The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Swedish energy company makes £3bn writedown
TROUBLED Swedish energy firm Vattenfall has written £3 billion off the value of its projects due to “gloomy market prospects”.
The company behind three proposed windfarms in north and north-east Scotland also said it was yet to find a buyer for its majority stake in the planned £230 million Aberdeen Bay windfarm, which it put up for sale earlier this year.
Vattenfall said increasing business risks had led to it writing down its assets across Europe.
It added: “Like other European energy producers, Vattenfall is affected by the increasingly-gloomy market prospects.
“The company now makes the assessment that the market will not recover in the foreseeable future.”
In a report on recent trading, the operator said it was also splitting up its business to separate its Nordic and Continental Europe operations. It said the move would help it to “effectively respond to the tough market conditions in the European energy sector”.
A spokesman said: “While it is too early to say how Vattenfall will go about optimising the value of its portfolio, it is important to note that there is no change to Vattenfall’s strategy to prioritise investment in renewable energy, and in particular wind energy, and to explore partnering relationships for our assets.”
Vattenfall announced prioritisation of its investments earlier this year, leading to its decision to offload its 75% stake in the 11-turbine European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre off Aberdeen.
The firm — which has come under fire from American businessman Donald Trump over the siting of the proposed array off the coast from his golf course at Menie — yesterday said it had no update on the sale process.
In a downbeat statement yesterday, Vattenfall said that it had increased planned cost-cutting for next year from £151m to £252m, with a further £202m reduction in 2015.
The firm said it had frozen recruitment plans and investment for the next five years had been cut by £1.8bn to £10.6bn.
As well as the EOWDC project, Vattenfall is also planning a 13-turbine project at Aultmore in Moray and 18 turbines at Clashindarroch near Huntly. It currently operates the Edinbane windfarm in Skye.