Centrica has sold two of its combined cycle gas turbine power stations as part of its plans to shift its focus towards its customer oriented businesses.
The company today announced that it was selling its Langage and South Humber Bank power stations, with a combined capacity of 2.3GW, to Czech power company EPH.
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s lead analyst Peter Kiernan said: “The decision by Centrica to sell two combined cycle gas turbine power stations to EPH reflects the company’s decision to shift its priorities towards customer oriented businesses, distributed generation, and energy storage. The capacity of the two plants combined, 2.3GW, amounts to around 7% of the UK’s total gas-fired capacity.
“Unlike coal, gas will remain a key feature of the UK’s power mix, and there will not be any impact on supply security with the transfer of the plants to a new owner. However, the sales do reflect the changing priorities of some energy companies seeking to shift away from fossil fuel-based centralised power generation, in part due to the expected growth in small-scale renewables and development of energy storage in the longer term.”
Centrica confirmed in its statement that the sale would continue their strategy to shift investment towards customer facing businesses.
It also added that they would seek opportunities in flexible peaking units, energy storage and distributed generation – reducing its focus on large scale central power production.
The transaction is subject to EU clearance and is expected to be completed in the second half of this year.
The firm announced the closure of its Rough gas storage facility yesterday.
