TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with energy sector investment firm EIG to acquire all shares of UK power generating company West Burton Energy for an enterprise value of £450 million (US$571 million).

West Burton Energy owns and operates the West Burton B gas-fired power plant in Nottinghamshire. West Burton B comprises three combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) with total output of 1.3 gigawatts.

Commissioned in 2013, it is one of the UK’s most advanced power plants, and supplies some 1.8 million homes. A 49-megawatt battery storage system was added in 2018.

TotalEnergies says the acquisition complements its renewable power generation capacity in the United Kingdom with a flexible asset that mitigates intermittency, enabling the supply of stable electricity to customers.

Given the size of the company’s renewable portfolio in the UK, which currently stands at 1.1GW of gross installed capacity and 4.5GW under development, TotalEnergies assesses its need for gas-based power generation capacity at 700MW. As such, the company plans to divest 50% of the acquired assets.

The deal will also allow TotalEnergies to strengthen its trading capabilities in the UK electricity and gas markets, as well as its ability to provide affordable, available and sustainable energy to its 300,000 UK electricity and gas customer sites.

The company will supply the plant by leveraging its positions in natural gas production in the UK, where it operates 30% of the projects. This brings TotalEnergies’ worldwide flexible power generation portfolio to around 7GW of gross capacity, in addition to its 23GW of gross renewable capacity.

“This acquisition contributes to our integrated strategy in the UK, which combines renewable and flexible generation capacity. It complements our 1.1GW Seagreen offshore wind farm, and allows us to accelerate development of our integrated power activities in power generation, trading and marketing in this market,” says Stéphane Michel, president of gas, renewables and power at TotalEnergies.