Five groups have put in nonbinding bids for 2 GW of Portuguese hydro capacity put up for sale by EDP - Energias de Portugal SA, according to a Spanish news report Aug. 2.

Spanish groups Endesa SA and Iberdrola SA, French group Engie SA and two funds, Ardian and Brookfield Asset Management Inc., submitted offers before the July 31 deadline, Cinco Dias said, citing sources close to the sale.

Iberdrola, Endesa and Brookfield declined on Aug. 2 to confirm they had bid, while nobody was available at Engie and Ardian for comment. An EDP spokesman also declined to comment.

Endesa's CEO José Bogas told analysts July 23 that the company was "quite interested" in the assets, while Iberdrola CEO Ignacio Sanchez Galan said the group was analyzing the sale.

EDP is seeking to sell the assets for €2 billion ($2.2 billion) as part of a wider €6 billion asset rotation program. According to CEO Antonio Mexia, the assets are a mix of run-of-river and dam storage facilities, but the final details are subject to change, although the company said it is confident of meeting its financial target.

EDP operates 7.2 GW of hydro capacity in the Iberian market out of a total installed capacity of 19 GW. Output in the second quarter was 1.7 TWh due to very dry weather, a drop of 63% year on year from a relatively humid second quarter 2018.

EDP's renewable subsidiary EDP Renováveis SA this week concluded the sale of its stake in a 997-MW wind portfolio in Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium for approximately €800 million to institutional investors.

Henry Edwardes-Evans and Gianluca Baratti, who contributed to this article, are reporters with S&P Global Platts. S&P Global Market Intelligence and S&P Global Platts are owned by S&P Global Inc.