Blackstone Energy Transition Partners’ funds have agreed to acquire a Pennsylvania natural gas power plant from investment firm Ardian for approximately $1 billion, according to a Sept. 15 press release.
The Hill Top Energy Center is a 620-megawatt (MW) combined cycle gas turbine plant in Greene County. Completed in 2021, Hill Top supports the power needs related to data center development and other use cases in the PJM electric market.
The transaction follows Blackstone’s July announcement of plans to invest over $25 billion to support Pennsylvania’s digital and energy infrastructure, Blackstone said.
“We are proud to make our latest investment in this sector—which is among our highest conviction investment themes—in Western Pennsylvania,” said Blackstone Energy Transition Partners’ Bilal Khan, a senior managing director, and Mark Zhu, a managing director.
“Hill Top is among the best-in-class and a highly efficient modern power generation facility that is exceptionally well positioned to help Pennsylvania and the region serve as a key center of AI innovation.”
Blackstone inked several deals this year expanding its energy and power sector portfolio.
In January, the company said it agreed to acquire Potomac Energy Center, a 774-MW natural gas power plant in Loudoun County, Virginia. The Potomac plant is located in close proximity to over 130 data centers—with significant further growth expected.
Blackstone also announced in August its acquisitions of electrical testing services provider Shermco for $1.6 billion and Enverus, an energy data and analytics provider, for reportedly $6 billion.
Santander and Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisers and Kirkland & Ellis served as a legal adviser to Blackstone Energy Transition Partners on the Hill Top transaction.