The future of ageing Vales Point Power Station will soon be in the hands of private Czech company Sev.en Global Investments following an agreement by Delta Electricity Group to a 100 percent share sale.
Last Friday on September 16 the St Baker Family Trust and Ilwella Pty Ltd (Trevor St Baker and Brian Flannery), owners of Delta Group, agreed to sell to Sev.en in a transaction encompassing Sunset Power International (Delta Electricity Vales Point Power Station) and Great Southern Energy (Delta Coal – Mannering Colliery and Chain Valley Colliery).
Sev.en is a family office (private) investment group with a core focus on energy and mining and targeting restructuring and growth opportunities.
Its sole owner, Pavel Tykac, is a Czech investor and major player in the Czech energy market.
Sev.en Chief Executive, Alan Svoboda, said Delta’s acquisition would significantly strengthen the company’s presence in Australia, already with a 50 percent interest in InterGen at Milmerran and Callide power stations in Queensland.
The company also has four gas-fired UK power plants and owns one of the largest US metallurgical coal producers, Blackhawk Mining, as well as nine metallurgical and thermal coal mining complexes in West Virginia and Kentucky.
In the Czech Republic, Sev.en operates two coal-fired power plants and two combined heat and power plants.
The sale transaction still has to meet various government approvals and scrutiny by the Foreign Investment Review Board with a decision whether it is in the national interest expected within the next few weeks.
Delta Electricity’s Chief Executive, Greg Everett, said this was a positive development to benefit customers, employees and system security for all energy users as Delta provided about 11 percent of electricity to NSW.
“Sev.en has shown a clear interest in the Australian energy business, ensuring it is well placed to provide reliable generation through the energy transition and this will strengthen its position as one of Australia’s significant electricity businesses,” he said.
Outgoing Chair of Delta Electricity, Trevor St Baker, said there were opportunities to grow the business and this could be better accomplished in a portfolio with Sev.en’s other base-load-capable generation interests.
“The sale will facilitate this growth as Sev.en has shown a commitment and ambition to expand, both in Australia and globally,” he said.
Sev.en’s Chief Executive, Alan Svoboda, said the company takeover of Delta would consolidate and significantly strengthen their presence in Australia.
“We make strategic investments with long-term commitment, always looking for ways to make our business more sustainable, support local communities and take care of employees,” he said.
Sev.en’s website says that the company invests in transition towards a more sustainable future with zero carbon emissions in the long term, while striving for growth and prosperity.
However, the ageing Vales Point Power Station built in 1978 is scheduled to close in 2029.
In 2015 it seemed Vales Point Power Station was destined for the scrap heap but after the NSW Government passed it off for just $1M, Sunset Power International (Trevor St Baker and Brian Flannery) turned the plant around to become the biggest contributor to the power grid and just two years later in 2017 it was reported to be revalued at about $730M.
The company took a hit during the Covid pandemic and in December 2021 the value of the plant was reduced to $156M with an annual profit reduced by 93 percent to $9.3M.
Trevor St Baker would not reveal the price of the sale to Sev.en but said “we didn’t get close to $700M”.
In February this year, Delta said it had completed preliminary investigations about what work was required to extend the life of the plant beyond 2029 and was committed to a transition to a renewable future.
In a bid for sustainability, the power station entered into a collaboration with Enernet Global in 2019 to install 220,000 solar panels on the rehabilitated section of the power station’s ash dam to feed back into Delta’s electricity supply to the general retail community.
Sue Murray