An Irish energy company plans to invest €50 million to supply two major building projects in Australia.
CES Energy, owned by brothers Tom and Brendan Marren, has won two contracts to supply units providing both heat and electricity to buildings in Australia.
CES plans to raise €50 million to invest in its local subsidiary, Cogent Energy, to enable it to supply the contracts. Australian banks will loan the bulk of the money to Cogent, while the Marrens will also contribute some of the cash needed.
Cogent will supply combined heat and power units to Blackmores Healthcare, a well-known business in Australia, which is developing what will be the country's most energy-efficient building in Sydney.
The second project is for Sydney's biggest commercial building, which is currently being renovated. Combined heat and power is the simultaneous generation of heat and electricity from a single process.
The heat can be used for heating, producing hot water or to power air conditioning and cooling. The technology is favoured because of its efficiency. A number of countries have introduced cash supports and incentives to encourage its use as it cuts greenhouse gas emissions.
It also allows companies to generate their own energy rather than rely on outside suppliers.
The units that CES and Cogent will be supplying in Australia can be powered by either wood chip or natural gas. Marrens set up CES Energy in 2002 to cash in on the demand from Irish and European companies for technology that will help control and manage their energy costs. CES is a majority shareholder in Cogent Energy. Brendan Marren helped set up the company when he was working in Australia.
During his time there, he worked in telecoms, mainly for businesses that were involved in pre-paid services.
His brother Tom, owns Marren Engineering, which provides heating, ventilation and air conditioning products and services for buildings. He warned yesterday that the Republic needs to shift its focus from buying carbon credits, which allow industries to pollute, to encouraging the use of more energy efficient systems.
