Engie has agreed to divest its last remaining stakes in UK thermal as it continues to transform itself into a low carbon power company.
The firm will sell its 75% stake in the Saltend and Deeside gas-fired power plants and the Indian Queens oil-fired peaking plant to the private equity firm Energy Capital Partners.
Engie had a 75% stake in the three facilities, which have a combined generation capacity of 1,841MW, with Mitsui & Co also agreeing to sell its stake in the projects.
Engie attached a £205 million enterprise value to the sale, the proceeds of which it said would be used to help support its 2016-2018 transformation plan.
That plan falls in line with Engie’s long-stated ambition to reduce its exposure to merchant activities and embrace more low carbon and flexible power generation. So far in the UK it has announced a £50 million refurbishment of its Ffestiniog pumped storage plant in North Wales and the acquisition of a near-25% stake in the 950MW Moray East offshore wind farm in Scotland.
It too launched a domestic energy supply arm in May this year, pledging a transparent tariff for consumers that tracked the wholesale price that was then launched in September.
The sale of its legacy fossil fuel stations is effective today and will see 57 of its employees join Energy Capital Partners.
