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Joulz
BeneluxEnergy
Overview
Joulz is a leading owner and provider of essential energy infrastructure equipment and services in the Netherlands. It leases essential energy infrastructure equipment and meters to a large and diversified customer base of industrial, commercial and public sector customers. It has two business units: Infrastructure Services and Metering.
The Infrastructure Services business owns and leases medium voltage electricity infrastructure such as transformers, switchgear and cables under long-term contracts. The Metering business owns and leases approximately 50,000 electricity and gas meters for non-household customers under medium term contracts.Recent developments
Financial performance for Joulz wasbroadly in line with expectations in the year. The carve-out from Stedin and implementation of a new ERP system are now complete. The Infrastructure Services business is seeing strong order intake ahead of expectations, which is partially offset by some delays to project completions and by some churn in the Metering business. A new head of Metering was appointed during the year, and performance has improved in recent months.
Following the innovative micro-grid solution developed for a customer near Schiphol Airport, Joulz continues to see strong interest in the larger integrated projects which bring together Infrastructure Services, Metering, Solar and other storage/generation products to solve customers’ increasingly complex power requirements.
In December 2021, the Company invested £5 million of further equity in Joulz to fund growth projects, including the acquisition of further commercial transformers from Stedin.
Investment Rationale
3i Infrastructure acquired Joulz in April 2019, having committed to invest in March 2019.
- Strong established asset base as well as good potential for growth
- Joulz is set to benefit from the Dutch government’s commitment to decarbonise the economy (the ‘Energy Transition’)
- The Energy Transition is expected to increase electricity consumption and demand for Joulz’s equipment and services
- 3i Infrastructure has relevant experience from investing in the Netherlands and previous investments in the electricity and leasing sectors
Sustainability
Sustainability is a key element of Joulz’s business strategy: it has expanded its customer offering into new energy transition solutions with solar and EV charging products, and is exploring opportunities in low-carbon heating solutions and energy storage.