Dietikon, Friday, August 26, 2011
EGL no longer sees the prerequisites for a long-term, commercially attractive participation in the NorGer sea cable project between Norway and Germany as given. Therefore EGL has sold its 16.67-percent interest to the majority shareholder, the Norwegian transmission grid operator, Statnett.
From today’s perspective, the current conditions do not offer EGL a long-term, commercially attractive participation in the NorGer for the construction of a sea cable between Norway and Germany. As a result, EGL has sold its 16.67-percent share in the project to the Norwegian transmission grid operator Statnett. At the same time, the other minority shareholders, Adger Energi and Lyse, have also sold their shares to Statnett, who is now the sole owner of the project.
Developments in the regulatory environment are the main reason for EGL’s decision. Although the German Bundesnetzagentur approved NorGer’s request for exemption of use of profits from congestion management, the EU commission came to a negative conclusion on this issue in spring 2011. As a result, the NorGer business model as a purely commercial cable is fundamentally questionable.
In addition, a study conducted by Stattnet indicates that grid capacity in southern Norway is insufficient. This has led to delays in the realisation of various planned sea cable projects. It is very difficult to assess what priority the NorGer project will have in Norway in the future.
Despite its withdrawal from the project, EGL is still convinced that NorGer is an ideal corridor between Germany and Norway. The project launched by EGL and partners in 2006 was met with a great deal of interest and received strong support, particularly from Germany. Furthermore, the NorGer sea cable is well advanced after years of development work and in terms of the permit process.
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