The company has agreed to buy Britain’s largest electricity distribution business — Western Power Distribution — from US energy giant PPL Corporation for £7.8 billion ($10.9 billion, 9.1 billion euros)
London: National Grid, which distributes energy to British homes and businesses, announced Thursday a multi-billion-pound shake-up of its electricity and gas assets as the UK transitions to cleaner fuels.
The company has agreed to buy Britain’s largest electricity distribution business — Western Power Distribution — from US energy giant PPL Corporation for £7.8 billion ($10.9 billion, 9.1 billion euros).
In a separate transaction, National Grid will sell its Rhode Island utility business — The Narragansett Electric Company — to PPL for $3.8 billion (3.2 billion euros).
National Grid also plans to sell a majority stake in National Grid Gas, it added in a statement.
“Together these transactions will strategically pivot National Grid’s UK portfolio towards electricity,” it said.
The proportion of the group’s assets in electricity will increase to around 70 percent from 60 percent.
“Our vision for National Grid remains unchanged, to be at the heart of a clean, fair and affordable energy future,” the company’s chief executive John Pettigrew said in the statement.
“With increased exposure to the UK’s electricity sector, these transactions enhance our role in the progress towards net zero, underpinning our core ambition which is to enable the energy transition for all.”
Source: AFP
