Japan's Jera buys two US thermal power plants

Jera Americas, a unit of Japan’s Jera, has entered into an agreement to acquire two thermal power stations in the US with a total capacity of 1.63 GW from investment firm Stonepeak, the company said on May 13. It did not disclose the value of the deal.

The portfolio consists of four thermal power generating facilities--Canal 1 (566 MW), Canal 2 (559 MW) and Canal 3 (333 MW) in Sandwich, Massachusetts on Cape Cod and Bucksport (175 MW) in Bucksport, Maine. Canal 1 and Canal 2 run on conventional fuel while Canal 3 runs on natural gas. Bucksport is a gas-based facility.

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Jera said that it is committed to transitioning the existing units to greener forms of energy as well as employing the attributes of the sites to enable renewable energy development in New England. The company is pursuing commercially viable decarbonisation paths including low carbon biofuels in place of traditional fuels, as well as large-scale renewable projects, blending hydrogen in gas turbines, and energy storage solutions.

“In the past, these assets would be valued purely on their ability to provide electricity to the market,” Jera Americas CEO Steven Winn said. “Jera Americas takes a broader view – one of taking traditional thermal energy sites and implementing constructive changes that support net-zero CO₂ emissions goals.”

Jera Americas, and its parent company Jera, plan to achieve net-zero CO₂ emission electricity by 2050. In the past nine months, Jera Americas has announced the construction of a 300 MW wind power project in Texas and hydrogen blending projects at two natural gas generation facilities in the northeastern US. Last September, Jera Americas took an ownership interest in Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies, a company focused on providing hydrogen storage and transportation solutions.

Jera, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company and Chubu Electric Power, said on May 12 that it would invest 1.4 trillion yen ($11bn) over the next four years to expand overseas assets and cut carbon emissions. Approximately 1.2 trillion yen will be allocated to growth sectors, of which approximately 650bn yen will be allocated to businesses related to decarbonisation. Jera will also allocate approximately 600bn yen in funds to sectors related to electricity supply stability.