THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - OCTOBER 2017
Companies News 9
Siân Crampsie
Uniper appears set on rejecting a takeover
approach made by Fortum in spite
of assurances by the Finnish company
that it would be “a constructive strategic
partner” to the firm.
Fortum has made a formal offer to
purchase all of Uniper’s shares from
E.On at a value of €22 per share. It has
also reached an agreement with E.On
under which the German firm will tender
its 46.7 per cent shareholding in
Uniper early next year.
Uniper, the spinoff created by E.On
in its 2016 restructuring, says that the
approaches made by Fortum are
“clearly not in line with the strategy
of Uniper”. It added in a September
statement that it was not in discussions
with either Fortum or E.On concerning
any transactions.
Fortum’s proposal values Uniper at
just over €8 billion. It says that the offer
would enable Uniper shareholders
to realise significant value created by
market speculation of a takeover offer
since May this year.
“The offer would be an attractive
opportunity for Uniper shareholders
to capture the full value of their investment,”
said Pekka Lundmark, Fortum’s
President and CEO. “Uniper
shareholders could lock in the significant
share price gains related to a
significant degree to the prolonged
takeover speculation in recent
months.”
Lundmark told Reuters in early September
that Fortum was looking to
spend cash on acquisitions in Europe
that would complement its existing
power portfolio. The Finnish company
is cash-rich thanks to the sale in 2015
of its Nordic electricity grids for about
€9 billion.
A takeover of Uniper would add almost
40 GW of installed capacity to
Fortum’s portfolio, including hydropower,
coal, gas and nuclear assets.
“The transaction currently under discussion
is grounded in a strong strategic
and financial rationale,” Fortum
said in a statement. It added: “Uniper’s
businesses are well aligned with Fortum’s
core competencies, are close to
Fortum’s home markets and are highly
cash generative”.
“Uniper’s stated role as the provider
of security of supply would be an excellent
match with Fortum’s ambition to
accelerate the energy transition with
increasing renewable generation and
innovative solutions. Both are needed
to make the change happen and each
plays a crucial part as Europe transitions
from a conventional to a cleaner
and more secure energy future,” said
Lundmark.
Fortum also confirmed that it previously
made a proposal to Uniper’s
management for a full takeover, a move
that prompted Uniper to reitierate its
intention to remain independent.
“We intend to be a long-term investor
in Uniper and we take our responsibility
to all stakeholders very seriously,”
said Lundmark. “We are convinced
that a close cooperation of the two
companies would render significant
benefits for all stakeholders as there are
many strategic and operational touchpoints
between the portfolios of Fortum
and Uniper. We hold Uniper management
in high regard and, if a
transaction is agreed with E.On, are
looking forward to discussing with
Uniper management how our commitments
can be adequately formalised.”
A new partnership between Siemens
and PAS Global is aiming to help energy
companies overcome the “visibility
gaps” in their asset portfolios
that can heighten the risk of cyber
attacks.
The two companies have signed an
agreement to provide companies operating
in the oil and gas and utilities
sectors with fleet-wide, real-time
monitoring solutions for their control
systems.
The solutions will enhance the security
of energy assets by providing the
deep analytics needed to identify and
inventory proprietary assets as well as
the visibility to detect and respond to
cyber attacks.
According to research conducted by
Ponemon Institute on the state of cyber
security in the US oil and gas industry,
deployment of cyber security measures
is not keeping pace with the
growth of digitalisation in oil and gas
operations. Meanwhile, critical infrastructure
assets such as power plants
and networks are being increasingly
targeted by hackers.
“Utilities and the oil and gas sector
confront sophisticated, persistent and
aggressive cyber threats in the operational
environment. Enhanced fleetwide
visibility is critical to detecting
attacks and anomalies at the earliest
possible stage,” said Leo Simonovich,
Siemens Vice President for Global
Cyber Security. “With Siemens’ deep
operational monitoring expertise and
PAS’ leadership developing solutions
to protect industrial control systems,
this partnership is singularly positioned
to provide essential visibility,
build a mindset of perpetual vigilance
and ultimately strengthen the energy
industry defences.”
PAS specialises in solving operational
and security challenges for
chemical, refining and power companies.
Its Cyber Integrity solution provides
foundational inventory management
that covers all the major cyber
assets found in plants today. The solution
detects new or missing devices,
aggregates configuration data at the
asset level, baselines security-related
data to monitor for change, and captures
system interdependencies.
“With smarter, integrated automation
comes a difficult challenge that
has repercussions from the boardroom
to facility operations: ICS cybersecurity,”
said Eddie Habibi, founder and
CEO of PAS Global. “It is generally
well understood that you cannot secure
what you cannot see. That is why accurate,
up-to-date visibility of system
inventory is a fundamental element of
any cyber security solution.”
Uniper cool on
Fortum deal
Fortum has its eyes on Uniper’s 40 GW European portfolio but the
German spin-off wants to retain its independence.
Total seals new
green ventures
n EREN deal marks move into wind
n GreenFlex adds to efficiency plans
Total is planning to accelerate the expansion
of its clean energy business
with two new ventures.
The French oil giant has purchased a
stake in EREN Renewable Energy for
€237.5 million and acquired Green-
Flex, a French firm specialising in
energy efficiency.
EREN RE has over 650 MW of renewable
energy capacity under construction
or in operation globally, and
has plans to expand its portfolio to
3 GW within the next five years. Total’s
decision to invest in EREN’s
recent capital increase marks the oil
firm’s move into the wind power market,
it said.
“Total integrates climate challenge
into its strategy and is pursuing steady
growth in low-carbon businesses, in
particular in renewable energy,” said
Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO
of Total.
EREN said that the investment by
Total would enable it to cover its financing
needs for its planned expansion
programme.
Philippe Sauquet, President of Gas,
Renewables & Power at Total said that
the EREN deal, which also gives Total
the option of taking control of EREN
after five years, is a major step in its
plans to achieve 5 GW of installed capacity
in five years. “In line with the
group’s integrated strategy along the
oil and gas value chains, we are rebalancing
our portfolio in renewables
between the upstream manufacturing
with SunPower and the downstream
power production with EREN RE.”
In a September statement, Total said
that its acquisition of GreenFlex would
accelerate the expansion of its energy
efficiency offering. It intends to offer
its customers integrated solutions,
from optimisation of energy needs and
sources and finding financing solutions
to energy management and emissions
measurement and reduction.
“Climate challenges are integrated
into Total’s strategy, and our aim is to
be the responsible energy major. This
acquisition in energy efficiency services
is fully aligned with this strategy,”
said Sauquet.
Siemens JV
closes cyber
attack gap
Total is looking to achieve 5 GW of installed capacity in five years
Wärtsilä
rolling with
the waves
n Adds to sustainable technology
portfolio
n Turnkey contracts anticipated in 2018
Finland’s Wärtsilä is hoping to exploit
“the largest untapped renewable energy
source” after signing a global
cooperation agreement with AWEnergy.
The deal covers the sales and delivery
of AW-Energy’s WaveRoller device to
proposed commercial wave energy
projects around the world.
It follows recent moves by Wärtsilä
to expand into solar energy and energy
storage technologies as part of a
wider strategy to enhance its portfolio
of sustainable energy technologies.
The firm sees ocean energy as having
the potential for hundreds of GWs of
installed capacity globally.
“In addition to the vast resource potential,
ocean waves and sea states can
be accurately predicted up to days in
advance, making it the long awaited
addition in the next generation energy
mix,” Wärtsilä said in a statement.
“Thus, the emerging wave power
technology has all the pre-requisites
to take an equally sizable and important
role with solar and wind in the
future.”
AW-Energy’s WaveRoller technology
is involved in ongoing project
developments in Europe, Asia and the
Americas with a development pipeline
of around 300 MW. “Cooperation with
a world-class technology group like
Wärtsilä demonstrates the commercial
readiness level of our technology
and positions AW-Energy as the frontrunner
in the supply and development
of wave energy technology,” said
John Liljelund, CEO of AW-Energy.
The cooperation agreement will focus
primarily on turnkey project deliveries
and the two companies are
already working to identify opportunities.
Contracts could emerge in
2018, they said.
There is also potential for further cooperation
between the companies in
other fronts such as technology and
lifecycle services, Wärtsilä said.