Manso Neto to join Altri Group

João Manso Neto, who led EDP Renovavéis until last year, has decided not to sign a non-competition agreement with EDP in order to be able to continue working in the energy sector in Portugal.

According to newspaper Expresso, Manso Neto is to shortly be presented as the executive president of the renewable energy company Bioelétrica, which is part of the Altri Group.
A week ago on Friday, when EDP was presenting a governance report, the company announced that its former CEO would receive an annual salary of €800,000 in 2021, 2022 and 2023, despite not carrying out any functions at the power giant since 2020, the same happened with João Manso Neto who was to receive €560,000 per annum for the same period (€1.68 million over three years) in return for not competing against EDP.
These payouts are golden handshake agreements in return for not working for companies that are competing against EDP and EDP Renováveis until after 2023 and were based on best market practices.
Since Manso Neto has renounced this severance package, legally he can continue to work in the energy sector.
Altri is a European benchmark in the production of paper pulp derived from eucalyptus, as well as being involved in forest management. In the summer of 2018 it took a 100% controlling share of EDP Bioelétrica for which it paid €55 million.
According to Altri, EDP Bioelétrica is a “player of reference in the electrical energy production market with energy produced from forest biomass” which is basically dead forest litter which has no other commercial value other than for fuel.