ROMANIA: The French from Engie are interested in buying an electricity distribution company in Romania
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Engie, one of the largest suppliers and distributors of gas in Romania, but which is also developing in the area of electricity production from renewable sources and supply, is interested in buying an electricity distribution company in Romania, if this will arise possibility.
Engie Romania officials inaugurated a few days ago the photovoltaic park in the Brailean town of Gemenele, where they also have an operational photovoltaic park for 11 years, thus ending up operating the largest hybrid park in Romania, on which occasion we asked the CEO of the company , Nicolas Richard, if the group, which is developing in the area of electricity production, is also interested in taking over an electricity distribution company in Romania.
Here is what Engie’s CEO told
“It is clear that we in Romania are known as players in the field of natural gas. In 2005, we invested in Distrigaz, which was known as a gas distributor and supplier. In the meantime, we have developed enormously, including in the area of renewable energies, and we will continue. We also developed the traditional business that we had since 2005, that of distribution and supply, we doubled the number of km of network, we modernized 70% of the purchased network.
On the supply side, we have more than 2.4 million customers for natural gas and electricity, we have 800,000 who have opted for energy services and solutions, both from the residential and industrial segments, whose consumption we are trying to optimize.
At the global level, the answer is yes, because, at the group level, we believe in the alliance between the gas molecule and the electron, so it is natural to see if we can also invest in Romania in electricity networks and identify opportunities. And if the regulatory framework also allows the investment, we will certainly explore.
Romania is an important country for ENGIE and then we try to have exactly the same strategies as the group and we will continue to invest in gas, greener and greener, we believe in Romania’s potential, if we talk about biomethane.
We believe in the area of electricity. On the production side, on the supply side, and, why not, on the distribution side, if opportunities arise”.
I asked the Engie official about the potential interest in the distribution area given that the Australian group Macquarie, which with the acquisition of the CEZ businesses in Romania, has become one of the important players on the market, seems to have a strategy to disinvest in Romania .
Macquarie, which is a huge global investment fund, bought three years ago all of CEZ’s businesses in Romania: the renewable energy production capacities (including the Fântânele-Cogealac wind farm, the largest onshore wind farm in Europe), the furizare CEZ Romania, with around 1.4 million customers, and one of the eight energy distribution companies in the country, Distributie Energie Oltenia. The transaction was 1.1 billion euros.
At the end of last year, Macquarie sold the supply firm – it was a transaction expected by the market – and in the end the buyer was Premier Energy, who qualified just ahead of Engie, who also wanted to buy. Then, a month ago, in a transaction that surprised everyone, Macquarie sold the entire renewables portfolio in Romania (629 MW) to the Greeks from PPC, in a transaction of around 700 million euros.
So, at the moment, Macquarie only has the electricity distribution in the Oltenia area from the whole portfolio bought from CEZ three years ago. It is not known whether he will keep it or sell it.
The ENGIE Romania group of companies operates in the following fields of activity: distribution and supply of natural gas, production from renewable sources and supply of electricity, as well as green solutions and technical services for natural gas installations and thermal power plants. ENGIE Romania and its subsidiaries serve a portfolio of over 2 million customers, operate a distribution network of 23,255 km, have a production capacity from green sources of 211 MW and have over 4,300 employees.
