EnergyAustralia to acquire Ecogen Energy’s gas-fired power plants

Energy acquisition news : EnergyAustralia has agreed to acquire Ecogen Energy, the owner of the 510MW Newport gas-fired power plant and the 440MW Jeeralang gas-fired power plant, for AUD 205 million ($157.38 million).

The Australian power and gas utility will buy Ecogen Energy and its 950MW gas-fired power plants in Victoria from IFM Investors, an Australian investment management company.

While the Newport gas-fired power plant, made up of a single power generating unit, is located in Melbourne, the Jeeralang gas-fired power plant, which features seven units, has been built near Morwell in the Latrobe Valley.

Put together, the gas-fired power plants in Victoria are claimed to contribute about 9% to the state’s power generation capacity.

The Newport gas-fired power station and the Jeeralang gas-fired power station are intermediate and peaking plants, which means they are generally operated only when there is peak demand for power or used as temporary replacements to generate power for the grid when other power stations are serviced.

Gas turbines of the Jeeralang gas-fired power plant in Victoria. Photo courtesy of Marcus Wong Wongm/Wikipedia.org.

EnergyAustralia, through off-take agreements, has been buying almost all the electricity produced by the two Ecogen gas-fired power plants in Victoria since 1999.

Both the gas-fired power stations are considerably old, with the Newport gas-fired power plant operating since nearly 37 years while the Jeeralang gas-fired power plant being slightly older with its construction completed in 1980 itself.

Commenting on EnergyAustralia acquisition of Ecogen Energy, Catherine Tanna – Managing Director of EnergyAustralia said that the transaction gives the energy utility certainty of direct ownership and also the flexibility of intermediate and peaking gas-fired electricity generation.

Catherine Tanna further said: “A new, modern energy system is taking shape, based around a range of technologies including solar, wind, demand response, pumped hydro and battery storage.

“Gas-fired generation has an important role to play supporting the integration of renewable energy which makes Ecogen a great addition to our asset portfolio.

“We know these assets well and we look forward to welcoming the Ecogen team onboard.”

EnergyAustralia acquisition of Ecogen Energy is expected to be wrapped up in the second quarter of this year and in last December, got the green signal from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, which confirmed that it would not oppose the deal.