Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 24TH - 30TH JANUARY 2020 | 19 Finance & Investment So Energy has signed a three- year deal for the UK arm of the Swiss utility Axpo to become the sole buyer of energy on the wholesale gas and power markets for its nearly 200,000 customers. The supplier said the partner- ship would let it provide more renewable energy to its custom- ers, but also offer competitive tariffs. ENERGY So Energy signs three-year energy trading deal with Axpo Simon Oscro , co-founder of So Energy, said: "We're delighted to sign this energy trading deal with Axpo, the big- gest since we were founded five years ago. We've grown rapidly since then, quadrupling in size in the last 18 months, and now supply great value green energy to almost 200,000 customers. "This deal means we can buy the best value energy in advance for our customers' contracts, meaning we can continue to grow at existing rates and con- tinue to provide market-leading customer service and tariffs into 2020 and beyond." Axpo's head of UK origina- tion, Steven McCarthy, said: "Axpo is recognised as being reli- able, sustainable and innovative. So Energy is a fresh and innova- tive supplier in the UK with Ovo acquires SSE's retail arm for £500m Challenger brand is now one of the largest players in the market, with five million customers Ovo Energy has acquired the retail arm of SSE in a £500 million deal completed on 15 January. The deal, announced last September, marks challenger brand Ovo's step up to become one of the largest players in the market, now serving almost five million customers. A transition period will follow the acquisition and both companies will collaborate on a more detailed plan on how to bring the two businesses together to create a unified team. In the meantime SSE's customers' pay- ments and tariffs will not change. Ovo told Utility Week the acquisition includes the cus- tomers, operations and about 8,000 employees of SSE Energy Services. Individuals and teams will continue to work as usual and nothing will change for the time being. The company said it had negotiated rights to use the SSE master brand under licence for the transitional period, and acquired regional brands as part of this transaction. Ovo was founded in 2009 by its chief executive Stephen Fitzpatrick as a challenge to the big six energy suppliers. In 2018 its retail business received a £200 million cash injection from the Mitsubishi Corporation for a 20 per cent stake, valuing the company at £1 billion. Fitzpatrick said: "Today is an exciting day. It marks the end of one chapter for Ovo but, more importantly, the beginning of the next one with SSE Energy Services." In a blog on SSE's website, Alistair Phillips-Davies said the company's strategic focus is now on develop- ing, building and maintaining low-carbon assets and infrastructure. AJ ELECTRICITY Grid launches £430m green bond National Grid has launched its first green bond with the aim of raising up to €500 million (£430 million) to fund electric- ity transmission projects with environmental benefits. The proceeds could, for exam- ple, pay for the replacement of overhead power lines with underground cables or efforts to reduce transmission losses. However, the firm expects about three-quarters to go towards the connection of renewable energy projects to the power grid. The allocation of funding will be determined by National Grid's dedicated green financing committee. The interest rate on the five- year bond is 0.19 per cent. The company has held three days of meetings with investors in Europe's key financial centres since announcing the launch on 6 January and says it has seen a "high level of interest". ELECTRICITY Work starts on 3.6GW Dogger wind farm The installation of the onshore cabling for the colossal 3.6GW Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the North Sea has now begun. The project, which will provide enough power to meet the needs of 4.5 million homes, is spread across three sites, each with a capacity of 1.2GW. All three won contracts for differ- ence at below current wholesale prices in the latest auction in September 2019. The wind farm will make use of the world's most power- ful turbine – GE Renewable's 12MW Haliade-X model, which is undergoing trails at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult's test centre in Blyth. The first generation is expected to take place in 2023. The wind farm is being devel- oped by a joint venture between SSE Renewables and Equinor. Steve Wilson, managing director of Dogger Bank Wind Farms, said: "Getting the first spade in the ground is a signifi- cant milestone on any project, but for what will be the world's largest offshore wind farm, this is a major moment for a project that has already been over a decade in the making." Jones Bros Civil Engineering has been hired to install the onshore cable infrastructure for the Creyke Beck A and B sites, including laying 32km of power lines underground across East Riding. The cables will transmit power from the landfall point at Ulrome to two new converter stations in Beverley. Contracts director Garod Evans said: "We have worked with SSE Renewables on major schemes previously and we are delighted to be developing our partnership… There will be up to 100 Jones Bros personnel, from management to apprentices and trainees, on site at the height of the works." See High Viz, p22 Fitzpatrick: 'Today is an exciting day' ambitions to grow sustainably. "This deal will provide So Energy with the means to manage the wholesale risks associated with the business growth and represents an important milestone for Axpo UK in expanding our business activities." Last month, Yu Group signed an exclusive wholesale trading agreement with Smartest Energy. This week

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