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GDF SUEZ Energy Services
acquires Utilicom Group and creates the largest district energy company in the
UK.
GDF SUEZ Energy Services has announced the acquisition of the Utilicom Group*,
following a purchase agreement with the IDEX Group for IDEX Energy UK Limited
and its subsidiaries. This strategic investment will create COFELY District
Energy Ltd, the UK’s largest district energy company.
COFELY District Energy Ltd, which will form part of COFELY’s existing UK Energy
Services business stream, will generate 35 MW of low carbon electricity, operate
245 MW of boiler plant, 74 MW of chilled capacity and manage 50 km of district
heating and cooling pipework.
COFELY District Energy Ltd will manage a wide range of projects in the UK,
including :
- Southampton District Energy Scheme
- Birmingham District Energy Scheme
- London Olympic Park and Stratford City
- The Whitehall CHP scheme
The Utilicom Group and its subsidiaries annually deliver over 33,000 tonnes of
CO2 emission reductions, predominantly through combined heat and power (CHP)
schemes, meeting the varied heat, cooling and power demands of many of the UK’s
most prominent city centres through district energy networks.
Wilfrid Petrie, chairman of GDF SUEZ Energy Services Ltd, commented: “District
energy schemes are already making a significant contribution to reducing the
UK’s carbon emissions and this is an area that is set to grow rapidly in the
coming years. The newly formed COFELY District Energy Ltd will bring together
some of the UK’s most exciting and prestigious district energy schemes from the
COFELY and Utilicom portfolios. COFELY District Energy Ltd is ideally placed to
not only develop the services offered to existing customers but also extend
these offerings to a wider customer base. It will also pave the way for COFELY’s
further expansion into this rapidly developing sector of the market where across
Europe the Group already operates in excess of 110 district energy schemes.”
Alain Planchot, President of IDEX “Our strategy of promoting renewable energy
solutions also requires to focus our human and financial resources. We have thus
decided to concentrate our development on the French market. I am sure that
Utilicom Group will continue its success story, started two decades ago, within
its new Group.”
May 2010
COFELY operates over 110 district heating and cooling systems in Europe,
including the cities of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Lisbon, Monaco and Paris. GDF SUEZ
Energy Services meets the long-term energy needs of businesses and public
authorities thanks to technological know-how that emphasizes renewable energy
such as biomass, geothermal energy, waste-to-energy and respect for the
environment. Today, GDF SUEZ Energy Services teams design, build and operate
district networks, the energy infrastructure of the future, and thus contribute
to building the cities of the tomorrow.
* The UK businesses within Utilicom Group include: Utilicom Ltd, Southampton
Geothermal Heating Company Ltd, Birmingham District Energy Company Ltd,
Bloomsbury Heat & Power Ltd, ICE UK Ltd and Residential Heat & Power Ltd.
COFELY, a GDF SUEZ Company
COFELY is Europe’s leader in energy and environmental efficiency services,
designing and implementing solutions to help businesses and public authorities
make better use of energy, whilst reducing environmental impacts. COFELY offers
a unique combination of service expertise, from the design, installation and
management of local & renewable energy solutions, to the operational delivery of
integrated facilities services.
COFELY is part GDF SUEZ Energy Services, the European leader in multitechnical
services which employs 77,000 people with a turnover of €13.6 billion in 2009.
GDF SUEZ Energy Services is one of the six business lines of GDF SUEZ, one of
the leading energy providers in the world, active across the entire energy chain
in electricity and natural gas, upstream to downstream. The Group employs
200,000 people worldwide, with a turnover of €79.9 billion in 2009.
www.cofely-gdfsuez.co.uk