MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - The Free State of Bavaria no longer expects the Uniper hydropower plants to be taken over. "So there are no plans for Uniper to leave this business in the near future, but they are committed to hydropower and see it as one of their most important sources of income, where we generate sustainable, base-load capable energy," said State Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) on Tuesday after a meeting of the Bavarian cabinet in Munich. In his eyes, there was therefore no question of the Free State of Bavaria "wanting, needing or even being able" to get involved.

As a reminder: Last August, the Free State had demanded that the federal government negotiate the takeover of the Uniper hydropower plants. "We are aiming to take over the entire Bavarian Uniper hydropower plants into a state-owned operating company," declared Bavaria's Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber (Free Voters) at the time. However, he was not the only one to address corresponding demands to Berlin. The takeover was often described as a "historic opportunity" to correct the mistake of privatizing Bavarian hydropower.

Uniper is, among other things, Germany's largest gas trader. After Russia stopped supplying gas, the company ran into difficulties due to the high cost of procuring replacements. The German government subsequently put together a stabilization package worth billions. Since then, the federal government has owned a good 99 percent of the company. In Bavaria, hydropower plants on the Isar, Lech, Danube and Main rivers are part of Uniper's assets.

In total, this would have involved the takeover of 97 hydropower plants with a combined output of around 970 megawatts and an annual electricity yield of around 4800 gigawatt hours. The hydropower plants generate around a third of Bavaria's electricity production from hydropower./had/DP/nas