EON Spends $9 Billion on Renewables as Germany Exits Nuclear via Bloomberg Businessweek

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — EON AG, Germany’s biggest utility, will invest 7 billion euros ($9 billion) in renewable energy in the next five years as the country abandons nuclear power.

EON plans to build at least three offshore wind projects, including the 1 billion-euro Amrumbank West farm in the German North Sea, the Dusseldorf-based company said today in an e- mailed statement. It’s also investing in new power lines in northern Germany.

“Renewables are a cornerstone of our strategy, and offshore wind is one of EON’s growth areas,” Chief Executive Officer Johannes Teyssen said in the statement. “We intend to commission a new offshore wind farm every 18 months.”

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, is seeking to install 10,000 megawatts of sea-based wind turbines this decade as it raises the share of renewables in its energy mix. EON is cutting as many as 11,000 jobs and will book a charge of about 3 billion euros this year as it copes with an accelerated nuclear phase- out following Japan’s Fukushima disaster.

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