By Ejekwu Chidiebere
- Europe: 500 MW installed or under construction and a pipeline of more than 15 GW of solar and wind projects
- Africa: 255 MW installed in Uganda and 560 MW of hydropower projects
- Canada: 180 MW installed and more than 600 MW of solar and wind projects
TotalEnergies has just announced closure of its acquisitions of VSB Group,, a European wind and solar developer with extensive operations in Germany, and SN Power, which it says develops hydropower in Africa, particularly Uganda, in fulfilment of agreements they entered into in 2024. The French major has also in addition announced new deals with renewables developer RES, with a view to acquiring renewables projects in Alberta, and the closing of a first project acquisition.
In Europe, TotalEnergies aims, through this closure of acquiring VSB, to strengthen its integrated electricity business, particularly in the country. The deal represents half of VSB’s portfolio, adding to the recent acquisitions of battery storage developer Kyon Energy and energy manager Quadra Energy, as well as the Company’s offshore wind positions in the country.
Energy Window International also learnt that VSB’s more than 15 GW pipeline would increase TotalEnergies’ renewables pipeline in Europe to over 40 GW of capacity, in addition to the 7 GW already in operation or under construction. The company said it has also decided to start the divestment process for the VSB-developed Puutionsaari project in Finland (440 MW wind and solar, given its targeted strategy for certain key European markets.
In Africa, TotalEnergies has closed the acquisition of SN Power with the aim of pursuing the implementation of its multi-energy strategy, particularly in Uganda where the Company claims it has grown so strong especially in exploration and production activities. According to the Company, only the Bujagali hydropower plant (225 MW) for example, has been meeting more than 25% of the country’s peak electricity demand. This transaction TotalEnergies says gives it a 28.3% stake in Bujagali, and a stake in two other projects under development in Rwanda (206 MW) and Malawi (360 MW). This also presents the French major with the opportunity of having a team of hydropower development experts who would be on ground to strengthen competencies in this field.
In Canada, the Company reached agreements with RES to acquire certain wind and solar projects under development in Alberta, amounting to total capacity of more than 800 MW. It has also closed, TotalEnergies says, the acquisition of Big Sky Solar (184 MW), a solar facility in Alberta that was commissioned at the end of February. More than two thirds of the electricity produced by Big Sky Solar will be sold under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA), with the remainder to be sold on the electricity market, which will also sell the carbon credits generated by the facility under Alberta’s regulated carbon emissions program.
“The completion of these three acquisitions in Europe, North America and Africa will contribute to our targets of 35 GW of gross renewable capacity by 2025 and over 100 TWh of electricity production by 2030”, Stéphane Michel, President, Gas, Renewables and Power was quoted to have said. “These acquisitions strengthen our operations in markets where we are deploying our Integrated Power business, like Germany and in North America, and in countries, such as Uganda, where we can leverage synergies with our exploration and production activities. Furthermore, these acquisitions will contribute to cash flow growth and to our goal of reaching our 12% profitability target in the electricity segment.”