The assets put together have a combined capacity of 1,841MW and they include the 1,197MW Saltend and 515MW Deeside gas-fired power plants, and the 129MW Indian Queens oil-fired peaking plant.
Saltend is a combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT) power station located in Hull, East Riding in Yorkshire which features three gas turbines. It was commissioned by American power generator Entergy in 2000.
The Deeside is also a CCGT power plant, and is located in Flintshire, North Wales. It was commissioned in 1994 and comprises two gas turbines.
On the other hand, the Indian Queens is located near Newquay in Cornwall.
Japan's Mitsui & Co, which is the partner of Engie with a stake of 25% in the three plants, has also agreed to transfer its ownership to Energy Capital Partners.
The transaction has resulted in 57 employees of the plants joining Energy Capital Partners which focuses on investing in energy infrastructure.
Engie says that the divestiture of the UK thermal assets is part of its 2016-2018 transformation plan. The transaction is also said to align with the company’s goal to cut down on its exposure to merchant activities.
Engie’s UK business has been investing in low carbon and flexible power generation to realign its operations in line with the wider strategy of the group.
As part of it, Engie UK has made £50m investment for the Ffestiniog pumped storage power station along with the acquisition of a 23.3% stake in the 950MW Moray East offshore wind project in Scotland.
Image: Saltend Power Station in Yorkshire pictured in 2007. Photo: courtesy of David Wright/Wikipedia.org.
