German utility EWE, in which French private equity group Ardian holds 26%, will invest 7 billion euros ($8.5 billion) to expand into renewables and become carbon neutral by 2035, it said on Monday.
More than half of the funds will be spent on the expansion of energy networks and on clean energy such as onshore wind farms and hydrogen for industrials. About 1 billion euros will go into digitalisation, EWE said.
The 7 billion euros, earmarked for the next decade, are twice the amount EWE spent over the last 10 years.
"EWE will be climate neutral by 2035. We are betting on renewable and climate friendly energy going forward," Chief Executive Stefan Dohler said, adding the group would soon exit coal-fired power generation in the city of Bremen.
The move comes as numerous of EWE's German rivals, including RWE and Uniper, have unveiled plans to decarbonise in the wake of Germany's decision to completely wean off coal-generated power by 2038.
Dohler told Reuters in January that EWE has access to half a billion euros in funds for growth from Ardian, which replaced EnBW as anchor shareholder.
($1 = 0.8218 euros)
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
