Avista Power of Washington, US and Steag, the largest independent power producer in Germany, have announced that the two companies have agreed to form a joint venture to develop, build and/or buy electric generation assets in strategic locations throughout North America.
Steag will purchase a 50% interest in Avista Power and invest jointly with Avista in future projects. Steag also secured an option to purchase a minority interest in Avista Corp’s marketing and trading affiliate, Avista Energy. Avista Corp currently owns and/or operates 11 electric generating plants (hydro, wood waste, coal and natural gas) in the Northwestern US states with approximately 1600MW of capacity. Steag AG, through its IPP International division, owns and operates eight plants (mostly coal) with 5439MW of capacity. Steag AG, with annual revenues of more than US$2B, is headquartered in Essen, Germany.