Mytilineos announces major investment in Canada
Mytilineos on Thursday announced it has entered into definitive agreements for the purchase by Mytilineos’ M Renewables of a portfolio of five solar projects located in Alberta, Canada, from Westbridge Renewable Energy Corp, a utility-scale solar photovoltaics development company, with an anticipated aggregate capacity of 1.4 gigawatts upon commercial operation. The transaction, worth 1.16 billion euros, is to be completed by way of a share purchase by Mytilineos of all of the issued and outstanding shares of a number of Westbridge subsidiaries. This is the first transaction by Mytilineos in North America, following its international strategy to seek opportunities in countries and areas with high commercial interest and business-friendly environments. Notably, Canada recently announced the Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit and Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit, which may provide a refundable tax credit of up to 30% on the eligible capital expenditures of certain energy generation projects produced from renewable sources to support the green transition in all Canadian provinces. The CapEx investment for the projects includes this 30% tax credit from the Canadian government (up to 430 million Canadian dollars based on the estimated eligible CapEx of the projects). Mytilineos strategically entered the renewables market more than eight years ago and is now considered a top integrated developer worldwide in the whole range of solar, storage and wind projects. Its global RES portfolio consists of 10.5 GW of projects in different jurisdictions (in Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and North America) and at various stages of development.
Inflation drop. Inflation was significantly lower in Greece than in the eurozone last month, as Eurostat’s provisional estimates for May showed that Greece’s EU-harmonized consumer price index read 4.1% against a mean rate of 6.1% in the euro area. In April Greece’s EU-harmonized index had come to 4.5%. The Greek rate was the fifth lowest in the eurozone last month. May’s eurozone inflation rate was the lowest of the last 12 months, down from 7% in April.
Working conditions. The European Commission sent Greece a reasoned opinion for failure to incorporate into national law the directive on transparent and predictable working conditions on Thursday. In its letter to Greece, the Commission noted that these rules provide more extensive and updated labor rights and protection to the 182 million workers in the EU. For example, it said workers would have the right to more predictability regarding assignments and working time. They will also have the right to receive timely and more complete information about the essential aspects of their job, such as place of work and remuneration. “The new rules will also benefit in particular an estimated 2 to 3 million workers in precarious forms of employment,” it added in its letter.