Energy group EPH places bid for RWE Czech gas storage business – sources

WARSAW (Reuters) – Energy group EPH has put in a bid for the Czech gas storage business that Germany’s RWE is planning to sell, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

RWE, Germany’s largest power producer, earlier this month said that a sales process for the asset was at an advanced stage, adding it had received encouraging feedback from potential buyers in the Czech Republic and across Europe.

EPH, a private energy group that owns energy assets in several European markets, has a portfolio of storage facilities in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany, according to its website.CEZ, the Czech Republic’s top power utility, has not placed a bid, CTK Agency reported earlier this week.

RWE Gas Storage CZ operates six underground gas storages with a total volume of 2.7 billion cubic meters, enough to supply the Czech Republic for two months during winter time.

EPH and RWE both declined to comment.

(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki, Jan Lopatka and Christoph Steitz, Editing by Louise Heavens)