Companies: REH    SYM   

UK regulator Ofgem has told gas and electricity firms to spend an extra £260 million on infrastructure between 2007 and 2012. Decreeing that the total investment in gas and electricity will rise to £4.5 billion over that five-year period, Ofgem stated consumer bills were unlikely to burgeon significantly as a result of its decision. The investment splash will help prepare the UK for more gas imports and will also be targeted towards the renewable energy push.

On the small cap scene, there was an encouraging full year announcement from Renewable Energy Holdings, the technologies investor floated on AIM in early 2005. REH, which owns and operates wind farms in Germany, a landfill gas project in Wales producing electricity from collected methane gas, and is developing a unique wave energy device, is already receiving income from its first investments. Last year’s revenues were £1.47 million (representing only six months of operation), though losses before tax were £2.06 million. An active deal flow and substantial pipeline of investments is apparently in play.

Symphony Plastic Technologies is doing its bit for the green cause, having launched a new waste-to-energy business called Symphony Energy Resources, which will focus on energy reprocessing technology systems. First half figures from the lately troubled degradable plastics play underwhelmed, with losses of £870,000 posted on £2.35 million sales. However, the numbers reflected a business in flux, with Symphony having moved from high volume, low margin commodity business to a lower cost, higher margin environmental technology venture, focussed on expanding its ‘d2w’ technology. This causes plastic to degrade, leaving only water, a minimal amount of carbon dioxide and ‘trace’ amounts of non-toxic biomass.