Groundbreaking Sustainable Energy Project Launch at Southampton's Port.

Southampton is continuing to lead the UK in sustainable innovation by becoming the UK's first

city to connect and power its port through a high efficiency and low-carbon Combined Heat and

Power (CHP) District Energy Scheme.

On Friday 5th June at the Arrivals Lounge, City Cruise Terminal, Southampton Docks, Alan

Whitehead MP (Southampton Test) officially launched Associated British Ports' (ABP) electrical

connection from the Southampton Geothermal Heating Company's (SGHC) District Energy

Scheme by unveiling a plaque to mark the occasion and presenting it to the Port Director, Doug

Morrison.

The Rt. Hon John Denham MP was scheduled to perform the launching ceremony but at the

last minute Alan kindly stood in for John who that morning had been summoned to Downing

Street to be offered the position of Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Invited guests from ABP, the City Council, other Hampshire Local Authorities and a wide range

of business representatives from the City heard speeches from Simon Woodward, CEO

Utilicom, Doug Morrison, Port Director, Cllr Matt Dean Cabinet Member for the Environment,

Southampton City Council and Alan Whitehead MP.

The Project

The innovative project connects the Port with the Energy Centre in Harbour Parade. It supplies

the port with 55% of its total electricity demands from a low carbon source, with further

increases planned for the future.

Plaque presentation. From left to right; Simon Woodward, Alan Whitehead MP, Doug Morrison, Cllr Matt Dean

The pioneering District Energy Scheme, the largest of its kind in the UK, generates low carbon

sustainable energy for the city in the form of heat, cooling and power. Using Combined Heat

and Power (CHP) and geothermal technologies the scheme currently delivers very large annual

reductions in the City's C02 emissions - over 11,000 tonnes a year (the equivalent of taking

more than 2000 saloon cars off Britain's roads*). The project to connect the port was conceived

by the Utilicom Group (owner of SGHC) and ABP Southampton working closely with

Southampton City Council. The unique partnership between the City Council and the Utilicom

Group has ensured that Southampton is at the very forefront in delivering sustainability energy

in the UK.

Utilicom and the City Council had long sought a commercial partner within the City to consume

the 23.5 million kWe of generated electricity which was formerly exported to the national grid,

and both were delighted when ABP recognised the potential of this ambitious connection and

its large CO2 savings.

Engineering history was made in December 2008, when the parties celebrated the final ˜pulling'

of a 25-tonne private wire cable through underground ducts over a mile across the city. Never

before had such an ambitious engineering feat been attempted across a major busy city and it

is a testament to the commitment and willingness of all parties who worked to deliver this

remarkable project.

This is also the first time a decentralised energy commercial partnership has collaborated in

such a manner in helping to reduce a city's carbon emissions. To enable the Port to consume

the sustainable power generated by the scheme, a Power Purchase Agreement was signed by

Utilicom and ABP in May 2008. The construction project has since been rapidly delivered by

Utilicom with power being made available since April.

Simon Woodward, Utilicom Chief Executive said This is another first for Southampton and

Utilicom is delighted to have delivered this major engineering project in the heart of the City.

ABP clearly takes its Corporate Social Responsibility seriously and is very keen to substantially

reduce its carbon footprint here in the City. We are extremely pleased to have assisted ABP

achieve such a significant carbon reduction and in doing so we have developed an excellent

working relationship, and hope to work together on similar projects in the future.

Doug Morrison, Port Director at ABP Southampton said: The Port is a major contributor to the

local economy and therefore has a constant influence on the people that live and work in the

Southampton region. We are so pleased that this agreement will make a positive change to the

local environment, as some 55% of the Port's annual power requirements can now be supplied

by this sustainable source.

Cllr Matt Dean, Cabinet Member for the Environment, Southampton City Council said:

Southampton City Council and Utilicom were pioneers of their time when the district energy

scheme was introduced in the city. The partnership is an example of how authorities can

provide sustainable energy to businesses and residents. By being the first to connect a port to a

district energy scheme, we are, once again, showing what is possible. The council is

determined to turn Southampton into one of the greenest cities in the country and this is just

one of a raft of initiatives that we are pushing through.

End

Also present at the event were:

Mike Smith: Commercial Director. Utilicom,

Bill Clark: Sustainability Policy Manager, Southampton City Council.

Ian Palacio: Commercial Manager ABP Southampton

For further information, please contact:

Craig Grobety: Commercial Assistant to CEO

Tel: 01293 549944 / 07970137182

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About Utilicom and Southampton Geothermal Heating Company

Utilicom is the UK's leading provider of district energy schemes and is part of the IDEX Group;

the largest privately owned Energy Services Company in France. The Group has over 3000

employees and an annual turnover of €500 million.

Utilicom's own head office is in Crawley, West Sussex but it has operational bases throughout

the UK including Southampton.

In 2001 and again in 2008 Utilicom received the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development.

The Southampton Geothermal Heating Company (SGHC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the

Utilicom Group.

Southampton District Energy Scheme's Heat Station in Harbour Parade

SGHC was established in 1987 in partnership with Utilicom and Southampton City Council to

deliver a citywide district energy scheme using efficient sustainable energy technologies. The

scheme features large and medium scale Combined Heat and Power (CHP), energy extracted

from a deep geothermal well and large scale chilled water plant, used for air conditioning

buildings across the City. Southampton is now widely acknowledged as the first modern

exemplar scheme in the UK.

Other recent connections to the energy scheme have been: -

¢ Etap hotel

¢ IKEA

¢ Carnival Cruise Headquarters

The next planned connections include:-

¢ Atlantic Housing Association's Development on the old Gantry site

¢ Capita's New Regional Offices in Guildhall Square

¢ New Police Headquarters at Dock 10

Working closely with the City Council many more connections are being considered.

CHP is Combined Heat and Power, where heat, which would otherwise be wasted, is recovered

during the generation of electricity, and used to heat a range of buildings via a network of

heating mains.

Working in partnership with Eastleigh Borough Council, Utilicom has also developed the

Eastleigh District Energy Scheme which serves the Fleming Park Leisure Centre and the

Council Offices.

Utilicom has a number of other District Energy Schemes in Birmingham, Hatfield, London (2),

Greenwich Millennium Village, Manchester and elsewhere. Over the coming years it plans to

build many more schemes based on the Southampton model.

About the Port of Southampton

Southampton is one of the UK's busiest and most important international gateway ports. It

contributes some £2 billion each year to the economy and is responsible for the direct

employment of more than 12,000 people.

The Port makes this contribution to the region as it is:

¢ The capital of the UK's cruise industry, with more than 900,000 passengers passing through in 2008

¢ An independent Southampton Cruise Tourism study has shown an average economic impact to the local economy of £1 million per cruise call. (Ref: TTC International & Roger Tym Partners)

¢ The number-one car-handling port in the UK

¢ The UK's second largest container terminal, handling more than 1.8 million container units in 2007

¢ Home to one of the busiest marine oil terminals in Europe

Gate Number 8: Associated British Ports Southampton

Map of the Southampton District Energy Scheme with ABP connection highlighted in green.