A €4 billion line in Germany’s draft 2027 budget may fund the purchase of RWE and E.ON’s one-third stake in uranium enrichment company Urenco, German newspapers reported. The reported plan follows a request from Britain, which wants the stake to remain in European hands as Urenco prepares to supply fuel for its military reactors.
Die Welt reported Thursday evening that the Bundestag’s final deliberations on the draft budget included €4 billion for “the acquisition and holding of stakes in companies in the energy sector.” Political sources told the paper the sum was apparently earmarked for Urenco. Germany’s finance and economy ministries declined to explain the budget line. Handelsblatt, citing government circles, reported that London asked Berlin to buy the stake to prevent its sale to another buyer. Urenco is expected to play a central role in modernizing Britain’s nuclear deterrent, the paper said.
Urenco is owned in equal thirds by the British and Dutch governments and a holding company jointly owned by E.ON and RWE. It operates enrichment plants in Gronau, Germany; Almelo, the Netherlands; Capenhurst, England; and Eunice, New Mexico, the only commercial enrichment facility operating in the United States. Gronau is Germany’s sole uranium enrichment plant. It was exempted from the country’s nuclear phase-out and has an indefinite operating permit.
Berlin has confirmed it was informed of Britain’s plans to make reactor fuel for defence purposes. Germany says the work complies with the 1970 Treaty of Almelo, which established Urenco and limits its activities to civilian work. Die Welt reported that the stake lost strategic value for RWE and E.ON after Germany phased out nuclear power, while Urenco’s expanding military work has made the utilities uneasy. RWE has said it wants to sell its minority holding. E.ON chief executive Leonhard Birnbaum has said a sale would require government approval, Reuters reported.
The stake has proved difficult to sell. When it was last offered in 2016, Börsen-Zeitung reported interest from Russia’s Rosatom and France’s Areva; both denied that interest. The Treaty of Almelo also requires Berlin to be consulted on any sale, the paper reported. The German government, RWE and E.ON declined to comment on the reported plan. E.ON shares rose 1.5% on Friday, among the DAX’s biggest gainers, while RWE shares added 0.3%.
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