Norton Rose Fulbright advises TotalEnergies on £450m acquisition of uk CCGT and BESS assets

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has played a pivotal role in advising TotalEnergies on the significant acquisition of the West Burton B gas-fired power plant, which includes a co-located 49 MW battery energy storage system. The deal has an enterprise value of £450 million.

TotalEnergies, a global integrated energy company with over a century of history and a workforce exceeding 100,000, continues to expand its portfolio with this acquisition. The West Burton B facility, situated in Nottinghamshire, England, and commissioned in 2013, is one of the UK’s most advanced power plants. It consists of three combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) with a combined output of 1.3 GW. The site was previously owned and operated by West Burton Energy, part of EIG, a prominent investor in energy and infrastructure.

This strategic acquisition aligns with TotalEnergies’ vision to solidify its position as an integrated power player, boosting its flexible power generation portfolio to approximately 7 GW of gross capacity globally. This is in addition to their 23 GW of renewable energy capacity.

The transaction was expertly handled by a multidisciplinary team from Norton Rose Fulbright, led by partner Andrew Davies. The team encompassed expertise from various sectors, including energy, mergers and acquisitions, tax, competition, real estate, planning, and other specialisations. Key members from the London office included partners Stephen Rigby, Chris Down, Ian Giles, and others, demonstrating the firm's extensive capability in managing complex transactions.

Andrew Davies expressed satisfaction with the successful collaboration, stating, "We are delighted to have supported TotalEnergies with this complex M&A transaction, which brought together many of our skilled energy lawyers from across the firm. Flexible power generation is an integral part of the business strategy of several key players in the energy sector, and we continue to see sustained growth in this area."

Norton Rose Fulbright, with over 1,300 lawyers across all practice areas, is renowned for its extensive expertise in energy, infrastructure, and natural resources. The firm's global team has been instrumental in numerous high-profile energy and infrastructure projects, including pioneering transactions.

This acquisition marks a significant milestone in TotalEnergies' growth strategy and underlines the importance of flexible power generation in the evolving energy landscape.