Uniper SE said Monday it is now open for expressions of interest for its 20 percent interest in the OPAL natural gas pipeline, among assets it has agreed to sell as part of European Commission conditions in approving Uniper’s bailout by the German government late 2022.
OPAL, or the Baltic Sea Pipeline Link, carries up to 36 billion cubic meters (1.27 trillion cubic feet) a year of gas, according to operator and 80 percent owner GASCADE Gastransport GmbH.
“OPAL is one of Europe’s largest transmission corridors, stretching approximately 740 kilometers [459.81 miles] from Lubmin in Germany to Brandov in the Czech Republic”, Uniper said in a statement.
“As part of Germany’s Hydrogen Core Network framework, OPAL’s northern segment conversion has been completed in mid-December 2025, with the southern segment to follow by the end of 2030”.
“The transaction perimeter covers 100 percent of the shares in Lubmin-Brandov Assets GmbH & Co KG which holds the 20 percent fractional ownership in OPAL”, the German power and gas utility said.
The submission of expressions of interest runs through January 29, 2026.
“The bidding process will be run in an open, fair and transparent way”, Uniper said.
On December 20, 2022, the European Commission approved German state aid to recapitalize and take over Uniper, the Commission recognizing Uniper’s losses related to the disruption of gas deliveries amid the Russia-Ukraine war. To satisfy European Union fair competition guardrails, Germany committed to working out an exit and Uniper agreed to divest key businesses.
Early this month Uniper said it had completed the sale of the Datteln 4 coal-run power plant in North Rhine-Westphalia to Czechia’s ResInvest Group. Commissioned 2020, the facility has a net output of 1,052 megawatts (MW). It supplies electricity and district heating to households, as well as traction power to rail operator Deutsche Bahn, according to Uniper.
On November 3 Uniper said it had closed the sale of Uniper Waerme GmbH, a district heating network serving over 14,400 customers in Germany’s Ruhr area, to Steag Iqony Group’s Iqony Fernwaerme GmbH. Waerme has a network of over 750 kilometers (466.03 miles), according to Uniper.
On July 9 Uniper said it had sold its 18.26 percent stake in AS Latvijas Gaze, which is involved in natural gas trading and sales in the Baltics, to co-venturer Energy Investments SIA.
On February 5 Uniper said it had completed the sale of its North American power portfolio. The sale covered “power purchase and sale contracts and energy management agreements in the North American power markets ERCOT (North, South, West and Houston), WEST (WECC and CAISO) and CENTRAL (MISO and SPP) through a number of transactions with several counterparties”, Uniper said then. The North American dispositions excluded Uniper’s gas portfolio and hydrogen-related activities.
On January 7 Uniper said it had completed the sale of its gas-fired power plant in Gonyu, Hungary, to the local subsidiary of France’s Veolia SA. Commissioned 2011, the power plant generates up to 430 MW, according to Uniper.
In the other divestments completed as part of the bailout conditions, Uniper in May 2023 sold its marine fuel trading business in the United Arab Emirates and its 20 percent indirect stake in the BBL gas pipeline linking the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The other assets in the divestment package, which must be completed 2026, consist of an 84 percent stake in Unipro in Russia and Uniper’s international helium business, Uniper says on its website.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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