EnBW has made a takeover bid for French wind and solar developer Valeco Group, for an undisclosed sum.
Montpellier-based Valeco currently has an installed capacity of 276MW of onshore wind and 56MW of solar, plus a project pipeline of 1.7GW.
The company employs around 135 people and generates annual turnover of close to €50m.
EnBW said it was chosen as the exclusive bidder from a field of other interested parties and was currently in discussions with Valeco to finalise its offer.
“For EnBW, this is another important step on the way to making renewable energy a cornerstone of the company’s business,” EnBW chief executive Frank Mastiaux said.
“We see good prospects for common growth in France.”
Meanwhile in its released 2018 financial results EnBW’s adjusted group net profit was €438m compared with €793m in 2017.
In the company’s renewables segment, the operating result for 2018 was 10.3% down on the previous year, from €331m in 2017 to €298m in 2018.
Poor wind conditions and low water levels had a negative impact on output both from offshore wind farms and from run-of-river power plants, and the increase in earnings from onshore wind farms commissioned in mid-2017 was not sufficient to make up for this, according to the company.
For the overall group, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 44% to €2bn in 2018 from €3.7bn in 2017.
Mastiaux said: “We are concentrating on what we are really good at, which is building and managing complex, large-scale and critical infrastructure, safely and reliably. Not just in the energy business, but also in other areas.”
The company will target three growth areas, sustainable generation infrastructure, system-critical infrastructure and smart infrastructure for customers.