The long-term agreement with banks and Enercon owner the Aloys Wobben Foundation covers a new guarantee facility as well as existing credit, and gives the company the security to restructure the company, chief financial officer Thomas Cobet explained.
Enercon will focus on its core business of turbine sales and servicing and will target international markets, CEO Hans-Dieter Kettwig said.
Its home market of Germany has collapsed due to lengthy permitting procedures and undersubscribed tenders.
The German manufacturer will also transfer its power generation and marketing business to a new joint venture to be formed with compatriot energy company EWE AG, it confirmed.
"We are convinced that by outsourcing we will create a solid basis for sustainable further development — both of Enercon’s business model and of energy generation and marketing from onshore wind turbines, which will become increasingly significant in the next stage of the energy transition,” Kettwig said.
Enercon aims to develop new wind turbines and optimise its global supply chain amid tougher international competitive conditions.
Enercon’s Kettwig had warned that the company was facing “significant losses for the first time” in late 2020, as the company headed towards a second loss-making year.
Its losses are partly down to reduced installations — the company installed 167MW in the first nine months of 2019, just 14% of the 1,184MW it installed in the same period in 2018.
Enercon’s dire financial situation prompted it to cut 3,000 jobs and stop domestic blade manufacturing to shift production to cheaper markets in November 2019. That month it also ceased placing orders with key production partners as part of a 'transformation programme' to return the company to profitability.
Chief restructuring officer Martin Prillman added that with its new long-term financing agreement, Enercon can "make a success of the turnaround in the set timeframe of three years.”
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