Bavaria's government insists on takeover of state-owned Uniper's hydroelectric plants
Handelsblatt
Bavarian state premier Markus Söder has reaffirmed his government’s intention to take over more than 80 power plants on the southern German state's rivers from energy company Uniper, which the federal government nationalised in 2022 following the cutoff of Russian gas imports, Handelsblatt reported. Söder, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), has the backing of the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens to exercise the state’s right to purchase up to 85 hydroelectric plants by 2030, most located on the Lech, Isar and Main rivers. Together they account for around 40 percent of all hydroelectric power in Bavaria. While the state government has offered to take over the hydroelectric plants from the federal government, there has been "no reaction so far," Söder said. Uniper appears eager to keep the plants for itself as it prepares for a stock market listing in the medium to long term.
The company, which does not have any significant wind and solar assets, is looking to increase its renewable energy holdings in an effort to attract investors as it aims to become CO2-neutral by 2040. Uniper plans to have ten gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar power plants in development by 2030 and is investing more than eight billion euros to that end, the article said. Currently, the company’s main assets include gas, coal and oil power plants with a capacity of around 17 GW and nuclear power plants in Sweden with a total output of 1.4 GW. Its hydroelectric plants, with a combined capacity of 3.6 GW, still are its only major renewable energy holdings. The federal government is expected to sell around 75 percent of Uniper shares by 2028.
In 2023, Germany’s hydroelectric plants produced almost 20 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity and contributed just under 4 percent to the country's electricity mix. Heavy rains in Germany in early 2024 led to an output increase of nearly 30 percent for the technology and industry representatives have said that changing weather patterns will likely boost the role of hydropower in the country’s energy transition.
