Total will deepen its footprint in renewables with the €1.4bn ($1.73bn) acquisition of Direct Energie, a French energy group that boasts a 2.5GW clean power portfolio alongside its gas operations.

The French fossil major said the agreed purchase of 74% of Direct Energies’ shares is the latest step in its strategy to have a 10GW gas-plus-renewables power generation capacity globally within five years.

Direct Energie has a 550MW operating renewables base and a 2GW pipeline in France, as well as 800MW of gas-fired capacity.

Direct Energie’s operations include Quadran, the renewable energy developer that it bought last year.

The purchase of Direct Energie is the latest move by Total to position itself more firmly in renewables, and the power generation sector more generally.

The oil and gas group said it will be “combining its 1.5 million client portfolio with Direct Energie’s 2.6 million client portfolio. This combination will enable Total to pursue its ambitious development program to become a standard-setting player in electricity supply in France and Belgium”.

The deal for Direct Energie – which is still subject to regulatory clearance – follows Total’s move last year to take a minority stake in the EREN RE renewable development business, now Total Eren. It already owned the US PV group Sunpower.

Total said between the three it “aims to have a global capacity of at least 10 GW of installed capacity within five years, either in the form of gas-fired power plants or in the form of renewable electricity capacities”.

Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné said: “Through this transaction, Total is actively pursuing its development in electricity and gas generation and distribution in France and Belgium. This friendly takeover is part of the group’s strategy to expand along the entire gas-electricity value chain and to develop low-carbon energies, in line with our ambition to become the responsible energy major.”

Transition

Total renewables base swells with $1.7bn Direct Energie deal