Total's Power Plants Deal Gets EU OK

Total has been cleared to acquire two French companies that each own a combined cycle gas-turbine (CCGT) power plant in northern France, less than two months after announcing the transaction.

The European Commission said September 13 it cleared the French oil major to acquire Pont sur Sambre Power (412 MW) and Toul Power (413 MW), both of which are owned by the investment fund KKR. 

The two plants, which respectively are the second and fourth-largest electricity producers in France not belonging to incumbents such as EDF or Engie, have a combined generation capacity of 825 MW.  

The Pont-Sur-Sambre was commissioned in September 2009 in the French department of Nord, while the one at Toul was commissioned December 2012 in the northeastern department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. The assets will increase the number of Total's CCGT power plants to three in France. Total has also an existing CCGT in Belgium and plans a fourth French CCGT in the northwest region of Brittany.

Total announced July 26 its signature of the acquisition from KKR but did not disclose purchase price. After completing another similar acquisition earlier that month, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne declared its investment would "accelerate our integration downstream along the full gas and power value chain... to reach critical mass in the French and Belgium markets where we are growing fast.”  

The two plants acquired from KKR both have Siemens turbines and an electrical efficiency of 58%.