Minister: Power plant sale will not affect supply, jobs

Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales is assuring the public that the sale of the Trinity Power Ltd will not affect the local supply of electricity or workers.

He said the deal was between the local company, which is privately operated by Western Generation Partners out of the US, and the UK firm ContourGlobal.

News of the deal broke earlier this week, and when contacted on Tuesday Gonzales said he was unaware of it.

Not much is known about what the deal entails, as attempts to contact Trinity Power Ltd general manager Jacquelin Look Loy and ContourGlobal have been unsuccessful to date.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister noted that a private electricity plant at Point Lisas was being sold by its US owners to the UK firm.

Dr Rowley said he had heard it in the day’s news.

“An officer of that company (Trinity) on that date confirmed this process has started for acquisition of Trinity Power Ltd by a company called ContourGlobal. The present owner (of Trinity) remains Western Generation Partners.”

He said the TT Electricity Commission (T&TEC) will be notified when the transaction is completed.

Gonzales told Newsday on Thursday that a letter from Trinity Power Ltd was sent to the ministry's permanent secretary which noted the sale but failed to detail its future plans.

“We received today (Thursday) from letter from Trinity Power Ltd. It is dated December 9 and it confirms that Western Generation Partners has entered into purchase and sale agreement to sell its indirect ownership of Trinity Power Ltd.

"The sale will not be concluded until regulatory approval and conditions are met. The closing date is expected to be in the first quarter of 2021.”

Gonzales said the company will update the ministry as the information comes to hand, adding that was all Trinity Power Ltd was willing to share at this time.

“This is private negotiation, and the government is not involved. The decision for purchase and sale does not affect the contractual work that they have with T&TEC.

“I understand the hype, and the interest that people have been showing in this particular matter, but this is usual in the energy sector or commercial arrangement.

“It is not that Trinity is going to be shut down or going to be removed from TT. It is just that the owners of Trinity decided to sell to a UK firm. But the company will operate in TT as normal.”

The generator at Point Lisas has an output of 225 megawatts.

ContourGlobal is set to buy two power plants, the other being one in the US, at a total cost of US$837 million.

ContourGlobal acquires wholesale power-generation capacity and focuses on renewable and thermal energy.