Uniper SE agreed to sell its Datteln 4 coal-fired power plant in Germany to the Czech Republic’s ResInvest Group AS.

The transaction, which includes the coal infrastructure and the associated heat-generation facilities, brings Uniper a step closer to fulfilling conditions for the utility’s nationalization. Uniper and ResInvest agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the transaction, according to a statement on Friday.

ResInvest is a closely held commodities trading, logistics and investment company based in Prague, founded by Tomáš Novotný, a former manager at EPH.

The sale of Datteln 4 must be completed by the end of 2026 to comply with the European Union’s conditions for approving Germany’s nationalization of Uniper during the 2022 energy crisis. The utility was required to divest certain assets and has already sold its district heating business and a gas plant in Turkey.

Datteln 4 is the newest large coal-fired power plant in Germany to be connected to the grid, but had problems with its boiler and had to be shut down several times for a few weeks earlier this year.

Germany aims to phase out the use of hard coal and lignite in power generation by 2038 at the latest, and has rapidly expanded renewable energy in recent years. However, the shutdown of the country’s nuclear power plants two years ago has left a supply gap that is currently being filled by coal-burning facilities during periods of low renewable-energy output.