“Vattenfall’s first half 2016: Stable operations – impairments due to tough market situation”

Swedish utility Vattenfall, which operates many conventional power plants in Germany and is selling its German lignite operations to Czech investor EPH, has published its half-year 2016 figures. It says that challenging market conditions forced it to make “significant impairments”. Out of 30 billion SEK (ca. 3 billion euros) impairments, 21 billion SEK (ca. 2.2 billion euros) were “attributable to Vattenfall’s lignite operations” in Germany, the company said, adding that the negative effects would have been even greater if Vattenfall had held on to the operations. Nevertheless, “Germany continues to be one of Vattenfall’s most important markets, with operations in all core business areas”, CEO Magnus Hall said.

Read the press release in English here.

Read a CLEW article on the sale of Vattenfall’s German lignite operations to Czech investor EPH.