waste-to-energy

PPC to present ambitious business plan at London event

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Power utility PPC is currently adding final touches to a new and highly ambitious four-year business plan scheduled to be announced January 23 in London, at a Capital Markets Day event, before an audience of international analysts and institutional investors.

They will be expecting news from PPC’s leadership on the energy group’s priorities abroad, including its next big steps planned for the Balkans; a retail energy expansion plan through the group’s fully-owned Kotsovolos electrical and electronics retail chain, a leading force in the Greek market; as well as news on the company’s plans for promising new sectors such as fiber optics and waste management through public-private partnerships.

PPC is also looking to capitalize on company-owned properties that have remained unutilized for decades.

Over the past few years, PPC has enjoyed a period of tremendous growth that has led to a 50 percent increase in financial figures, over 9 million customers, 14 GW in renewable energy projects, and 340,000 kilometers of networks.

Under the leadership of its CEO Giorgos Stassis, PPC is steadily growing into an energy group of international proportions and a dominant force in southeast Europe. Investments in Romania are a key part of this strategy.

 

PPC business plan well received by US, European funds

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Power utility PPC’s business plan has been well received by major international funds at a London roadshow co-organized by the Athens bourse and Morgan Stanley and involving 29 Greek companies, ten of which are from the energy sector.

PPC’s administration has held over 30 meetings with American funds such as Sandglass and Manulife, as well as European funds, including the UK’s Senvest, Polygon and TFG Asset management, which were informed on PPC’s business potential. Emphasis was placed on decarbonization, new RES projects, growth prospects in foreign markets, and digitization.

The meetings have included one-on-one meetings between PPC’s chief executive Giorgos Stassis and CEOs of foreign funds, who were offered detailed presentations of PPC’s business plan.

Some of these funds are already familiar with PPC’s activities and objectives, while others have only just begun showing interest, either through thoughts of purchasing company shares or participation in two PPC bond issues, a 775 million-euro bond maturing in 2026 and a 500 million-euro bond maturing in 2028.

PPC, emerging from the energy crisis unscathed and implementing its business plan without deviations, despite the challenging international environment, expects its EBITDA figure this year to reach between 800 and 900 million euros, approximately the same as last year, with a similar or improved performance next year.

PPC’s business plan foresees investments worth 9.3 billion euros over the next four to five years, 55 percent of the investment sum in renewable energy, 20 percent in electricity distribution networks, 7 percent in conventional energy sources, 4 percent in waste-to-energy production, and 3 percent in retail energy.

In geographical terms, 85 percent of PPC’s investments are planned for within Greece, the other 15 percent planned for the Balkans, primarily in Romania and Bulgaria.

PPC plans to invest 2.3 billion euros in 2023, 2.5 billion euros in 2024, 1.7 billion euros in 2025 as well as 2026.

These investments are expected to contribute to Greece’s improved energy self-sufficiency, reducing electricity imports to 10 percent in 2026 from 18 percent in 2020.

 

 

Foreign institutional investors hold 50% of PPC for first time

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Power utility PPC is entering a new era following yesterday’s completion of the corporation’s equity capital raise, which lowers the Greek State’s share in PPC below 51 percent, to 34 percent, for the first time in the utility’s 70-year history. Foreign institutional investors now hold an overall 50 percent stake in PPC, up from 27 percent, while domestic stakeholders have a 16 percent share.

Greek governments will no longer be able to do as they please with PPC. Issues concerning management, policies, strategic decisions and new hirings will now require the approval of foreign investors at the general shareholders’ meetings. The Greek State will remain influential with its 34 percent stake.

The corporation’s new equity line-up promises to transform PPC into a far more efficient corporation capable of achieving more favorable terms in capital markets.

The Covalis and Zimmer funds, among the new multinational stakeholders, specialize in utility investments. Wellington is regarded as a highly selective fund, more so than Blackrock, also part of PPC’s new equity line-up.

PPC easily achieved its 1.35 billion-euro target through the equity capital increase. The business plan, approved on the eve of the equity capital increase, envisions investments worth 8.4 billion euros between 2022 and 2026, but the amount is now seen rising to 9.3 billion euros. Investments are planned in renewables, networks, Balkan investments and waste management.

More than half the sum of new investments, or 55 percent, is planned for the RES sector, both in Greece and abroad. A further 20 percent is planned for distribution networks, 7 percent for conventional energy sources, 4 percent for waste-to-energy units and 3 percent for retail concerns.

Geographically, 85 percent of PPC’s new investments will be made in Greece, and 15 percent in the Balkans, primarily in Romania and Bulgaria.

PPC makes waste-to-energy plans, RES moves worth €2bn in Balkans

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Power utility PPC plans to develop waste-to-energy plants and also make RES investments in the Balkans worth two billion euros, a bulleting attached to the corporation’s ongoing equity capital raise, offering an update on the board’s strategic plan, has revealed.

The book building process, which began yesterday, will run until Thursday. Investors anticipate that PPC will enter new circular economy activities and also expand its green interests beyond Greece’s borders.

PPC expects to raise 1.35 billion euros through the equity capital raise, which will partially fund the corporation’s ambitious 5 billion-euro investment plan covering 2022 to 2024.

The power utility had initially announced a plan to enter the waste-to-energy sector in 2020 and is now reviving this part of its strategic plan.

This plan is in line with the overall national policy for waste management, developed in response to condemnation by European institutions of Greece for the country’s uncontrolled landfill management.

The power utility is expected to adopt advanced waste-to-energy technologies used in Europe’s north for the development of units making minimal environmental impact.

As for renewable energy, PPC has planned investments worth two billion euros between 2022 and 2026. Of this total, 820 million euros is planned to be invested between 2022 and 2024 and 1.11 billion euros from 2024 to 2026, according to the equity capital raise’s bulletin.

These sums are expected to be used for RES portfolio acquisitions. PPC is aiming for a green portfolio of 7.2 GW by 2024 to include extensive investments in the Balkans. Bulgaria and Romania are being targeted as markets of major potential.

 

PPC holding back on Ptolemaida V fuel decision

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Power utility PPC will take ongoing global technological developments and their comparative costs into account to decide, in approximately a year’s time, on the fuel to be used at its prospective Ptolemaida V power station in northern Greece from 2028 onwards, when a switch from lignite has been scheduled.

The facility, expected to be completed in 2022, is initially planned to operate as a lignite-fired power station for a six-year period before switching to another fuel or fuels.

All options are being left open, meaning that, beyond 2028, Ptolemaida V could run on natural gas, biomass, waste-to-energy or a combination of these energy sources.

Biomass represents an advantageous option as it can be produced at the utility’s older lignite-fired units in the area, PPC’s chief executive Giorgos Stassis has pointed out.

If a biomass option is chosen, PPC intends to provide land for farmers and cooperatives to cultivate plants for energy production. Yield potential and the local climate promise to be the two main factors behind PPC’s selection of plant species to be cultivated for biomass purposes.

Japan’s Mitsubishi, providing the new facility’s electromechanical equipment, was commissioned, some time ago, to conduct a study determining the optimal choice of fuel for Ptolemaida V beyond 2028.

Continued use of lignite, after 2028, at Ptolemaida V has also been tabled as a possibility if carbon-capture utilization and storage (CCUS) technology is applied for a zero net carbon footprint.

In such a case, the CCUS technology could be applied on a wider scale to lure industrial units to the region for the establishment of a new industrial zone.

Green energy to remain a catalyst for Greek economic growth

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Local authorities, in the coming months, will focus on reigniting green energy investment interest expressed by many international funds until February, when the coronavirus outbreak began halting plans.

The restart could be a challenging task as certain funds may hold back following losses on stock exchanges.

Even so, the pandemic’s impact on green energy markets is expected to be far milder compared to other sectors.

Market analysts throughout the continent believe prospective investments in renewable energy, waste management, energy efficiency upgrades for buildings, as well as decarbonization initiatives, will serve as key factors for economic growth in Europe, including Greece.

The European Green Deal, aiming for a climate-neutral EU of zero greenhouse gases by 2050, will not be endangered by the current pandemic-induced crisis as it is a short-term condition that pales by comparison to the grander plan set out for the next 30 years, energy ministry sources told energypress.

However, a slight regression of green energy investment plans is initially anticipated, compared to positions in February.

Between 70 and 80 percent of foreign investors are expected to remain interested in Greece’s green energy sector in the months ahead, analysts believe.

 

 

Danish waste-to-energy model, China offers examined by PPC

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Electricity production through virtually zero-emission waste combustion, a method adopted in Denmark, is one of a number of options being examined by the Greek power utility PPC as part of the country’s decarbonized future.

PPC’s existing coal generators, headed for closure, imminently, could be transformed into waste-to-energy plants.

PPC has received proposals from Chinese companies. Cost and environmental matters will be key factors in any decisions made by Greek officials.

Joint ventures could be formed to utilize the output of waste management PPPs (Public Private Partnerships) in Greece. Three such facilities currently exist in the country but more are expected to open in the near future.

The positions of local communities in lignite-dependent regions, such as west Macedonia, in the country’s north, and the price of waste-generated electricity will be pivotal.

Denmark’s Copenhill waste-to-energy plant, possibly the world’s most advanced such facility, was launched last month. It is situated in the heart of Copenhagen.

Designed as a lush downhill slope to host skiing and other recreational activities, the Copenhill facility processes the waste of 550,000 homes and 45,000 businesses, providing electricity and heating for 150,000 homes. The unit is designed to take in approximately 400,000 tons of waste annually for combustion.