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The U.K. government's long-awaited policy document on the future of the country's energy industry came in for a pasting from one of its advisors last week.

Stuart Jackson, recently appointed ceo of Killingholme Power, has resigned, a month after taking the helm at the bank-owned U.K. power plant. Jackson, formerly head of NRG Energy's European power business, began working for Killingholme's creditors last month after NRG walked out on the 680 MW gas-fired power plant (PFR, 2/10). A City creditor involved in the financing says the banks have yet to appoint a new ceo.

Goldman Sachs has purchased El Paso Corp.'s European natural gas trading book, a move that highlights Goldman's burgeoning confidence and activity in the European energy markets and El Paso's desire to wind down its London-based trading operations in short order. El Paso said in a statement that the sale will realize total cash proceeds of approximately $80 million, including the recovery of cash collateral, but did not name the buyer or reveal what the counterparty had paid for the book. Senior officials at Goldman and El Paso declined comment.

Following is a directory of ongoing generation asset sales. The accuracy of the information, which is derived from many sources, is deemed reliable but cannot be guaranteed. To report new auctions or changes in the status of a sale, please call Will Ainger, managing editor, at (44-20) 7303-1735 or e-mail wainger@euromoneyplc.com .

The much-hyped influx of private equity players into the power sector may not materialize any time soon. Robert Gurman, managing director at Prospect Street Ventures, told attendees at an Infocast power conference in New York that his firm is sitting on the sidelines because, "There is not an active market for distressed assets as yet." But, he thinks that will change over the next 12-18 months as operators are forced to sell assets.

Around 80 attendees and speakers attended Infocast's 'Project Finance Workouts: Dealing With Distressed Energy Projects' conference in New York last week. Speakers covered a range of issues surrounding the distressed world of power loans. Peter Thompson, senior reporter, filed the following articles.

The bulk of U.S. plants under construction will be completed by year-end, but the picture for when markets will be able to absorb the new capacity and so make it attractive for new projects to move forward varies dramatically by region, according to speakers.

The U.S. legal and regulatory framework came in for some not-so-subtle stick from speakers reflecting on the downturn of the U.S. market. Peter Rigby, director at Standard & Poor's, recounted a conversation with a major European power player who believes legal and regulatory risks make the U.S. market unattractive, so it is focusing instead on Mexico, which is a more stable country. And California seems to have few friends in the sector. "There are a lot of emerging market workouts going on, particularly in California," quipped Herb Glasser, a partner at Haynes & Boone, during a session focused on the peculiarities of emerging market work-outs.

Traditional power sector lenders will have to get used to heated restructuring talks now that distressed investors are sitting across the discussion table, warned two workout attorneys.

Foundation Energy, a start-up that will trade physical and financial power and gas in the U.K., has hired a pair of traders. David Matthews, previously a power trader at Dynegy in London, will join Foundation Energy in April in a similar role, according to Marcello Romano, managing director. Adam Lewis, formerly a gas trader at Dynegy, will also join in April in a similar capacity. Romano was previously head of oil and gas trading for Europe at Dynegy.