Bell Rock Capital

PPC, going green, to present transformation plan on Monday

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Power utility PPC’s new three-year business plan, to transform the company from a lignite-centered utility into a RES-focused enterprise backed by a range of modern and digital commercial services, will be officially presented on Monday by the state-controlled company’s board, headed by chief executive Giorgos Stassis (photo), with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in attendance.

A new company logo symbolizing PPC’s shift from lignite to renewables will also be unveiled at the event along with the launch of the motto “PPC welcomes the future”.

PPC’s trademark lightning bolt-bearing logo that has featured for years at the façade of the company’s Athens headquarters has already been removed to make way for the the new logo, to be unveiled at Monday’s event.

On the day, PPC will present details on its plan to develop a RES portfolio with a capacity of between 2,000 and 3,000 MW over the next three years. This effort will coincide with the utility’s phase-out of lignite-fired power stations.

The privatization plan for the forthcoming sale of a 49 percent stake in subsidiary DEDDIE/HEDNO, the distribution network operator, expected to begin towards the end of this year, will also be presented at Monday’s event.

So, too, will an abundance of new services, including house repair and maintenance insurance.

PPC’s new three-year plan, at its core, will aim for high profitability and an annual EBITDA figure of between 700 and 900 million euros. It will also detail the company’s interest in DEPA Commercial, a new gas utility DEPA entity headed for privatization.

On Monday, PPC will also offer an update on ongoing talks with investors, including Germany’s RWE, for the development of solar farms worth 1.2 billion euros in northern Greece’s lignite-dependent west Macedonia region.

Funds of between 500 and 550 million euros stemming from PPC’s securitization of unpaid receivables will be used to help finance RES investments. The company is also considering a bond issue for the end of the year. Funds to be raised through the prospective DEDDIE/HEDNO sale will also be used for these investments.

Sensing a bright future at PPC, a growing number of institutional investors and hedge funds from abroad are considering the company’s share. They include Allianz Global Investors, Bell Rock Capital, Helm Investment Partners, Bluecrest Capital Management, Polygon, Fiera Capital, Zenon and Prince Street Capital.

 

 

 

Greece keen to utilize American RES technology; funds eyeing market

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The government wants to utilize latest American technology for more recent RES and RES-related domains such as offshore wind farms and energy storage, the energy ministry’s secretary-general Alexandra Sdoukou noted yesterday during a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other US officials in Thessaloniki.

For quite some time now, American renewable energy producers, institutional investors and funds have been scanning the Greek market for RES market opportunities.

A complete framework for offshore wind farms in Greece will be presented early in 2021, Sdoukou pointed out during yesterday’s meeting.

Major offshore wind farm development has been achieved off the American west coast, featuring, like the Mediterranean, waters of sudden depth, ideal conditions for the development of offshore wind farms.

US firms such as Invenergy, one of North America’s biggest wind energy producers; 547 Energy, a RES platform for Quantum Energy Partners; National Energy; and wind energy equipment manufacturer General Electric, have displayed a rising interest in the Greek market.

Besides RES and RES-related companies, a number of American funds are seeking investment opportunities in Greece.

At least ten US funds appear to be keeping a close watch on power utility PPC as a result of the corporation’s strategic turn to renewable energy.

They include Bell Rock Capital, Sephora Investment Advisors, Waterwill Capital Management, Cleargate Capital, Golden Tree Asset Management, Helm Investment Partners, Knighthead Capital Management, Craftsman Management, Colt Capital Partners and Kirkoswald Αsset Μanagement.