Acciona Energia hydro assets attract big-name bidders - report

The reported hydropower asset sale by Spanish renewables company Acciona Energia (BME:ANE) has caught the eye of utility heavy-weights Endesa SA (BME:ELE) and Statkraft AS, business newspaper Cinco Dias reported on Friday.

Spanish renewables developer and asset manager Exus Partners and Austrian energy group Kelag are also said to be among the potential bidders for Acciona Energia’s hydro portfolio in Spain, which is expected to be valued at around EUR 1 billion (USD 1.08bn), according to the report.

Acciona Energia has already enlisted banks to help find buyers for the portfolio and expects to receive the first non-binding offers in early November, as Reuters recently reported.

The reports differ on how big the portfolio is. Acciona Energia operates hydroelectric plants in Spain and nowhere else. Its installed hydropower capacity, total and consolidated, stood at 867 MW at the end of the June 2024, according to the company half-year earnings report.

In late July, Acciona Energia struck an agreement to sell a vehicle holding 175 MW of hydroelectric plants in Spain to Elawan Energy. That portfolio represented 20% of Acciona Energia’s total installed hydropower capacity, as the company said at the time.

Endesa is not only a strong competitor for this acquisition, but the Spanish utility is also familiar with Acciona Energia’s hydropower plants, according to Cinco Dias. When the Acciona group sold its stake in Endesa to Italy’s Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL) in 2009, it took cash and 2,105 MW of its renewables, including the hydro assets now marked for sale.

Norway’s Statkraft, a European hydropower giant, does not operate hydro in Spain.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.082)

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