BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT | VISTRA’S NUCLEAR ACQUISITION
Vistra’s nuclear acquisition
Energy Harbor’s nuclear businesses, including the Beaver Valley, Davis-Besse and Perry stations, are set to join the 3800 MW Comanche Peak nuclear plant under an acquisition deal. Does this signal a new era of attractive nuclear assets?
Below: Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station
NUCLEAR’S PLACE IS AS PART OF A “zero-carbon generation and retail growth company” in the USA, according to US utility Vistra. The company expects to complete closing in the last quarter of 2023 on an acquisition of Energy Harbor’s nuclear and retail businesses. The deal received Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approval in October and awaits clearance from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Vistra currently owns the 3800 MW Comanche Peak nuclear plant in Somervell County, Texas, and it has 4 million retail customers. At the closing of the transaction, Energy Harbor will merge with Vistra and the Ohio-based company’s assets – which include the Beaver Valley, Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear stations – will be combined with Vistra’s nuclear and retail assets to become a 7,800 MW generation business with around 5 million domestic customers. The combined business will join with the existing Vistra
Zero renewables and storage projects under a newly- formed holding company, referred to as Vistra Vision,
which has a further growth pipeline of around 1,100 MW of renewables projects. In return, Energy Harbor will receive $3bn in cash (to be
distributed to shareholders at closing) and a 15% ownership interest in Vistra Vision; in addition, Vistra Vision will assume $430m of net debt from Energy Harbor. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said the price of Vistra Corp shares rose more than 16% when the deal was first announced. Vistra said the acquisition “Accelerates the growth of
Vistra’s zero-carbon operations”. It also ring-fences Vistra’s wholly-owned gas and coal generation assets, which will be referred to as Vistra Tradition – Vistra has 24 GW of natural gas-fired capacity and 8.4 GW of coal-fired plant. Vistra will not acquire Energy Harbor’s legacy conventional generation fleet, which had pre-existing agreements to sell these assets to third parties. Vistra President and chief executive Jim Burke said, “Vistra has been focused on responsibly transitioning
28 | WNE Special Edition |
www.neimagazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
