Centrica frontrunner to buy National Grid’s LNG terminal in £1.5bn deal
British Gas owner and Energy Capital Partners in exclusive talks for import facility in the Thames estuary
Centrica and Energy Capital Partners are in exclusive talks to buy the UK’s largest liquefied natural gas import terminal in a roughly £1.5bn deal from its owner National Grid.
Centrica, the FTSE 100 owner of British Gas, is in negotiations to buy the Isle of Grain terminal, which National Grid is selling in order to focus on its core electricity networks, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Centrica has teamed up with Energy Capital Partners, a major investor in renewable energy that recently merged with the UK’s Bridgepoint, the people said.
A deal could be announced shortly, handing control of one of Britain’s main strategic energy assets to one of its largest household energy suppliers.
Centrica already owns the Rough gas storage site off the coast of Yorkshire, and has recently agreed to take a 15 per cent stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant being built in Suffolk.
The Isle of Grain gas import terminal, on the Thames estuary in Kent, is the largest LNG import terminal in Europe with capacity to process 15mn tonnes per year of gas, or about 20 per cent of the UK’s demand.
The site has grown in importance in recent years as the UK and Europe have started to rely more heavily on shipments of gas from around the world to add to pipeline supplies.
Import terminals have played an important role in the aftermath of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 when Europe and the UK began to import more shipments of gas from the US and elsewhere to make up for lower Russian supplies.
National Grid said in March 2024 it planned to sell the site as well as its US onshore renewables arm in order to focus on its electricity networks business. It started the formal divestment process in April.
CKI Infrastructure Holdings, the Hong Kong-listed global infrastructure conglomerate, was previously reported to be a frontrunner for the site. However, it dropped out, people familiar with the process said.
Omers, one of Canada’s largest pension funds, had also been among the bidders but is no longer involved, the people added.
Centrica, National Grid, Energy Capital Partners, Omers and CKI declined to comment.