OREANDA-NEWS. April 11, 2014. On the occasion of the visit of a high Chinese delegation to France, Gerard Mestrallet, Chairman and CEO of GDF SUEZ, signed a cooperation agreement with Wang Dong, Chairman and CEO of Beijing Enterprise Group, to develop natural gas and energy efficiency projects in China. Chinese and French Presidents Xi Jinping and Francois Hollande were present at the signing.
 
The agreement follows several cooperative undertakings in China between subsidiaries of the two Groups, including joint ventures in gas engineering and waste incineration.
 
The current agreement extends the group’s cooperation into several new areas:

Development of “utility” type services in the new Technological Business District of Changping near Beijing, involving among others the construction of a tri-generation plant developed jointly by the two groups. The development of the Changping eco-district, a national priority in China, will make it possible to expand the area dedicated to Beijing research centers and universities.

Natural gas storage, including a study of highly advanced storage facilities in order to develop the flexibility of Beijing Gas, a subsidiary of Beijing Enterprise Group, to serve its 7 million customers and extend its offer to a market of 25 million potential customers in Beijing. The switchover from coal to natural gas in Beijing is rapidly improving air quality, but the effort requires increased capacity and flexibility in gas storage.

Training exchanges in the methods and technologies used respectively by French and Chinese teams, beginning with sessions for Beijing Enterprise teams at GDF SUEZ University in April 2014.

Beijing Enterprises SITA Environmental Services Limited, a SUEZ Environnement subsidiary, will operate and maintain the Hunan Hengyang hazardous waste treatment plant and develop pre-commissioning, construction, and supervision projects for the Haidan renewable waste-to-energy conversion plant (which will handle a total of 29,000 metric tons of hazardous and medical waste per year). Furthermore SUEZ Environnement, via Degremont, will contribute thanks to its innovative technologies, equipment, and operational expertise to a project for the desalination of one million metric tons of seawater per day for the city of Beijing.
 
Gerard Mestrallet, Chairman and CEO of GDF SUEZ stated, “This agreement illustrates the commitment and strengthening involvement of GDF SUEZ in sustainable growth in China. The Group’s long-term relationships in China have been marked by the 2011 cooperation agreement signed with China Investment Corporation (CIC), the 2012 partnership with PetroChina to develop six deep underground gas storage tanks, and the 2013 installation of a first floating LNG import terminal. The group’s expertise and know-how in the gas value chain and in energy services enable us to offer custom solutions that satisfy China’s ambition to improve the air quality of its major cities.”