SSE buys Irish street-light firm

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) will acquire Dublin-based street-lighting group ESB Contracts (ESBC) for a total cash consideration of €6.4m (£5.8m).

Under the agreement, ESB will provide transitional services to ensure service continuity of IT systems, property and vehicles.

Once the acquisition is complete, ESBC employees will have the option to transfer to the new company.

Under SSE ownership, the business will be known as Airtricity Utility Solutions.

SSE's Dublin-based subsidiary, Airtricity, already supplies electricity to more than 100,000 customer accounts in Ireland's Single Electricity Market.

It also owns and operates 325MW of wind-farm capacity in the Republic of Ireland and 75MW in Northern Ireland.

Ian Marchant, chief executive of SSE, said: ‘It is just two years since we set out our goal to extend SSE's activities beyond the Great Britain market and into Ireland and the acquisition of this street-lighting business adds to the step-by-step progress we have already made in electricity generation and energy supply.

‘The key task now is to make sure that the street-lighting service we deliver to local authorities and the communities they serve continues to be of the highest possible standard.’

SSE is currently the leading streetlight contractor in the UK and employs more than 800 people.

The company said it plans to continue investing in street-lighting management systems and use technologies that promote energy efficiency, carbon reductions and remote monitoring.