(Bloomberg) -- Trading house Trafigura Group Pte Ltd has bought a gas-fired power plant in the US, part of a growing wave of merchants piling into supplying volatile electricity markets.

The firm acquired the Mountain Creek power plant in Texas with joint venture partner Frontier Group of Companies, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

It’s the first major investment into power generation by Trafigura and comes as trading firms are allocating some of their recent profits into hiring talent and buying assets in highly volatile regional electricity markets. Late last year, Gunvor Group agreed to buy a 75% interest in a Spanish plant, while Vitol Group holds investments in the UK and Ireland. 

“This strategic asset will support our growing gas and power business in the US and will continue to provide a flexible source of energy to the fast-growing Texas market,” said Richard Holtum, global head of gas, power and renewables for Trafigura.

The 808 megawatt steam turbine gas-fired power plant is located close to Dallas. 

The aging power grid in Texas has come under huge stress in recent years as record summer heat waves drive greater demand for electricity and the growth of renewables leads to more sudden surges and deficits in supply. The state is also a growing hub for energy-hungry artificial intelligence data centers.

That’s made for hugely volatile prices which have been a boon for traders. It also means there’s more pressure on gas-fired power plants and batteries that are needed to keep power flowing at night or when wind is scarce.

(Updates details and background from the third paragraph.)

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