NRG Energy to Acquire 13 GW of Natural Gas Power Plants

---

Written by Jesse Broehl for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Major merger and acquisition (M&A) deals are underway in the power generation space as the market faces high energy demand that is outpacing construction of new power generation. The latest is NRG Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NRG) (Houston, Texas), which announced Monday that it plans to acquire 13 gigawatts (GW) of natural gas power plants from LS Power Group (New York, New York). Both companies are large U.S.-based independent power producer (IPPs) with similar portfolios heavy on natural gas power plants.

Measured by total power generation, LS Power is the larger of the two companies with 23.6 GW in operational plants under its ownership. NRG Energy owns just over 16.6 GW of operating power generation plants. The 13 GW to be transferred from LS Power to NRG would more than double NRG Energy's generation portfolio to nearly 20 GW of operating capacity.

NRG Energy owns and operates almost exclusively natural gas plants while LS Power has a more diversified portfolio across multiple generation sources.

Click on the images at right for charts showing NRG's and LS Power's power generation portfolios.

Industrial Info is tracking 27 active NRG Energy projects, worth $2.51 billion, and 29 operational plants. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence Power Industry Project and Plant databases can click here for the project reports and click here for the plant profiles.

Industrial Info is also tracking 63 active LS Power projects, worth $7.05 billion, and 74 operational plants. Subscribers can click here for the project reports and click here for the plant profiles.

Deal Specifics
The deal, which is planned for finalization in first-quarter 2026, would see NRG Energy acquire the 13 GW in 18 natural gas-fired power plants, while LS Power would keep about 10 GW of power generation capacity across natural gas, renewables and energy storage projects.

In addition, NRG Energy will acquire a commercial and industrial virtual power plant (VPP) platform.

LS Power Group would keep its transmission business, LS Power Grid (LSPG), which has more than 780 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in operation and another 350+ miles currently under construction or development.

The transaction is estimated at approximately $12 billion, comprising $6.4 billion in cash, $2.8 billion in stocks, and $3.2 billion of net debt assumed at closing.

M&A During a Time of Increasingly High-Power Plant Demand
The deal comes at a time of high energy demand that is outpacing the rate that new generation and electricity grid expansions are deployed. This is driven by population growth, electrification of transport and fast-growing demand for new data centers. Another large high-profile M&A deal in this space was the announcement in January that Constellation Energy Corporation (NYSE:CEG) (Baltimore, Maryland) would acquire Calpine Corporation (Houston), one of the country's largest fossil gas generators in the country. For more on the acquisition, see January 13, 2025, article - Constellation Energy to Acquire Calpine for $16.4 Billion.

Natural gas plants are lagging behind solar for new power plants being built, which is noted in IIR Energy's recent compilation of new U.S. power plants commissioned in first-quarter 2025 and new U.S. power plants that are under construction. Solar power represented more than 75% of power plant capacity added in the first quarter and 56% of all power plants currently under construction. For more information, see April 8, 2025, article - IIR Energy: New Power Plant Capacity Commissioned in Q1 2025, and May 5, 2025, article - IIR Energy's First-Quarter 2025 Data Insight: U.S. Power Plants Under Construction.

With all that solar coming on to the grid, there is rising demand to firm up variable capacity from solar plants with the dispatchable firm power generation that gas plants provide.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).