Statoil and Poweo have signed a twenty year agreement for the supply of natural gas to Poweo's projected 400 MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power plant (CCGT) in Toul, France. Deliveries are planned to start on October 1st, 2012.

The concept builds on the liberalizing gas, power and emissions markets and the available market price indices to enable risk and profit sharing between parties.

It represents a new type of industrial partnership in the gas-to-power market.

Statoil has been a major supplier of natural gas to the French market for over thirty years.

'This new partnership with Poweo is a steppingstone for Statoil's strategy to promote gas in the power segment throughout Europe,' says Bjørn R. Jacobsen, senior vice president for Marketing in Statoil's Natural Gas business area.

'France is a key market for us and we are very satisfied to establish a long-term partnership with an independent power producer like Poweo. It illustrates Statoil's willingness to explore and develop new gas-to-power concepts with our customers. The concept enables Poweo to run the plant in the most economical way and represents strategic value to Statoil,' he adds.

Poweo, the French electricity and gas operator, already runs a 412 MW CCGT in Pont-sur-Sambre, France. Besides Toul power plant, Poweo plans to develop other CCGT projects totalling more than 1 600 MW.

'Securing our gas needs through this innovative agreement with Statoil, a major gas producer for Europe, is a key achievement towards our final investment decision for the Toul power plant, which is expected to be taken within the next few weeks and will allow full concretisation of this agreement,' announces Loïc Capéran, Chief Executive Officer of Poweo.

He pointed out: 'We are glad to share the same vision on the need for development of CCGT projects in France. This agreement materializes the partnership spirit between security of supply and security of demand with fully aligned interests on the long term; it is a perfect illustration of what gas market liberalization brings in terms of innovation and value creation.'

Tags: Poweo, Statoil