EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (EBK) plans to spend about 8 billion euros ($11 billion) on renewable energy by 2020 to help plug a shortfall as Germany phases out nuclear power.
The country's third-largest utility will add about 3 gigawatts of renewable capacity to its 3.1 gigawatts in the next 10 years, Chief Executive Officer Hans-Peter Villis said today in a copy of speech handed to reporters in Karlsruhe, Germany, where shareholders are attending their annual meeting.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on April 15 that the country plans to exit nuclear power as quickly as possible after explosions at Japanese reactors stoked safety concerns. EnBW faces added incentives to invest in alternative energy after the anti-nuclear Green party won an election in the state of Baden- Wuerttemberg, which holds 46.5 percent of the utility.
EnBW plans to partner with local utilities, municipalities and mid-sized companies on decentralized renewable energy projects, Villis said. The company may also cooperate with municipal utilities on its Baltic 2 offshore wind park, he said.
Investment Plans
While EnBW plans to cut costs to boost earnings by a figure in the "mid-three-digit million-euro range"starting in 2013, changes to the target are "likely given the current energy policy debate," the company said.
Last month, Merkel ordered the idling of the country's seven oldest reactors, including two operated by EnBW, for a three-month safety review after the partial meltdown at Japan's Fukushima plant. The company has a total of four reactors.
Neckarpri GmbH, Baden-Wuerttemberg's investment vehicle, and OEW, a group of municipalities, each own 46.5 percent of EnBW. The southwest German state bought an initial 45 percent stake from Electricite de France SA for 4.7 billion euros in February.
The Greens are poised to enter the regional government in Baden-Wuerttemberg after March 27 state elections conducted after the Fukushima accident. The party is set to lead its first state administration, ejecting Merkel's Christian Democrats, who've held power in Stuttgart for 58 years.
