TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with EIG, a global institutional investment fund in the energy sector, to acquire the West Burton B gas power station in Nottinghamshire, England.
The acquisition is valued at £450 million and includes a 100% stake in West Burton Energy (WBE), which operates the plant.
West Burton B, commissioned in 2013, has three combined cycle gas turbines with a total capacity of 1.3GW, providing electricity to around 1.8 million homes.
A 49MW battery storage system was added in 2018.
This acquisition aligns with TotalEnergies’ strategy to enhance its renewable electricity production in the UK by adding flexible assets that can compensate for the intermittency of renewable sources, ensuring 24-hour electricity availability for its customers.
TotalEnergies currently has a renewable project portfolio in the UK amounting to 1.1GW gross installed and 4.5GW under development.
To balance this, the company estimates a need for 700MW of gas-based electricity production and plans to sell 50% of the acquired assets.
This transaction is also expected to strengthen TotalEnergies’ trading capabilities in the UK electricity and gas markets and improve its ability to provide energy to its 300,000 electricity and gas client sites.
The acquisition also increases TotalEnergies’ global flexible electricity production portfolio to approximately 7GW of gross capacity, complementing its 23GW gross renewable production capacity.
Stéphane Michel, General Manager Gas, Renewables & Power at TotalEnergies, said: “This acquisition contributes to our integrated strategy on the British market combining renewable production capacities with flexible production capacities.
“In particular, it complements our 1.1GW Seagreen offshore wind farm, and it will enable us to accelerate the development of our Integrated Power activities in the UK, both in the production, trading and marketing of electricity.”
Chris Elder, Chief Executive Officer of WBE, said: “Following completion of the sale, our ambition is to establish a world-class platform to develop, build, operate and optimise large scale storage assets that provide essential flexibility to electricity systems.”
Walid Mouawad, Managing Director & Global Co-Head of Energy Transition at EIG, said: “West Burton Power Station has played an important role in the UK power market by providing reliable and flexible generation while renewables continue to ramp up.”
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