France-headed global waste and water management company Suez has announced that it is via its Corporate Investment Fund, Suez Ventures, investing a total of EUR 4.2 million through a joint shareholding in compatriot ETIA Group, a company specialising in green technology innovation, engineering, equipment and processes. The aim is to support the ETIA Group’s development in France and internationally and to create a full range of solutions for the production of green energy.
According to Suez, the market for renewable energy from biomass and waste is growing rapidly in France, Europe and internationally, particularly in the industrial sector, boosted by favourable economic and regulatory environments. Consumption of biomass for industrial heat production, for instance, has doubled in the last five years in Europe and is set to reach 20 million tonnes in 2021.
Suez, through its Corporate Investment Fund Suez Ventures, is investing in the ETIA Group through a joint shareholding in ETIA together with the Switzerland-based charity dedicated to the preservation of water and the oceans, Race For Water Foundation.
The agreement also includes SUEZ investing in the gasification technology start-up and ETIA Group subsidiary COGEBIO together with France-based cleantech investors Demeter Partners via its Demeter 3A seed fund and ETIA Group.
These investments fit in perfectly with the strategy of Suez, a key player in the circular economy. They allow the Group to expand its production of green, decentralised energy by developing new ways of recovering collected and transformed waste, said Loïc Voisin, Senior VP Group Innovation, Marketing and Business Performance at Suez.
The investments in ETIA and COGEBIO will make it possible to build on the technical and commercial skills of the Suez Group in order to roll out a comprehensive decentralised energy production offering (using solid, gaseous and liquid fuels) from all types of biomass and dry waste such as wood, sludge, plastics and Solid Recovered Fuels (SRF).
These innovative processes will allow clients – industrial companies, local authorities and tertiary companies – to meet their heating and electricity needs while ensuring low emission of particulates into the air, the neutrality of CO 2emissions and a return on investment within three to five years.
The joint shareholding with Suez Ventures not only represents a mark of confidence from a corporate fund specialising in ‘waste to energy’ issues, but also a fantastic boost for the ETIA Group in positioning itself as a leading company in the conversion of biomass and waste into high value-added products and energy, said Olivier Lepez, Chairman of ETIA and COGEBIO.
