LONDON (Reuters) - A joint venture between asset management company Amundi (>> Amundi S.A.) and French utility EDF (>> E.D.F.) has bought a majority stake in 132 gas-fired cogeneration plants in France for 150 million euros (131.02 million pounds), Amundi said on Tuesday.

Amundi Energy Transition bought the stake in the plants, which have a total capacity of 330 megawatts (MW), from Dalkia, a French energy services company which is also an EDF subsidiary, it said in a statement.

Cogeneration, also known as combined heat and power, can produce heat and electricity at the same time from the same facility.

Such plants can recover heat produced as a by-product of power generation and reuse it in industrial processes and to produce energy for hospitals and public housing.

Amundi Energy said it was also working on a second deal this year for a separate 170-MW group of Dalkia cogeneration projects which are currently under construction.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Stocks treated in this article : E.D.F., Amundi S.A.