News Digest Item
15 Dec 2018

“Behind Vattenfall’s Sell-Off of German Lignite Assets, a Subsidy Play by the Buyers”

Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)

Vattenfall’s lignite business results ahead of the sale of its coal mining and production facilities in eastern Germany offer some insight into why the Swedish utility is selling. They also raise the question of why Czech investor EPH is interested in the lignite operations, writes energy analyst Gerard Wynn for research institute IEEFA. Vattenfall’s lignite business has been loss-making, Wynn shows. But, while the Swedes see this as a risk worth divesting from, EPH is in a “subsidy play” by buying regulated fossil-fuel assets that are supported by regulated payments.

Read the post in English here.

Read a CLEW article about the sale of Vattenfall’s lignite business to EPH.

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