Vattenfall to restructure German PSHPP unit, axe jobs

Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall AB intends to reduce the capacity of its German pumped-storage hydropower stations (PSHPPs) to 2,500 MW and reduce the headcount by 60% under a plan aimed at improving the division's profitability.

The restructuring scheme will be implemented by the end of 2019, Vattenfall said in a press release on Friday. Currently, the division has 420 full-time employees and a capacity of 2,800 MW, both of which will be reduced.

Other steps planned under the restructuring will seek to optimise plant operations, secure core competencies in all areas and further cut investment volume and other cost items. “The measures that are now being introduced are a major challenge for all stakeholders, but they have become the only realistic chance to keep most of our German pumped storage plants in long-term operation,” said Torbjorn Wahlborg, Vattenfall’s head of business area generation.

The Swedish firm has invested about EUR 60 million (USD 67.5m) since 2011 to upgrade its HPPs in Germany. The two largest facilities it owns are the 1.060-MW PSW Goldisthal and the 1.050-MW PSW Markersbach in Thuringia and Saxony, respectively.

Some capacities are going transitional operational mode, meaning the plants will be "kept in an operable state, but is not always ready for operation".

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.125)

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