Enel completes Spanish expansion
26 June 2009
The largest power company in Spain is now controlled by Enel of Italy. With the purchase of a final 25%, Enel now owns 2655 MWe of nuclear capacity in Spain.
Enel bought the remaining major stake in Endesa for €9.6 billion ($13.5 billion) from another utilty, Acciona, which at the same time bought a €2.6 billion package of renewable projects from Endesa. Another step in the complicated sale will come after regulatory procedures in which Endesa will sell another €183 million in assets.
Enel said it had mainly financed the €9.6 billion purchase with an €8 billion syndicated loan from a range of banks. Repayment of €5.5 billion is set for 2014, with the remainder in 2016. In addition to this, the Enel group now has Endesa's debt on its books, taking its total debt to €12.1 billion ($17.0 billion).
However, Endesa's resent results have been excellent, with consolidated revenue of €22.8 billion ($32.1 billion) in 2008, giving an operating profit of €5.2 billion and a net profit of €7.1 billion.
Endesa wholly owns the Ascó 1 pressurized water reactor, 85% of Ascó 2 and 78% of Vandellos 2. Together these provide 2655 MWe of Endesa's total portfolio of almost 40,000 MWe, some 40% of which is generated in South America.
Enel has a growth strategy that has seen it take significant interests outside of Italy, and often these have had a nuclear focus. It owns 66% of Slovenske Electrarne of Slovakia with 1690 MWe of nuclear, and has funded a new project to complete Mochovce 3 and 4 reactors to add 840 MWe to that. It also has a deal with Electricité de France (EdF) to take 12.5% of the output from its next four new reactors. It has already exercised this right with Flamanville 3 and Penly 3, totalling 413 MWe.
Restricted from using nuclear power in Italy, for many years Enel was restricted from investing in nuclear abroad too. Italian policy has relaxed and grown positive towards nuclear in recent years and Enel's relationship with EdF was further enriched with a cooperation deal in February to go 50/50 on studies towards at least four large new reactors which could add up to 6600 MWe.