ACCIONA acquires 2,080 MW of renewable energy assets

ACCIONA’s completed sale of 25.1% stake in Endesa was
for €9.63 billion. Image courtesy of ACCIONA S.A.

Spain’s ACCIONA has closed the acquisition of 2,080 megawatts (MW) of installed renewable energy assets worth €2.848 billion from Spain’s largest utility Endesa. At the same time, ACCIONA completed the sale of its 25.01% equity stake in Endesa back to Italian energy giant Enel on June 26. The total sale was worth €9.627 billion.

ACCIONA selling its stake represents an early exit from the company, which was agreed last February. ACCIONA again mentioned its planned divestment of Endesa at its annual shareholder meeting earlier this month.

ACCIONA’s 2,080 MW of renewable assets acquired from Endesa includes 1,277 MW of wind power (1,133 MW in Spain and 94 MW in Portugal) and 853 MW of hydroelectric power (including 173 MW of mini-hydro). Renewable assets transferred on June 26 total 1,946.6 MW of renewable energy, which include 1,095.5 MW of wind power and 851.1 MW of hydroelectric power (including 172.2 MW of mini-hydro), worth €2.653 billion. The remaining renewable energy assets will be transferred upon completion of construction, or when administrative and legal processes for asset transfer are finalized. The remaining renewable assets set for transfer are worth €195 million and a total of 133.7 MW consisting of 131.7 MW of wind power and 2 MW of hydroelectric power (including 0.7 MW of mini-hydro).

The sale of its Endesa stake allowed ACCIONA to pay off the €8.195 billion of loans it received to purchase its Endesa stake. ACCIONA also took a €1.5 billion loan to maintain cash flow needed to operate its newly-acquired renewable energy assets and not place its investment plans at risk.

The acquisition of the new renewable energy assets makes ACCIONA the world’s second largest renewable energy company (behind Spain’s Iberdrola Renovables). ACCIONA is also the sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability index after posting revenues of €12.67 billion in 2008.

ACCIONA Energy is one of the world’s largest renewable energy and sustainable development companies involved in solar PV and solar thermal plant development, wind turbine manufacture, wind farm development, mini-Hydro generation, biodiesel and bioethanol production, and retail sales. In 2008, ACCIONA had installed more than 6,000 MW of wind energy in 14 countries, owning 4,566 MW. The company also produces wind turbines with a 4% market share in 2008, ranking 7th in the world. ACCIONA owns Nevada Solar One, the 64-MW next-generation solar thermal plant in Nevada. It also owns 34% of one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic plants.

ACCIONA Energy is part of the ACCIONA Group, with interests in six main business lines: Infrastructure, Real Estate, Energy, Water, Urban and Environmental Services, and Logistics and Transport Services. The whole group reported total revenues of $1.395 billion for Q1 2009. ACCIONA is listed on the selective IBEX-35 index as ANA.MC. Share price closed on June 26 at €86.15, down 0.12% on the day.


-  Mike R. Lopez

Source:

¹ http://www.acciona.es