Bee Chooses Veolia to Operate the Future Ghent Biomass Power Plant

Regulatory News:

Able to produce 215 MW of electricity, the new biomass power plant owned by the electricity and gas company Belgian Eco Energy (Bee) will be one of the largest in Europe. Veolia (Paris:VIE) will be responsible for its operation for 15 years with revenues of around 150 million euros.

The future power plant owned by the electricity and gas company Belgian Eco Energy (Bee) will have the tremendous potential to produce 215 MW of electricity from wood chip. Compared with a coal-fired power plant, this 100% biomass project will avoid CO₂ emissions equivalent to heating the homes of Ghent’s 240,000 residents. Veolia has been contracted for its operation with revenues of around 150 million euros.

"With Veolia, we are confident of having a world-renowned partner able to commit to a results guarantee because of the experience they have acquired with similar projects,” says Michael Corten, CEO of Bee.

Construction of the plant, scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2016, will take three years and create more than 1,000 jobs in the region. The electricity generated will be sold to industrial concerns and fed into the grid.

Veolia will work with Bee right from the beginning of this construction phase in order to ensure the best operability of the facility and then take charge, under the best possible conditions, of the power plant it will operate for the first 15 years after it is commissioned.

The future biomass power plant at the international Port of Ghent will help Belgium contribute to achieving the European Union's 2020 targets, in particular greenhouse gas emission reductions, as this plant will avoid the emission of 450,000 metric tons of CO₂ each year compared with an equivalent natural gas-fired plant.

By providing 2% of Belgium's total electricity production, the plant will also contribute to increasing the share of renewable energy in the country's energy mix together with improving its energy efficiency by introducing the most efficient technology.

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Created in 2010, Bee is a Belgian company that provides companies with renewable energy from its own generating plants and its local network for the production of renewable energy: biomass, cogeneration, and solar and wind power. In 2016, Bee will undertake the construction of one of the world’s largest biomass plants in the Port of Ghent: Bee Power Gent SA. www.bee.eu

Veolia group is the global leader in optimized resource management. With over 179,000 employees* worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish them.
In 2014, the Veolia group supplied 96 million people with drinking water and 60 million people with wastewater service, produced 52 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 31 million metric tons of waste into new materials and energy. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of €24.4 billion* in 2014.
www.veolia.com

(*) 2014 pro-forma figures, including Dalkia International (100%) and excluding Dalkia France.

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