French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies announced on Wednesday the acquisition of a gas-fired power plant in the United Kingdom, a deal worth €530 million that will bolster the company’s electricity production capabilities.
A Plant Formerly Operated by EDF
“TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with EIG, a global institutional investment fund in the energy sector, to acquire all of the capital of West Burton Energy for an enterprise value of £450 million,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday.
West Burton Energy operates the “West Burton B” gas power plant, located in Nottinghamshire, England. With a total capacity of 1.3 GW spread across three turbines, it powers approximately 1.8 million homes.
Commissioned in 2013, this plant was operated by EDF until 2021 and its subsequent sale to the investment fund EIG.
7 GW “Flexible” and 23 GW Renewable Capacity
TotalEnergies says it is adding to its electricity production capacity “flexible assets that mitigate the intermittency of renewables and thus enable the supply of electricity available 24/7 to its customers,” the group said. Notably, TotalEnergies holds a 25.5% stake in Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, Seagreen.
In the UK, the group assesses its need for gas-fired power generation capacity at 700 MW and therefore plans to divest 50% of these assets in the future, it said.
With this acquisition, TotalEnergies will own 12 gas-fired power plants in Europe, including 6 in France, 1 in Belgium, and 2 in Spain, a company spokesperson told AFP. Outside Europe, the group owns 3 sites in Texas.
Expanding Flexible Power Generation Portfolio
The transaction allows TotalEnergies to “expand its global flexible power generation portfolio to approximately 7 GW of gross capacity, in addition to its 23 GW of gross renewable capacity,” according to the statement.
In its strategy, TotalEnergies emphasizes the role of gas-fired power generation as a complement to renewable electricity, which is inherently intermittent. The production of renewable energy is variable, depending on sunlight and wind.