Germany Eyes €4 Billion Buyout of RWE and E.ON’s Urenco Stake

Germany’s government plans to buy RWE and E.ON’s one-third stake in uranium enrichment company Urenco for up to €4 billion, German newspapers reported, in a deal Britain requested to keep the stake in European hands as it prepares to use Urenco to make fuel for its military reactors, including those powering its nuclear submarines.Die Welt first reported on Thursday evening that a new line had appeared in the Bundestag’s final deliberations on the 2027 draft budget, setting aside €4 billion for “the acquisition and holding of stakes in companies in the energy sector.” Political sources told the paper the money was apparently earmarked for Urenco. The finance and economy ministries declined to say what the line was for.Handelsblatt, citing government circles, said London asked Berlin to buy the stake so it would not go to another buyer, and that Urenco is set to play a central role in modernizing Britain’s nuclear deterrent.Urenco is owned in equal thirds by the British government, the Dutch government and a holding company jointly owned by E.ON and RWE. It runs enrichment plants in Gronau in Germany, Almelo in the Netherlands, Capenhurst in England and Eunice, New Mexico, the only commercial enrichment facility operating in the United States. Gronau is Germany’s only uranium enrichment plant and was exempted from the country’s nuclear phase-out with an indefinite operating permit.Berlin has confirmed it was told of Britain’s plans to make reactor fuel for defence purposes, which it says complies with the 1970 Treaty of Almelo that founded Urenco and limits it to civilian work.According to Welt, the stake lost its strategic value for both utilities when Germany phased out nuclear power, and Urenco’s growing military work has made them uneasy. RWE has said it wants to sell its minority stake, and E.ON chief executive Leonhard Birnbaum has said a sale would need the government’s approval, Reuters reported.The stake has been hard to sell previously. When it was last up for sale in 2016, Börsen-Zeitung reported that Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom and France’s Areva had shown interest, which was denied, and that the Treaty of Almelo required Berlin to be consulted on any sale.The government and both companies declined to comment. E.ON shares rose 1.5% on Friday, among the biggest gainers on the DAX, and RWE gained 0.3%.By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.comIran Rules Out Return of UN Nuclear Inspectors as U.S. War Talks StallIndia's Road Fuel Demand Won't Peak Until 2034Iraq’s Oil Production Soars to 2019 High as Hormuz Flows Surge