CEZ Group officially launched the divestment process for its five Polish companies today. Among them are the Skawina and Chorzów coal-fired power plants, which are also heating plants. It is part of a strategy that the company approved last year. After receiving written confirmation of investors’ interest, ČEZ will invite them to submit a non-binding offer. CEZ will keep companies doing business in modern energy services (ESCO); it wants to develop them at home and abroad.
Skawina is the second largest supplier of heat to Krakow and Skawina, Chorzów is one of the largest suppliers of heat to Katowice and other urban agglomerations in Silesia. Last year, they produced a total of 2433 gigawatt-hours of electricity and 5366 terajoules of heat. Both power plants have technologies for co-firing biomass.
In addition to Skawina and Chorzów, including the Chorzów II project, ČEZ is considering selling the companies CEZ Produkty Energetyczne Polska and CEZ Polska. The first provides support in managing energy by-products. The second sells commodities to large customers and small businesses.
OEM Energy, Metrolog, and Euroklimat, part of the ESCO consortium of ČEZ Elevion Group, are not for sale.
CEZ Group entered the Polish energy market in 2006 with the purchase of the Skawina and Elcho (now Chorzów) power plants from the American company PSEG. It was an investment worth CZK 10.8 billion. In 2012, ČEZ started its wind energy business in Poland. However, ČEZ has already sold two Polish wind power projects, Krasin and Sakówko, to the investment fund KGAL, and the company expects the sale of the remaining four wind projects there by the end of this year.
The sale of five Polish companies is in line with the new strategy approved by ČEZ last June. It envisages a gradual sale of assets in Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, and partly in Poland.
In August, CEZ announced that it was conducting exclusive negotiations on selling its Romanian assets with the bidder who submitted the best offer. According to the Romanian newspaper Ziarul Financiar, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) is interested. It is, among other things, the owner of GasNet, which includes the majority of gas distribution in the Czech Republic. If all goes well, he expects the contract to be signed at the end of this year or early next year.
The situation in Bulgaria is more complicated. Last November, ČEZ and the Bulgarian company Eurohold each filed an administrative lawsuit against the Bulgarian Antimonopoly Office‘s decision, which blocked the sale of ČEZ’s local assets to Eurohold in October. In July this year, the Administrative Court annulled the Office’s decision. At the end of August, the Antimonopoly Office began to re-examine CEZ’s intention, which CEZ welcomed.
CEZ Announcement
Today CEZ Group officially started the divestment process in Poland. After the market sounding, interested investors will be asked to present non-binding offers. CEZ intends to sell five companies in Poland, keeping only those engaged in modern energy services (ESCO). The divestment is in accordance with the current CEZ Group´s business strategy.
The divestment concerns five Polish companies: CEZ Skawina, CEZ Chorzów (including the CEZ Chorzów II project), CEZ Produkty Energetyczne Polska and CEZ Polska. The whole sales process begins with market sounding, followed by subsequent stages. The divestment is lead exclusively by ING Bank, the advising investment bank to CEZ. Investors will find instructions on how to participate in the divestment process on CEZ webpages.
CEZ Poland assets include two combined heat and power plants (CHPs) in the densely populated and urbanized regions of Silesia and Lesser Poland. CEZ Skawina (installed capacity 330 MWe / 588 MWt) is the second largest provider of heat to Krakow (approx. 25% share) and Skawina. CEZ Chorzów (238 MWe / 500 MWt) is one of the largest heat suppliers to Katowice and other agglomerations in Silesia. Last year CEZ Skawina and CEZ Chorzów produced in total 2,443 GWh of electricity and 5,366 TJ of heat. Both CHPs are fitted with biomass burning technology.
CEZ Produkty Energetyczne Polska provides dedicated supporting services in the area of energy by-products. CEZ Polska sells commodities to large customers and small businesses, evaluates and influences the market situation in terms of energy regulation and legislation, and ensures the corporate identity and integrity of CEZ Group in Poland.
Companies OEM Energy, Metrolog and Euroklimat, which are part of the ESCO consortium of CEZ Elevion Group, are not included in the divestment process.
The divestment of Polish companies is in line with CEZ Group’s strategy, approved last June. The strategy envisages the gradual sale of selected assets in Poland and in the countries of South-Eastern Europe. CEZ wants to keep and further develop only the companies focused on modern energy services (ESCO).
CEZ Group entered the Polish energy market in 2006 with the purchase of the Skawina and Elcho power plants (now CEZ Chorzów) from the American company PSEG. Detailed information on CEZ Group Polish companies is available at https://www.cezpolska.pl/.