China’s State Grid submits winning bid for 24% stake in ADMIE
Greece’s power utility PPC has announced that China’s State Grid Corporation has submitted the winning proposal for a 24% stake in ADMIE (Independent Power Transmission Operator S.A.), with a US$356-million bid.
As we reported in late August, the selected bidders were:
- Réseau de Transport d'Électricité (RTE), the electricity transmission system operator of France.
- Terna Group, a group of energy companies based in Rome, Italy. Terna Rete Italia is an electricity transmission system operator.
- State Grid International Development of Hong Kong, a subsidiary of State Grid Corporation of China, the largest electric utility company in the world. It is state-owned and transmits and distributes power in China and in overseas markets.
ADMIE was established in compliance with the requirements of the European Union Directive 2009/72/EC and it owns and operates 11,365 km of high-voltage transmission lines in Greece.
Under the terms of the bailout agreement approved in August 2015, PPC (51% state-owned) must either divest minority interest in ADMIE or fully privatize the transmission network by 2017. PPC also has to reduce its share on the retail market to 50% by 2020.
In October 2015, Greece agreed to start the privatization of 66% of ADMIE or to find alternative options to open up its electricity market and to divest a 17% stake in national power utility PPC.
