OREANDA-NEWS. ENGIE, (formerly GDF SUEZ), announced today it has invested in KiWi Power, a leading UK demand response aggregator, through its corporate venture capital company “ENGIE NewVentures”.  This investment will see ENGIE support the privately owned energy technology company’s plans for growth and development of its client base in the UK and internationally.

The potential for synergies between the two companies is large. ENGIE is committed to offer new services in energy management to its large and global client base. KiWi has developed a leading technology and extensive industry expertise within the demand response, energy management and smart grid space.

Demand response is an innovative solution being increasingly relied upon to help System Operators balance demand and supply on national energy infrastructure networks. Commercial electricity consumers such as industrial and manufacturing plants, office buildings and public sector sites like hospitals can use demand response to reduce electricity demand on the network when energy usage is at peak levels. Demand response offers participating organisations a range of benefits including a recurring revenue stream, reduced overall electricity expenditure and improved sustainability credentials. Most importantly it is a cleaner and more efficient method of grid balancing than traditional peaking power stations.

Gérard Mestrallet, CEO of ENGIE said:  “ENGIE believes in demand response as an environmentally-friendly and revenue-enhancing service for customers, a way to meet the challenges of the energy transition to a low carbon economy and further integration of renewable sources of generation. KiWi Power’s customer-friendly solution, real time metering, technology and automated processes have a lot to offer to commercial customers in this respect. We want to be able to continue to offer to our customers a wide variety of commercial solutions that work for almost every company under every set of circumstances.”  

Yoav Zingher, Co-Founder and CEO of KiWi Power said: “There are many opportunities opening up in the marketplace and our fast growth to date is indicative of our agility and drive to harness technology and innovation to bring new solutions to tackle the challenge of balancing energy demand and supply.”

Ziko Abram, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of KiWi Power said: “We are very excited to have ENGIE on board. We have been working with ENGIE over the last year to expand our demand response offering across their vast international customer base. We are excited to be strengthening our relationship with a global, forward thinking utility who share our commitment to providing flexible and sustainable solutions to the challenges facing System Operators.” 

About ENGIE

ENGIE puts responsible growth at the heart of its businesses (electricity, natural gas, energy services) to meet the great challenges of energy transition to a low carbon economy: access to sustainable energy, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, security of supply and the rational use of resources. The Group develops efficient and innovative solutions to individuals, cities and businesses by relying on its particular expertise in four key sectors: renewable energy, energy efficiency, liquefied natural gas and digital technologies. ENGIE has 152 900 employees worldwide with a turnover in 2014 of €74.7 billion. Listed in Paris and Brussels (GSZ), the Group is represented in the main international indices: CAC 40, BEL 20, DJ Euro Stoxx 50, Euronext 100, FTSE Eurotop 100, MSCI Europe and Euronext Vigeo (World 120 120 Eurozone, Europe 120 and France 20).

About KiWi Power

KiWi Power is the UK’s leading demand response aggregator and has been a key player in the UK and internationally since 2009. We are passionate about driving innovation in technology to create efficiencies, generate commercial opportunities and promote a green agenda. We work confidently with policy makers and system and network operators, navigating the energy landscape to provide clients robust and best in class technology and hardware.

Combining proprietary hardware and software and experienced teams KiWi Power delivers significant commercial returns and sustainability benefits to large consumers of electricity, utilities and grid operators.

Demand response is a unique and powerful application using technology to reduce electricity consumption at peak times across industrial and commercial sites. This creates a greener, more cost effective grid; reduces the need for inefficient backup power stations and provides vital balancing requirements and security of supply to system operators and end user sites.

KiWi Power’s innovative approach is leading the way in evolving the UK demand response market as well as influencing the design, build and operation of demand response programmes around the world.