French TotalEnergies to acquire Texas gas-fired power assets

French major TotalEnergies said November 13 it reached an agreement with Texas power producer Tex-Gen to acquire three gas-fired power plants in that state for $635mn.

The plants, with a combined capacity of 1.5 GW, are connected to state grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), are located close to Dallas and Houston and will help TotalEnergies offset the intermittency of its growing renewable energy portfolio in Texas, which now stands at 7 GW installed, under construction and under development.

“After the signing of several corporate PPA (power purchase agreements) 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,” said Stephane Michel, president Gas Renewables & Power at TotalEnergies. “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.”

The three plants include Wolf Hollow, a 745 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) facility on the outskirts of Dallas, Colorado Bend 1 south of Houston, which consists of a 530 MW CCGT unit and a 74 MW open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) unit, and the 150 MW OCGT unit at La Porte, southeast of Houston.

The transaction remains subject to approval by relevant authorities.