17 Dec (NucNet): E.ON of Germany and Electrabel of Belgium have signed an agreement for what they called �a substantial swap� of generation capacity, including generation from nuclear units in the two countries.

E.ON said today that it intends to sell to Electrabel an aggregate of approximately 700 megawatts (MW) of power procurement rights, or �drawing rights�, from the Kruemmel, Grundremmingen and Unterweser nuclear power plants.

In return, E.ON will acquire from Electrabel an aggregate of approximately 770 MW of power procurement rights from the Doel-1, Doel-2 and Tihange-1 nuclear power plants. Two hundred and seventy megawatts of this will be delivered in the Netherlands.

E.ON and Electrabel, which belongs to the French GDF Suez Group, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) today agreeing to the swap.

Under the MoU, E.ON will sell a total of around 1,700 MW of generating capacity and power procurement rights in Germany to Electrabel in return for the same amount of capacity and power procurement rights in Belgium.

The nuclear swap forms just part of the agreement. E.ON will also acquire from Electrabel the Langerlo coal-fired power station (556 MW) and Vilvoorde gas-fired power station (385 MW), while Electrabel will acquire from E.ON various stakes in non-nuclear generation capacity.

The final agreement is scheduled to be signed in the first half of 2009 and is subject to regulatory approval.

A GDF Suez Group spokesman called the MoU �a milestone in the implementation of the group�s strategy in Germany�. He said it will substantially strengthen GDF Suez�s position in generation and sales in Germany.

E.ON also today signed an MoU with German utility EnBW for the sale of E.ON�s stakes in Lippendorf lignite-fired power plant (446 MW) and Bexbach hard coal-fired power plant (79 MW) in Germany.

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Survey Shows Support For Nuclear In Belgium Region (World Nuclear Review No. 14, 11 April 2008)

German Power Group Chief Urges Renewed National Nuclear Debate (News No. 94, 27 November 2008)

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