German energy giant RWE announced Saturday that it has begun acquiring the renewable energy subsidiary Clean Energy Businesses from U.S.-based Con Edison in a deal that values the unit at $6.8 billion.
“The transaction marks an important step in RWE’s growth ambitions in the US” and will allow the German group to become “the fourth largest renewable energy company and second largest solar operator in the US,” the energy company said in a statement.
RWE is one of Germany’s leading energy suppliers.
With its electricity production historically linked to coal, which makes it one of Germany’s biggest CO2 emitters, the group has accelerated its diversification into renewable energies in recent years.
U.S. utility Con Edison’s Clean Energy Businesses subsidiary is “one of the largest operators and developers of renewable energy plants in the U.S.,” with about 3 gigawatts (GW) of operational capacity, 90% of it solar, according to RWE.
“The combination of complementary portfolios in onshore wind, solar and batteries will create one of the leading renewable energy companies in the U.S. market,” Markus Krebber, CEO of RWE, was quoted in the statement.
RWE aims to be carbon neutral by 2040 and has the ambition to become one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies.
