By selling 15 per cent of Alpiq's interest to IWB, the shareholder base of Nant de Drance SA has been enlarged. Subject to the approval of the existing partners, the shareholder base will look as follows: Alpiq (39%), SBB (36%), IWB (15%), and FMV (10%).
The planned investment in Nant de Drance will allow IWB to ensure a long-term supply their customers. In a statement, Bernhard Brodbeck from the Procurement department of IWB said that pumped storage plants play a central role in the procurement strategy of the IWB.
Nant de Drance project is considered one of the most important infrastructure projects in the European energy sector. The new power station is scheduled to go into phased operation as of 2017. With a total installed capacity of 900MW, it is designed to generate approximately 2.5 billion kWh of peak load energy per year. The total cost of the project will amount to around CHF 1.8B.
The acquisition deal is expected to be complete by the end of 2012, subject to approval.
