Vattenfall coal business hit by huge writedown

Swedish utility, Vattenfall, has announced a 2Q15 loss of almost SEK29 billion (US$3.8 billion) after writing down its coal business by SEK19 billion (US$2.2 billion). The writedown includes SEK15 billion (US$1.75 billion) on its lignite operations and SEK4 billion (just over US$450 million) on the Moorburg coal-fired power plant.

“Naturally, this is a very negative development and unfortunately reflects the world we live in,” said Vattenfall CEO, Magnus Hall.

Vattenfall is planning to sell its German lignite operations to focus more on renewable power generation. The German government recently proposed to transfer the country’s lignite-fired power plants to a capacity reserve in order to meet emissions reduction targets.

The company also recently completed the sale of its fossil-fuel-based generation assets in Denmark.

Written by Jonathan Rowland.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/22072015/vattenfall-coal-business-hit-by-huge-writedown-2604/