Smart meter first-round tender deadline extended until Friday

Distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO has extended, until this Friday, the first-round deadline of its new tender concerning procurement and installation of digital power meters around the country.

The operator decided on the extension, the fifth to be offered to interested parties since the tender’s launch earlier this year, following requests made by major players, believed to be interested in the project.

The project, entailing the installation of approximately 7.5 million smart meters, is expected to be completed in 2030 and its budget is estimated at 830 million euros.

American, European and Asian firms are said to be interested. At least seven major international players are reportedly considering DEDDIE/HEDNO’s tender for smart meters in Greece. These are: US company Honeywell, Germany’s Siemens, France’s Schneider Electric, the UK’s Sagemcom, Italy’s Itron, Slovenia’s Iscra Emeco and Switzerland’s Landis+Gyr, which has transferred its production lines to the factory of its Greek subsidiary in Corinth, west of Athens.

A number of these candidates are expected to establish partnerships with Greek companies for the DEDDIE/HEDNO tender.

DEDDIE/HEDNO launched this new tender after its previous procedure, launched several years ago, was eventually brought to a standstill as a result of legal battles between rival bidders.

European CEO Alliance backs ambitious climate strategy

100 billion euros of investment to decarbonize their companies by 2030, a gradual introduction of a cross-sector CO2 price and ambitious phase-out dates for coal: These are some of the key points of ten top managers from the energy, transport and technology industries issued in a joint position paper. Thereby, the leading European CEOs are calling for far-reaching climate protection measures at the occasion of the seventh international climate strike on Friday, March 19, 2021.

The ten business leaders Björn Rosengren (ABB), Thierry Vanlancker (AkzoNobel), Francesco Starace (ENEL), Leonhard Birnbaum (E.ON), Ignacio Galán (Iberdrola), Søren Skou (Maersk), Christian Klein (SAP), Henrik Henriksson (Scania), Jean-Pascale Tricoire (Schneider Electric) and Herbert Diess (Volkswagen) are members of the “CEO Alliance for Europe’s Recovery, Reform and Resilience”.

This CEO Alliance formed in 2020 against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and the historic decisions on the European Green Deal. Their common goal is to make the EU the world’s leading region for climate protection while unlocking investments, driving innovations in tomorrow’s technologies and creating future-proof jobs.

The top managers published a joint position paper with ambitious proposals. They state: “We firmly believe that the EU Green Deal and Next Generation EU will put Europe’s innovation and business ingenuity to the service of the global climate cause, will kick-start a wave of investments into sustainability and resilience and will create future-proof jobs across the EU.”

The CEOs encourage European policy makers to take bold steps towards climate neutrality such as “continuing to pursue a standardized cross-sector CO2 price” and “setting end-dates for carbon-intense technologies”.

The CEO Alliance considers itself an “Action Tank”, working together in concrete joint projects: Cross-EU charging infrastructure for heavy duty transport, integration of EU Power systems, digital carbon footprint tracking, sustainable healthy buildings, e-buses for Europe, green hydrogen value chain and rapid build-up of battery production.

The aspiration of the top managers is to work with their companies across sectors to find practical solutions for effective climate protection. In doing so, they strive for an ongoing constructive dialogue with the EU Commission. In a digital meeting just days ago, the Executive Vice President of the Commission Frans Timmermans and the CEOs discussed the progress on the implementation of the Green Deal and the interim status of the Alliance’s joint projects.

Executive Vice-President Timmermans stated: “Making Europe climate neutral by 2050 is a huge challenge. The European Commission will propose legislation to put sectors like transport and energy on the right track. Our long term plan includes investment in charging infrastructure, battery production, renovation and renewable energy production. The NextGeneration EU recovery fund will help make this possible. Our goal is not any transition, it’s a just and fair transition, leaving no one behind. I welcome the CEO Alliance’s commitment to Europe’s green recovery and share their conviction that their companies have what it takes to build a sustainable future.”

 

 

 

 

 

Cross-industry climate change effort emphasized by CEO Alliance

The CEO of multinational power company Enel, Francesco Starace,  and chief executives from eleven European companies, have joined forces for a zero-carbon future and a more resilient Europe, Enel has announced in a statement.

The European Union is committed to net zero emissions by 2050, which is in line with the CEO Alliance companies’ own decarbonization strategies, the statement noted.

All members support the Paris 2050 goals, the EU Green Deal and the ambition to raise EU climate targets. They represent different industries, generate a combined 600 billion euros in annual revenues and employ 1.7 million people. The CEO Alliance channels their decarbonization efforts: it connects sectors and strategies, identifies potential for collaboration, and fosters projects and investments for a sustainable economy and society.

At its inaugural meeting in Stuttgart, the cross-industry alliance underscored: “The climate targets of the European Union are feasible. Our industries do not block, but rather foster the shift toward a carbon-neutral economy. We see growth potential for all industries in the long run. If we manage this historic transformation successfully, sustainable development and new future-proof jobs will be the result. Together, we will support all efforts to reach a social consensus for more sustainability.”

With yesterday’s start, the CEO Alliance becomes an association of action that unites corporate strategies, industries and societies on the road to a carbon-neutral Europe.

All members believe the new climate targets of the European Commission, envisaging emission reductions of 55% by 2030, are manageable.

On the industry side, the CEO Alliance members have already pledged to invest more than 100 billion euros in their respective decarbonization roadmaps over the next years to help reach these targets.

Every member has defined its own strategy to address decarbonization, by reducing carbon emissions across the relevant value chains and by offering sustainable products and services to customers. For reaching the respective CO2 targets, each member and each sector is dependent on other members and sectors, which especially calls for cross-sector activities.

Collaboration potential of the Alliance was identified in six fields: in energy systems, renewable power generation must be scaled up rapidly and power grids must be modernized. In terms of mobility and transport, the EV charging infrastructure must be expanded and the low-carbon transport or shipping of goods intensified. Zero-impact production – in particular for renewable power generation components – and sustainable battery production are key aspects in manufacturing and industrial processes. In terms of buildings and urban environments, the focus is on zero-emission offices and sustainable green city planning. In regard to new business models, the focus is on carbon tracking with digital technologies in the supply chain. The field of sustainable finance will also offer new opportunities.

The members also agree that the transformation towards a net-zero carbon future needs to be based on a broad public consensus. The CEO Alliance is willing to contribute to this consensus, and to establish a social contract, by intensifying the dialogue between stakeholders from the private sector, public sector and civil society. At the same time, the members call on political leaders to create the necessary political support and incentives. At the inaugural meeting, the dialogue started with a discussion with Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the European Commission.

The CEO Alliance is convinced that ambitious decarbonization and cross-sector collaboration require ambitious and cross-sector policy frameworks, for example carbon pricing with a minimum floor price in the EU Emissions Trading System, a reform of the energy taxation system, and driving demand for sustainable, innovative and digital solutions, among other things by using renewal schemes, public procurement and investments.

The CEO Alliance represents members from key industry sectors: ABB, AkzoNobel, Eon, Enel, Iberdrola, A.P. Møller Maersk, Philips, SAP, Scania, Schneider Electric, Siemens and Volkswagen.

Following an initial joint letter to the European Commission in June 2020, the first face-to-face meeting underscored the commitment to act fast and to recognize the urgency of the necessary transformation for future competitiveness.