energy company
The energy industry is the totality of all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including fuel extraction, manufacturing, refining and distribution. Modern society consumes large amounts of fuel, and the energy ind ...
based in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
, Germany. The name of the company is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words given by long-term employee Gregor Recke. Uniper was formed by the separation of E.ON's fossil fuel assets into a separate company that began operating on 1 January 2016. The company employs about 11,000 employees in over 40 countries. Around one third of the employees are based in Germany. It owns a subsidiary company in Russia called Unipro. Uniper is listed at the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time).
Organisation
Loca ...
.
The company has faced criticism for opening new coal-fueled power plants in Germany as recently as May 2020. Uniper was one of the financiers of the
Nord Stream 2
Nord Stream 2 (German-English mixed expression; german: Nord and en, Stream 2, literally 'North Stream2'; russian: Северный поток — 2) is a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany running through the Baltic Sea, financed by ...
project, which the German government suspended after the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...
.
History
The split of the majority of E.ON's 'upstream' electricity generation business from its 'downstream' retail and distribution business was first announced in April 2015. The company became active on 1 January 2016, with 14,000 employees and is expecting an operating profit (EBITDA) of €4billion. Arranged below Uniper SE were the Uniper Beteiligungs GmbH and the Uniper Holding GmbH, the latter functioning as
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
for the operative companies such as the Uniper Kraftwerke GmbH. The only
nuclear plant
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces ele ...
s in Uniper are Swedish, because German government rules aim to stop companies avoiding nuclear clean-up costs.
In June 2016, the shareholders' meetings of E.ON SE and Uniper SE decided to spin off Uniper from E.ON. It took place through a retrospective transfer of Uniper's business to 195 million new shares created by an increase in noncash capital as of January 1, 2016. It was intended to deconsolidate Uniper from E.ON in the first half of 2017. E.ON sold a 53% stake in the business through a listing on the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time).
Organisation
Loca ...
on 12 September 2016.
In November 2017, Uniper completed the sale of its stake on the Russian gas field Yuzhno-Russkoye. The Uniper share of 25% was sold for €1.749 billion plus the transferred liquid funds to the Austrian OMV Group.
In September 2017, Finnish power company
Fortum
Fortum Oyj is a Finnish state-owned energy company located in Espoo, Finland. In addition to Finland, it focuses on Germany and other countries in Central Europe, Great Britain, Russia and the Nordic region. Fortum operates power plants, inc ...
announced it would buy E.ON's remaining 47% stake in Uniper and make a bid for the other 53% held by other shareholders, valuing Uniper at €8 billion. A takeover bid was submitted on 7 November 2017. E.ON accepted the offer on 8 January 2018. Fortum acquired in total a 47.35% stake. The deal was completed on 26 June 2018, after approval by various authorities. As of August 18, 2020,
Fortum
Fortum Oyj is a Finnish state-owned energy company located in Espoo, Finland. In addition to Finland, it focuses on Germany and other countries in Central Europe, Great Britain, Russia and the Nordic region. Fortum operates power plants, inc ...
held a 75.01% stake in Uniper.
On 4 July 2019, Uniper and EPH ("Energetický a průmyslový holding a.s.") signed the agreements for the sale of Uniper's activities in France. The scope of transaction includes Uniper's French sales business, two gas-fired power plants in Saint-Avold (Lorraine), two coal-fired power plants in Saint-Avold and Gardanne (Provence), the biomass power plant "Provence 4 Biomasse" in Gardanne and wind and solar power plants.
Uniper announced on 28 April 2022 that it will pay for Russian gas in roubles giving in to Russian demands and helping to undercut EU sanctions on Russia.
In July 2022, the
German government
The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's or ...
and Fortum agreed to bailout Uniper a €15 billion rescue deal after being severely affected by reduced supplies and high prices following the energy standoff with Russia. Germany agreed to pay €267million for a stake in the ownership of Uniper, while also offering the firm up to €7.7billion in financing. Under the bailout, a record in German corporate history, the government will take a 30% stake in Uniper, reducing the ownership of Fortum to 56%.
On 20 September 2022, ''
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Tele ...
'' reported that the German government intended to
nationalize
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
the company, purchasing the remainder of Fortum's stake and becoming Uniper's sole owner. News of the transaction caused Uniper shares to decline and a sharp spike in Fortum's share price, resulting in a halt in trading of the latter. Finland's Minister of Ownership Steering
Tytti Tuppurainen
Tytti Tuppurainen (born 18 February 1976) is a Finnish politician.
Born in Oulu, Tuppurainen was elected to the Finnish Parliament for the Social Democratic Party of Finland, Social Democratic Party in 2011, from the constituency of Oulu (const ...
stated that Finland would not accept the nationalisation of Uniper without a level of compensation being paid. The German government's intention to nationalize the company was formalized the next day. Germany will spend $8 billion to acquire a 99% stake in the company. Uniper published a €40b loss for the first 3 quarters of 2022.
Operations
Uniper operates in the EU countries Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and Hungary. Outside of the EU it operates in Russia, the United Kingdom, and has offices in the United States, Azerbaijan, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. In addition to the fossil fuel power generation assets it owns hydropower and nuclear power assets in Sweden. Together, Fortum and Uniper are running the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant and are both involved in the
Forsmark nuclear power plant
Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Forsmark, Sweden that provides 14% of Sweden's total electricity output, and also the site of the Swedish Final repository for radioactive operational waste. It is operated by a company m ...
. Both operate
hydropower plant
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
s in Sweden.
With 34 GW generating capacities Uniper is one of the largest European electricity producers. Uniper Global Commodities SE trades at the spot and futures market for gas, coal, freight, oil,
liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the vol ...
and emission rights on different stock markets and on the over-the-counter-market. Uniper Energy Storage GmbH is responsible for gas storage activities in Europe. The Power-to-Gas plants WindGas Falkenhagen and WindGas Hamburg store renewable energy in the form of electricity, gas or heat. Through electrolyze the gained wind energy is transformed in hydrogen and fed in the local gas network. The Uniper Energy Storage GmbH operates gas storages with capacity of in Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom.
List of Power Stations of Uniper outside Germany (for Power Stations in Germany see :de:Uniper Kraftwerke):
In addition, Uniper owns more than 70 hydropower plants with a capacity of 1,553 MW in Sweden.
According to the 2017 Sustainability Report, the power production (totalling 120.8 TWh in 2017) by
primary energy
Primary energy (PE) is an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any human engineered conversion process. It is energy contained in raw fuels, and other forms of energy, including waste, received as input to a system. Prim ...
chief operating officer
A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...
(COO). The supervisory board consist of twelve members. Six members have been appointed by the general meeting, six by the employees through an election set up by Uniper SE. The shareholder representatives are Markus Rauramo (Chairman), Dr. Bernhard Günther (Deputy Chairman), Prof. Dr. Werner Brinker, Judith Buss, Esa Hyvärinen and Nora Steiner-Forsberg. The employee representatives are Harald Seegatz (deputy chairman), Holger Grzella, Diana Kirschner, Victoria Kulambi, Magnus Notini and Immo Schlepper.