Centrica is to sell two operating combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power stations, Langage and South Humber Bank, to EP UK Investments Ltd. The plants have a combined capacity of 2.3GW.

The sale, which is subject to EU merger clearance and is expected to close during the second half of 2017, will bring Centrica £318million in cash.

EP UK is fully controlled by EP Power Europe. In the UK, the company already owns the the Eggborough and  Lynemouth coal-fired power stations.

It is proposing to develop a 2.5GW gas-fired power station at the Eggborough site, while the Lynemouth plant is being converted into a biomass-fuelled power plant.

Daniel Křetínský, chief executive of EPH, said “We are proud to have the opportunity to continue Centrica´s tradition in the conventional power generation market in the UK. This is a significant acquisition in our strategy of increasing our generation capacity in the UK market.  The two CCGTs will complement our existing UK portfolio of Eggborough and Lynemouth power stations and our Eggborough CCGT development project.”

Centrica said the sale was “consistent with Centrica’s strategy to shift investment towards its customer facing businesses and to seek opportunities in flexible peaking units, energy storage and distributed generation whilst reducing focus on large scale central power generation”.