SSE continues spending spree with CHP deal

Scottish and Southern Energy yesterday continued its green energy acquisition push, announcing that it has purchased a 21 per cent stake in fuel cell technology specialist Logan Energy Limited.

SSE has paid £375,000 plus goodwill brought to the business for its stake as part of a deal that has also seen the Scottish government's investment arm, Scottish Enterprise, pay the same sum for a 15 per cent stake.

Logan Energy Ltd is the UK subsidiary of US-based fuel cell developer Logan Energy Inc and specialises in fuel cell-based combined heat and power (CHP) systems for a range of residential, light commercial and industrial sites.

The company said it has implemented over 75 systems of over 8MW in the US and is now seeking to break into the UK and European market through its new subsidiary. It claims to be in discussions about over 20 potential installations and recently completed a deal to install a 200KW fuel cell at Transport for London's offices.

The investment from SSE is the latest in a series of deals from the energy giant as it seeks to build a full portfolio of green energy energy technologies. Since the start of the year the company has acquired wind farm operator Airtricity for over €1bn, invested £1m in smart meter specialist Onzo and most recently spent £15m on a 20 per cent stake in ground source heat pump provider Geothermal International.

The Logan Energy deal also marks SSE's second investment in as many months in fuel cell systems after the company announced last month that it is to plough £1m into a new CHP focused joint venture alongside UK fuel cell developer Intelligent Energy.

David Gardner, Head of Ventures at SSE, insisted that the two investments would complement each other "very effectively", adding that the latest deal formed another important part in the company's strategy of building a full portfolio of clean energy businesses.

SSE's acqisition spree is set to continue, according to Alex Desbarres, analyst at research firm Datamonitor. "I'd expect acquisition to continue and even increase, much as they will across the whole energy sector," he said. "SSE has just entered into ground source heat pumps which is more of a domestic technology, and I'd expect to see more deals from them in the microgeneration space."