9th Apr 2008 10:00
Scottish & Southern Energy PLC09 April 2008 SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ENERGY PLC Significant investment in Geothermal International Ltd Scottish and Southern Energy plc ("SSE") has agreed to invest up to £15 millionin cash for a 20 per cent stake in Geothermal International Ltd, from existingshareholders. The investment will be made on a phased basis over the next sixmonths. Geothermal International Ltd (GI) is the UK's leading supplier of ground sourceheating and cooling systems. The business is well established and currently hasextensive operations throughout the UK and Ireland, and to a lesser extent inEurope. It is primarily active in the commercial building sector. Since becomingestablished in 2000, it has installed over 1300 ground source heat pump systems,amounting to over 90MW of installed capacity, sized from 6kW to 10MW. Ground source heat pump systems can be used to transfer energy between buildingsand the surface crust of the planet, or surrounding air, providing a renewableenergy efficient means of heating and cooling buildings. They are a practical,cost-effective and energy efficient way of achieving the high targets now beingset in British cities for renewable energy penetration in new developments.Heating and cooling costs are dramatically reduced with ground sourcetechnology, up to 70% annually, and building carbon emissions can be alsoreduced by 50%. SSE will benefit from having a commercial offering in geothermal energy and asignificant stake in a business which is currently dominating a rapidly growingsector of the European heat market. Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE said: "SSE is rapidly building a strongportfolio of clean energy businesses that cover almost every part of therenewable and alternative energy market in the UK. Geothermal energy has been anobvious missing piece in this portfolio and this deal fills the gap veryeffectively. "Geothermal International is a well established business with a provencapability and will play a major role in supporting our growing Energy Servicesbusiness. It provides SSE with access to renewable heat technologies thatcompliment the renewable electricity technologies we have already invested in,and reinforces our commitment to offer customers a complete range of renewableenergy solutions. "This is likely to become the largest direct investment made by our venturesteam and represents the ninth deal since the team was created a year ago." Brian Davidson, CEO of Geothermal International, said: "Geothermal Internationalhas built a unique position within the ground source heat pump sector. Thecompany offers a complete service to the commercial buildings market and has areputation for pioneering ground loop design, as well as the capability andtrack record to install large systems for an array of commercial buildings. "The investment and strategic partnership with SSE is a vote of confidence forthe technology by one of the UK's leading utility companies. This partnershipwill provide numerous commercial and strategic opportunities for GI, and help togrow the business to the next stage of development. We look forward to workingwith SSE's other renewable energy partners, as well as providing ESCO solutionsfor developers, house builders and local authorities that deploy ground sourceheat pumps on a large scale." This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
SSE