TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with TexGen, a U.S.-based company to acquire for $635 million three gas-fired power plants with a total capacity of 1.5 GW in Texas.

 

The three plants, which are connected to ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas), the second largest power market in the United States, consist of the following:

 

•The Wolf Hollow I plant with a 745 MW combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant on the outskirts of Dallas.

 

•The Colorado Bend I plant with a 530 MW CCGT and a 74 MW open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT), south of Houston, provides additional flexibility to meet exceptionally high demand, especially in the summer.

 

•The La Porte site with a 150 MW OCGT, southeast of Houston.

 

These flexible assets, located close to Dallas and Houston, will serve the fast-growing energy demand of these cities and will allow to offset the intermittency of renewable power production.

 

Their importance was recently highlighted during weather events that impacted power generation from renewable assets in Texas or led to high seasonal peak demand.

 

The 1.5 GW additional flexible production capacity acquired by TotalEnergies will complement its renewable capacity in Texas – currently 2 GW gross installed, 2 GW under construction and more than 3 GW under development – and will strengthen its trading capabilities in the gas and power markets.

 

"We are delighted with the agreement signed with TexGen to acquire 1.5 GW of CCGT in ERCOT. After the signing of several corporate PPA over the last couple of years and the recent start-up of the utility-scale Myrtle solar plant, this deal is a major milestone for our Integrated Power strategy in the ERCOT market. These plants will enable us to complement our renewable assets, intermittent by nature, provide our customers with firm power, and take advantage of the volatility of electricity prices”, said Stephane Michel, President Gas Renewables & Power at TotalEnergies.

 

He added, “This acquisition will contribute positively to our profitability target of 12 per cent ROACE by 2028 for our Integrated Power business segment.”

 

This transaction remains subject to approval by the relevant authorities.--OGN/ TradeArabia News Service