competition 7 Dec 2009 08:47
Bglobal is still loss-making but well on its way to making a profit. Bglobal says that all its energy supplier customers are increasing orders. Bglobal has won a contract with Gazprom, which is trying to establish itself in the UK. Bglobal also has an agreement with Npower relating to the latter’s service which will enable customers to sell back electricity that they have generated from solar, wind or microCHP.
Bglobal was floundering earlier this year due to the loss of finance for the installation of meters. A new bank facility from Barclays has provided it with the cash needed to increase the rate of installations. Bglobal recently passed its flotation price of 50p a share for the first time since 2007.
So far Bglobal, which is a market leader, has installed 75,000 meters in its history, which provides an indication of how low the penetration of smart meters is in the UK Most of those are in commercial premises.
Utility services provider Spice Group could be another beneficiary. It has little direct smart metering exposure at the moment, although the acquisition of ComGroup during the summer will help. Spice has relationships with the utilities and already provides them with services. It also has energy efficiency and consultancy operations.
Another AIM-quoted smart metering firm, Qonnectis, has run out of cash and its shares have been suspended since the end of July. Qonnectis is predominantly involved in water meters but its technology is also used