French power utility Veolia has agreed to buy a 430 MW gas-fired power plant in Hungary from Uniper, marking the group’s latest asset disposal to meet EU conditions imposed as part of its bailout in 2022.
The gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Gonyu was commissioned in 2011.
No financial details were disclosed for the deal, which marks the third sale from a disposal list, opens a new tab Uniper received from Brussels in return for approving Berlin’s 13.5 billion euro rescue of the firm during Europe’s energy crisis.
Under the requirements, Uniper must sell 10 assets by the end of 2026, including its German coal-fired plant Datteln as well as an 18% stake in Latvian energy Latvijas Gaze, which opens new tab.
Gonyu helps to provide flexible electricity generation capacity, which is crucial as more intermittent renewable capacity comes online and European countries need flexible baseload capacity that can come on or offline quickly to balance their grids, Veolia said.
The purchase agreement was done via Veolia’s Hungarian subsidiary and the transaction is subject to obtaining the necessary authorisations and complying with regulations, the firm added.
