Constellation Energy Generation is paying $715 million for Shell's interests in RISEC Holdings, owner of a 609-megawatt gas-fired power plant that serves the New England market. Shell Energy North America (SENA), the Shell plc subsidiary behind the deal, announced it Sept. 10 alongside a separate purchase: 100% of the equity in Hunlock Creek Generating, a 169-megawatt gas-fired generator in Pennsylvania.

The RISEC sale

SENA has held interests in RISEC since an earlier acquisition and has run an energy conversion agreement covering the plant's full output since 2019. That agreement ends once the sale to Constellation Energy closes. SENA said the deal brings forward, as a gain on sale, the return it expected to earn from holding the asset longer term. RISEC's plant runs two combined cycle gas turbine units, which pair a gas turbine with a steam turbine to draw more electricity from the same fuel than a simple gas turbine alone.

The Hunlock purchase

SENA is buying all of the equity in Hunlock Creek Generating, whose portfolio is a two-unit, 125-megawatt combined cycle plant and a 44-megawatt simple cycle peaking plant, for 169 megawatts combined, in Pennsylvania. The seller is Riverview Power Holdings, an indirect subsidiary of Castleton Commodities International. The purchase gives SENA supply and capacity offtake in the Mid-Atlantic grid run by PJM Interconnection, which moves electricity across 13 states and Washington, D.C., for more than 65 million people. Shell said the deal is projected to generate returns above the threshold it set for its power business at its 2025 Capital Markets Day.

Shell's rationale

Andrew Smith, Shell's President of Trading & Supply, said the two transactions reflect "our dynamic approach to managing our trading portfolio." He said Shell selectively invests in assets that strengthen its market position while staying ready to realize value when market conditions allow.

Both deals need regulatory approval and are expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. SENA, headquartered in Houston, has been active in energy markets for more than 25 years and owns gas-fired generation in several of the largest power markets in the United States.