German wind power firm Alterric aims for up to 400 MW of capacity – co-owner

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Wind farm builder Alterric plans to install up to 400 megawatt (MW) of renewable capacity per year, the CEO of shareholder EWE said, setting a more ambitious target in the wake of Germany’s renewables push.

“It all depends on the acceleration of the processes that are required to approve the wind parks,” Stefan Dohler told Reuters, adding Alterric targets 200-400 MW a year if conditions allow.

Alterric was formed last year as a 50-50 venture between EWE and the Aloys Wobben Foundation, which owns Germany’s largest wind turbine maker Enercon. So far, Alterric plans to install more than 200 MW per year until 2030.

“Alterric is a core asset,” Dohler said, saying that there were no plans to take on additional co-owners, except for individual wind parks. “There are currently no considerations beyond this. But one should never say never,” Dohler said when asked about a potential listing of Alterric down the line.

Alterric plans to invest 3.6 billion euros ($4.1 billion) by 2030 and has a project pipeline of more than 9 gigawatts.

Dohler said EWE also planned to spend 1 billion euros with partners by 2026 to expand its hydrogen business, a field where Germany wants to become a global leader.

“We want to cooperate beyond national borders. This can only work in one big cooperation,” Dohler said, pointing to the Clean Hydrogen Coastline project, where partners include Gasunie and ArcelorMittal.

Dohler said EWE remained committed to a fibre-optic joint venture with Deutsche Telekom that suffered a setback last year when a court cancelled its approval issued by the cartel office.

“Our expansion is not slowed down by the verdict,” Dohler said, adding that EWE has filed a so-called complaint of non-admission with the Federal Court of Justice, where the case now lies.

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(Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Vera Eckert and Tom Kaeckenhoff)