Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 10TH - 16TH NOVEMBER 2017 | 13 This week Engie divests last big UK fossil fuel plant Shares in three power stations sold to Energy Capital Partners for £205 million Engie has sold its last remaining UK large-scale fossil fuel power stations. The French firm offloaded its 75 per stake in three plants to private equity firm Energy Capi- tal Partners for £205 million. Japanese partner Matsui and Co also sold its 25 per cent share in the portfolio, which has a combined capacity of more than 1.8GW. The deal covered two combined-cycle gas turbine power stations – Saltend in Yorkshire (1,197MW) and Deeside in north Wales (515MW) – as well as the Indian Queens oil-fired peaking plant in Cornwall (129MW). As part of the transfer, 57 employees have been taken on by the new owner. The sale is part of Engie's group strategy to move away from conventional thermal generation and reduce its exposure to commodity prices, while investing in low-carbon and flexible generation and expanding its presence in the retail sector. "Engie has no remaining transmission-connected thermal generation assets in the UK," the company told Utility Week in a statement. "We still have an interest in a number of very small embedded combined heat and power assets and district energy schemes." It is investing £50 million in the refurbishment of its Ffestiniog pumped storage power station in north Wales, through its subsidiary First Hydro, and has acquired a 23.3 per cent stake in the 950MW Moray East offshore wind project, which secured a strike price of £57.50/ MWh in the latest contracts for difference auction. TG ELECTRICITY Greencoat buys majority stake in five onshore windfarms Greencoat UK Wind has bought an 80 per cent stake in five onshore windfarms for £98 million. The seller, EDF Energy Renewables, will retain a 20 per cent interest in the portfolio. The windfarms in Cam- bridgeshire and Lincolnshire, have 47 turbines with a com- bined capacity of more than 96MW. EDF will continue to oper- ate the schemes, buy all their output, and receive the Renewa- bles Obligation Certificates they receive. ELECTRICITY 'Let onshore wind compete for subsidy' Climate change minister Claire Perry said she wanted to enable onshore wind projects to com- pete for subsidies in areas where they enjoy public support. During a question and answer session at the Conserva- tive think-tank Bright Blue's environment and energy confer- ence on 1 November, Perry said she was keen to find ways to allow onshore wind projects to be developed outside England. The Conservative manifesto committed the government not to bring forward large onshore wind in England but was more relaxed about Scotland. However, onshore wind is currently barred from compet- ing in auctions for low-carbon energy subsidies. Perry said that while she did not want to impose onshore wind projects on communities, she was keen to find ways to help facilitate their rollout in areas where the local population had shown support. She said: "The auction struc- ture doesn't allow geographi- cally specific opportunities to bid. This is something I would really like to solve." ELECTRICITY Flexible capacity to hit 25GW by 2030 Flexible capacity from batteries, peaking plants and demand-side response is set to exceed 25GW by 2030, according to Aurora Energy Research. The firm said the rise of inter- mittent renewables would push annual revenues from flexibility to nearly £3 billion by the end of the next decade. Speaking at an event in London, Aurora Energy Research director Ben Irons identified three key uncertainties that would determine the size of the market: the pace of growth in renewables; the extent of scarcity-driven price volatil- ity; and the take-up of electric vehicles. Saltend CCGT in Yorkshire Stock watch SSE SHARE PRICE, FIVE-DAY INNOGY SHARE PRICE, FIVE-DAY SSE stocks rocketed on Tuesday aernoon aer the firm revealed it is in advanced talks with Innogy about merging their retail businesses into a new separate company. Before the announcement, the share price stood at around 1,365p, but by the close of trading had risen nearly four per cent to more than 1,410p. Shares in Npower-owner Innogy also saw a brief bump. 1,420 42.0 41.5 41.0 40.5 40.0 39.5 1,400 1,380 1,360 2 Nov 3 Nov 6 Nov 7 Nov 2 Nov 3 Nov 6 Nov 7 Nov Finance & Investment

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