Centrica Buys Belgian Firm to Improve I&C Offer

Leading UK energy supplier Centrica said November 3 it has acquired Antwerp-based REstore, a leading demand-side response aggregator, for €70mn (£62mn) cash.

REstore manages 1.7GW of peak load from a portfolio of industrial and commercial (I&C) customers across Belgium, the UK, France and Germany, generating value for businesses through ancillary services including frequency response and capacity markets. Its software and international patents are used by more than 150 of Europe's largest energy users, said Centrica.

Centrica said the business will be folded into its Distributed Energy & Power unit, adding: “Demand response aggregation will become a core part of the offer to customers and is expected to represent a significant growth opportunity for Centrica as global electricity markets evolve.”

It follows Centrica’s acquisitions in 2016 of Neas Energy and ENER-G Cogen.  REstore’s co-founders Pieter-Jan Mermans and Jan-Willem Rombouts said: “There is clearly a momentum in the market right now so we are thrilled to be working with Centrica to further scale the go-to-market of REstore’s software solutions and demand response services in the UK, North America and other international markets.”

Mark Smedley