Firm seeks to buy Oxford power plant owner

An Israeli electric generation company has signed a letter of intent to acquire a majority ownership stake in the Maryland company that owns the Towantic Energy Center power plant in Oxford.

When completed, the deal with Competitive Power Ventures would give Tel Avivbased OPC Energy its first entry into the U.S. power generation market. The terms of the letter of intent call for OPC to spend up to $800 million to acquire a 70 percent ownership stake.

OPC Energy is negotiating with several Israeli institutional investors and financial partners to acquire the remaining 30 percent ownership stake in Competitive Power Ventures.

Giora Almogi, OPC Energy’s chief executive officer, said company officials have searched for about a year trying to find the best way to enter the electric generation industry in the United States.

“There is growing momentum for increased development of renewable energy and a focus on a lower carbon approach to electricity supply,” Almogi said in a statement.

The Towantic Energy Center power plant is located in Woodruff Hill Industrial Park and began operating in 2018. It is fueled by natural gas and generates 805 megawatts of electricity, which is enough energy to power 800,000 homes.

In addition to the Towantic Energy Center, Competitive Power Ventures has power plants that run on fossil fuels in New Jersey, New York and Maryland, as well as wind farm in Oklahoma that generates 152 megawatts. The company also is in the midst of developing solar power generation facilities in Pennsylvania and central Massachusetts.

Overall, Competitive Power Ventures has power plants that either already operating or in development that have a total capacity of about 14,800 megawatts.