Eneco acquires Eni Belgium, making energy sustainable more quickly
Eneco Belgium will service over a million customers after the acquisition
- Eneco will become the owner of Eni gas & power NV and Eni Wind Belgium NV
- Business will continue under the Eneco name
- Greater power to devote to Belgian wind and solar energy
- Eneco enters energy suppliers’ top-three
Both parties today signed an agreement by which Eneco acquires full ownership of Eni Belgium. As a result, Eneco has taken a major step forward in its aims to make Belgium’s energy supplies sustainable. Eneco has the ambition to use its greater commercial clout as a result of the acquisition to invest more in local wind and solar energy. The business will continue to operate under the Eneco brand.
Since it began operating on the Belgian market in August 2011, Eneco has always conducted a sustainable strategy. In 2016, the company succeeded as a genuinely green provider in generating all of its energy for domestic customers using Belgian wind and solar energy. After the acquisition of Eni Belgium, Eneco will be supplying more than a million households and 55,000 business customers with electricity and gas.
This growth will enable the company to further increase local production and the supply of green energy.
Smart services
Both companies will complement each other in terms of innovative and sustainable energy services. Eni Belgium has long been involved in smart home services that enable consumers to save on their energy bills. And as an energy director, Eneco is increasingly putting customers at the helm, by supplying products and services which they can use to generate, use, store, and share their energy. There are projects relating to insulation, solar panels, energy storage using home storage systems, and electric charging stations, as well as customer participation projects.
As part of the agreement, Eneco will also acquire three wind turbines belonging to Eni Belgium. The aim is to use the Eneco name to develop the company into a sustainable, innovative energy player with real impact. This will involve combining the strengths of both businesses. Eneco will carefully examine how the building blocks of both companies can best be fitted together, working transparently and in close consultation with the social partners.
For the time being, nothing changes for Eneco and Eni Belgium customers: the contract terms and conditions and the rates will not be influenced by this agreement. In the long run, the brand name for Eni customers will become Eneco, however.
The transaction will be conducted when all authorities have approved it. Eneco and Eni are not releasing any financial details about the transaction.
This step fits perfectly with our aim to make the Belgian energy market sustainable. Like us, Eni has long been involved in providing smart services that give customers peace of mind and enable them to deal more efficiently with the energy they use. At Eneco, we focus on client centricity. As one of the challengers in the energy market, Eneco has always achieved outstanding scores amongst VREG and Test-Aankoop for the services it provides. Customer service is also firmly in Eni’s DNA. Together, we will continue our quest to become the sustainable and customer-focused alternative to the traditional suppliers in Belgium.
This acquisition fits in well with Eneco Group's strategy: we want to grow in supplying renewable energy to customers, grow in developing smart energy services, and grow in several North-West European countries among which in Belgium, where we have been active for years. Thanks to the acquisition of Eni Belgium, Eneco has now placed itself in an excellent position for the future.
About Eneco Group
Eneco Group is a group of companies operating in the field of sustainable energy and innovation. Together with our customers, partners and our 2,900 employees we strive to achieve our mission: ‘Everyone’s sustainable energy’. Eneco Group invests in wind and solar farms, biomass plants and green district heating with the aim to increase the share of sustainable energy. Furthermore, we develop innovative products and services that enable our customers to be in charge of how they generate, store, use or share energy.Eneco Group is headquartered in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and operates in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Germany and France. www.enecogroup.com
Eneco Belgium
Eneco has been active on the Belgian consumer market since 2011 and supplies 100 percent renewable and locally produced energy through its 86 wind turbines and 250.000 solar panels. Eneco will start building Norther in 2018, Belgian’s biggest offshore windfarm. Eneco Belgium supplies green energy and gas to close to 300.000 residential households, 25.000 small offices and 11.000 industrial clients.Eneco engages his customers to actively pursue energy efficiency by projects like isolation, solar panels, energy storage, e-Mobility solutions and other innovative products and services. Eneco Belgium is based in Mechelen and has more than 200 employees. www.eneco.be
Photo below: windturbines of Eneco België in Zeebrugge, Belgium.
