France, Italy, and Portugal

Electricity privatization efforts have been meager in France relative to other European countries. Electricity generation, transmission, and distribution is dominated by Electricity de France (EdF), the state-owned electricity monopoly. Electricity de France is Europe's largest electricity company and nuclear power producer. (Nuclear power accounts for three quarters of France's electricity generation.) A French government commission recently made some recommendations which would have lessened the dominant role of EdF in electricity; however, there appears to be little chance of any far-reaching reform. Although privatization of EdF seems unlikely, EdF has become a major investor in several independent power projects overseas. EdF has recent power project investments in Hungary, Spain, the Ivory Coast, Argentina, Portugal, Italy, and Poland. In May 1996, EdF purchased a 25-percent interest in the Swedish power company, Graninge {see Endnote 227}.

Italy is preparing for the privatization of its state-owned electric utility, Ente Nazionale per l'Elergia Eletrica (ENEL). The plans call for splitting ENEL into separate companies, one for transmission and one for distribution activities.

In 1994, Portugal began to implement a process that would liberalize and eventually partially privatize the nation's electric utility industry. Portugal recently separated its state-owned utility, Electricode de Portugal, into three separate companies for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. However, the intended privatization is targeted to encourage individuals and institutional investors to purchase shares of electricity companies rather than to encourage wholesale purchases by other energy companies {see Endnote 228}. Since liberalization, a consortium led by National Power of the UK, along with Endesa of Spain, EdF de France, and the U.S. construction firm Morrison-Knudsen, has purchased a power station. PowerGen and Siemens of Germany have acquired a stake in Turbogas "to design, build, own, and operate a 990 MW combined cycle gas turbine power plant" {see Endnote 229}.