Green energy players go from strength to strength

Two of the UK's leading green energy suppliers were celebrating this week after Good Energy reported that pre-tax profits rose 30 per cent last year, while Ecotricity announced that it has secured planning permission for a new headquarters.

Good Energy announced yesterday that it enjoyed a sold 2009, shrugging off the effects of the recession as sales climbed over three per cent year-on-year to £18.3m and pre-tax profits leapt 30 per cent to £662,607.

The company accepted that it had faced "difficult market conditions" throughout 2009, but still managed to add 887 new customers, taking its total customer base to 26,000 households and businesses.

The company also signed up 2,675 customers to its new gas tariff and began work on its £12m project to revamp its Delabole wind farm in Cornwall.

Juliet Davenport, chief executive at the company said that the firm had " matured significantly" during the year and was now well positioned to take advantage of the growing interest in green energy driven by the government's new green tariff accreditation, feed-in tariff and renewable heat incentives schemes.

She added that the company was also "investigating the further development of small to medium-sized wind farms to supply energy to Good Energy" following the success of the Delabole project.

The news came as arch rival Ecotricity today announced that it is to move home after receiving the green light for ambitious plans to build a new " eco-headquarters" near its current head office in Stroud.

The company currently employs 170 people, but in a sign of the growing confidence coursing through the green energy sector its new £6-8m office will boast space for up to 300 staff and will operate in addition to the company's existing three offices.

The office will be built on the site of a derelict DSS building in Stroud town centre and will feature a host of environmental features such as rainwater harvesting, living walls and solar panels, which are designed to make it one of the greenest buildings in the UK.

"Our vision is for a living, breathing building that practically powers itself," said Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder and managing director. "Virtually all of the heating, cooling and lighting will come from natural sources around us, and any more will be provided by what we know works best – a dedicated windmill hopefully nearby to the town."

He added that he hoped the office would act as an "eco-beacon", helping to attract other clean technology firms to the area.