The European Commission has given its consent to the joint venture of Tauron and . The new entity is named Elektrownia Blachownia Nowa and its goal will be to build and run a natural gas-fuelled power station with a capacity of 850 MW. The EC decided the joint venture would not disrupt competition as its market share will be limited and it will operate in an environment where many other credible producers of energy operate.
The verdict of the EC came after a thorough analysis of the potential influence of the transaction on competition in production, as well as wholesale and retail sales of energy, and of its impact on the
copper production market.
We view the news neutrally in terms of today’s trading. By entering the project as a financial investor, will be able to access cheaper electricity than it presently obtains from the market. The firm will also become more independent from the national power grid. The latter is as important as financial considerations for , since the company experienced unexpected blackouts during the summer of 2009. is one of the biggest power consumers in Poland, using 2.5TWh of energy annually. The only concern that is questionable to us is the technology that was chosen by Tauron: namely CCGT power plant. The power plant operating in such technology at current gas prices and CO2 allowances prices is not economically viable. We expect the consortium of both companies to reassess again the project in terms of technology provided.