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RWE has taken over Innogy’s renewable energy division, bringing a close to its wide-ranging asset swap deal with Eon.
It leaves the company with a total generation portfolio in the UK of around 9.5GW. The majority – 7.1GW – remains gas generation, although it also includes more than 1.4GW of offshore wind and 667MW of onshore wind.
As part of the deal, RWE agreed to exchange its 76.8 per cent in Innogy for a 16.67 per cent in Eon, €1.5 billion in cash and both Innogy and Eon’s renewable portfolios. Innogy’s retail arm in the UK, Npower, was due to be sold to SSE but the merger fell through meaning it was ultimately acquired by Eon as part of the asset swap. Eon’s renewable division was taken over by RWE in autumn 2019.
RWE chief executive Rolf Martin Schmitz said: “This is the day we have been working towards for two years. The new RWE has been completed. It is a new, bigger and more diverse company, with a clear goal. By 2040, we will be carbon neutral. This will take us far beyond what other companies are aiming for.
“Our team has an outstanding position, with a strong renewables business, which is channelling all its energy towards growing internationally and can now hit the ground running; with a fleet of flexible and conventional power stations, which build a reliable bridge to the new energy era; and with energy trading operations with the expertise to seize opportunities on global energy markets.”
The integration of the new businesses into the group was led by RWE’s chief financial officer, Markus Krebber, who will replace Schmitz as chief executive next year.
He said: “We have a wonderful starting point: a huge worldwide renewables portfolio, two teams that complement each other perfectly with many years of experience, and a strong investment programme. This will enable us to strengthen our leading position in the market even further.”
Innogy recently selected Siemens Gamesa’s newly unveiled 14MW turbine to power the 1.4GW Sofia offshore windfarm in the North Sea.
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