ELPE, Edison eye number 2 position in power market
A joint venture between Greece’s largest oil refinery Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) and Italy’s Edison will aim at developing a 1,500-2,000 MW energy portfolio in five years as part of plans to become Greece’s second largest power company. ELPE and Edison, Italy’s second largest electricity producer and gas distributor, will each hold 50 percent of the yet-to-be-named joint venture that will pursue investments in the broader energy sector. «The new company will be a holding group that will develop renewable energy sources, natural gas production and trade electrical energy in the Balkans and elsewhere,» said ELPE President Efthymios Christodoulou at the signing ceremony yesterday. ELPE will contribute its 390 MW energy plant in Thessaloniki to the joint venture while Edison will hand over its 65 percent stake in central Greece’s Thisvi power plant, planned for completion by 2010. The holding company will also receive a 55-million-euro payment from Edison to balance the respective asset contributions and control a 75 percent stake in a thermal power generation subsidiary. The deal is subject to approval by regulatory authorities. Foreign energy companies have been teaming up with local partners in a bid to tap strong growth in the energy market which is opening up to competition. «For the first time we are signing a 50-50 joint venture in a country of strategic importance for our development,» said Umberto Quadrino, Edison’s chief executive officer. «We see Greece as a base for the Balkans. We will jointly seek opportunities to grow,» he added. Spain’s Endesa has also entered the local market by teaming up with Greek metals and engineering group Mytilineos in a similiar deal aimed at developing the country’s power supplies. Shares in ELPE, which has a market capitalization of 2.6 billion euros, jumped 5.45 percent to 8.52 euros yesterday, outperforming a broader market gain of 3.10 percent on the Athens bourse.
