News

May 27th 2011 - PRESS RELEASE

EOS Holding has announced that it is acquiring eight wind farms in Germany, encompassing 88 turbines with a total annual production of 320 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), equivalent to the average annual consumption of 80,000 households. This transaction makes EOS Holding one of Switzerland’s leading generators of wind power.

EOS Holding (EOSH) acquired two wind-farm portfolios earlier this year. The first, Projet Green, consists of two generation sites situated in Lower Saxony and three in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. These five wind farms operate 43 turbines with an installed power capacity of 72.5 megawatts (MW) and an annual output of 140 million kWh. The second portfolio that has come into EOS Holding’s possession, known as Beaufort, comprises 45 turbines spread across three wind-farms situated in the states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Pomerania. With total power of 91 MW, these turbines generate some 180 million kWh each year.

Power for 80,000 households

The investment, costing some €200 million, makes EOSH one of the foremost generators of wind power in Switzerland. With total output of 320 million kWh each year, the 88 turbines fully owned by EOSH generate enough power to supply the annual needs of 80,000 households (4,000 kWh/household per annum).

A strategy that is taking shape …

Alpiq was founded in early 2009 through the merger of EOS and Atel. The shareholders of EOSH (Romande Energie, Services Industriels de Genève, Groupe E, Lausanne City Council and FMV) sought to retain a holding company structure (EOSH ) to ensure that the interests of French-speaking Switzerland would be safeguarded within the wider context of Alpiq (in which they have a combined stake of 31%) and to accomplish large-scale projects in the spheres of energy efficiency and new renewable energy sources.

… and dovetails with the strategy of EOSH shareholders

As EOSH builds up a generation portfolio of new renewable sources abroad, its shareholders are focusing their efforts on the development of these new generation techniques in Switzerland. By complementarily reinvesting some of the proceeds of the transaction that led to the creation of Alpiq, EOSH and its shareholders are opting for renewable sources of supply at a time when this has never been such a major challenge.