State of Bavaria seeks takeover of Uniper hydropower plants

The government of the southern German state of Bavaria seeks to take over all hydropower plants by energy company Uniper in the region, turning them into a state-owned operating company, it said in a press release. “My goal is a public welfare-oriented, ecologically sustainable and reliable use of hydropower,” said the state’s environment minister Thorsten Glauber. “The Uniper hydropower plants must be permanently owned by the public sector.” He added that a joint operating company with the federal government would also be possible. The takeover plans involve 97 hydropower plants in Bavaria with a combined capacity of around 970 megawatts (MW), which together generates around one third of Bavaria's hydropower, said the government.

Uniper is a major German energy supplier, and was Europe’s largest buyer of Russian gas before the energy crisis. Uniper was nationalised after the company lost billions of euros due to the collapse of gas trading between Germany and Russia. The company this week mapped out plans to move away from fossil fuels with billions of euros in green investments, hailing record earnings in the first half of 2023 in a turnaround following the bailout just a year earlier, Reuters reported.