Mitsui to sell its interest in First Hydro

Mitsui & Co., Ltd has agreed to sell its 25% interest in pumped storage operator First Hydro to Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P and its institutional partner.

Mitsui & Co., Ltd has agreed to sell its 25% interest in pumped storage operator First Hydro to Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P and its institutional partner.

First Hydro, which has a generation capacity of 2088MW from pumped storage assets in North Wales, UK, is one of the power assets wholly owned by IPM Holdings (UK) Limited, a joint venture of Mitsui (25%) and Engie (75%).

In its new Medium-term Management Plan announced on May 9 of this year, Mitsui states that cash flow focused management/strengthening of the financial base is one of its key initiatives, and Mitsui accordingly plans to implement steady, strategic asset recycling over the coming three years. In line with the plan, this asset divestment was conducted as a part of the strategic asset recycling, and some of the expected capital gain from this transaction are incorporated in the business plan for the fiscal year ending in March 2018.