EnBW on Thursday unveiled a 12-billion euro ($13.5 billion) investment plan and said it was close to acquiring French renewable group Valeco, as the German utility continues its strategy of moving away from fossil fuels.
The spending plan, covering the 2021-2025 period, mainly focuses on modernising energy and gas networks, its operational backbone due to regulated returns, as well as expanding its generation portfolio, most notably wind and solar.
Those two areas will account for 85 percent of the total investment, EnBW - which is almost entirely owned by the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and local municipalities - said at its annual press conference.
"We are concentrating on what we are really good at, which is building and managing complex, large-scale and critical infrastructure safely and reliably," Chief Executive Frank Mastiaux said.
"Not just in the energy business, but also in other areas," he added. In its latest expansion move in the renewables sector, EnBW said it was in exclusive talks to acquire France's Valeco, which has an installed output of 276 megawatt (MW) and a pipeline of 1,700 MW.
Valeco, which has annual sales of about 50 million euros, is majority-owned by the founding family. French public sector lender Caisse des Depots et des Consignations owns a 35.56 percent stake.