the 150 MW Provence 4 biomass-fired power plant in Gardanne (Provence), around 100 MW of wind and solar power plants, along with power sales activities.