TotalFinaElf has raised its interest in Britain’s Humber Power Ltd, owner of the South Humber Bank Power Station in Lincolnshire, England, to 40%. UK Group Centrica has acquired the remaining 60% interest.

The South Humber Bank plant, commissioned in 1997, is a combined cycle gas turbine facility with a capacity of 1,260 MW. It generates around 10 TWh of electricity per annum from some 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas per annum.

TotalFinaElf previously had a 12.5% interest in the company. However, the Group’s trading teams have been marketing 40% of Humber Power’s output since 1999. The acquisition therefore brings the Group’s financial assets into line with its commercial interests and simplifies Humber Power’s shareholder structure. Prior to the transaction, the shareholders were TotalFinaElf, Fortum subsidiary IVO Energy, ABB, Tomen Power Corporation, Midlands Electricity and British Energy.

The new partnership between TotalFinaElf and Centrica makes Humber Power, which has state-of-the-art, flexible facilities, one of the most efficient players in the UK electricity market.