European energy giant Total has entered into an agreement with Direct Energie, also based in France, to acquire 74.33% of it share capital. Through this, Total hopes to develop its interests in electricity and gas generation and distribution in France and Belgium.
In the field of natural gas and electricity distribution to both consumers and professionals, Total is firmly establishing itself as a leading alternative supplier by combining its 1.5-million client portfolio with Direct Energie’s 2.6-million portfolio. This major acquisition will enable Total to pursue its ambitious development programme for electricity supply, targeting over 6 million customers in France and more than 1 million customers in Belgium by 2022.
With this transaction, Total is also pursuing and expanding its development in the power generation market, with Direct Energie’s power generation activities offering an excellent complement to those of the Total group’s subsidiaries operating in these fields. Direct Energie’s installed capacity of 1.35 GW, including 800 MW of gas-fired power plant and 550 MW of renewable electricity, will supplement Total’s 900 MW installed capacity.
Given Direct Energie’s project portfolio in this area (a 400 MW gas-fired power plant under construction and a 2 GW pipeline of renewable electricity projects in France), Total Eren in emerging countries and Sunpower in the United States, Total aims to have a global capacity of at least 10 GW of installed capacity within five years, either in the form of gas-fired power plants or in the form of renewable electricity capacities.