CEZ Energy Group has sold the Krasin and Sakówko wind power plants in Poland to KGAL. The company expects to sell the remaining four Polish wind projects by the end of the year. ČEZ would like to start selling the central part of Polish assets: the Skawina and Chorzów coal-fired power plants and other assets outside companies operating in modern energy services (ESCO) the second half of this year.
CEZ did not state the sale price of wind projects. This is a sale of the portfolio of Eco-Wind, whose remnants are in Poland. They originally planned to build a portfolio of wind farms in Poland, but then the legislation changed, and they were not able to implement most of the projects. So they decided to finish the permit process – zoning decision, building permit, connection. But they no longer want to take the risk of physically building it. CEZ will not further develop renewables in Poland.
KGAL Group is an independent manager of investments and assets with an investment volume of 20.2 billion euros. The investment focuses on long-term capital investments in real estate, infrastructure, and aviation.
CEZ says the advantage of the Skawina and Chorzów power plants’ planned sale is that they are also heating plants. It envisages a gradual sale of assets in Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, and partly in Poland. An exception is companies focused on ESCOs, which ČEZ wants to develop at home and abroad.
CEZ announced last week that it is conducting exclusive negotiations on the sale of 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. Among other things, it owns GasNet, which includes the majority of gas distribution in the Czech Republic. But CEZ did not confirm it. If all goes well, they expect 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. The Antimonopoly Office had the opportunity to appeal against the decision to the Bulgarian Supreme Court, the 14 days expired on Monday.