IDEX partners with EREN and ACCENTA to create an integrated player in the energy transition of real estate assets

• AÏDEN is an integrated provider of low-carbon thermal systems, combining EREN’s financial resources, IDEX’s industry expertise, and ACCENTA’s disruptive technology.
   
• Today, 12% of the world’s final energy consumption[1] (25% in France[2]) originates from the heating and air conditioning of buildings, representing a major challenge in addressing climate change.
   
• As an extension of the Paris Agreements, the Tertiary Decree sets a target to reduce energy consumption of buildings by 40% by 20303 in France, thus imposing the need for ever more efficient solutions.
   
• AÏDEN provides innovative solutions that can reduce buildings’ energy consumption by 60% and their CO₂ emissions by 80% at a very competitive cost, with a technology that combines geothermal probes, heat pumps, solar panels, and an Artificial Intelligence control system which adapts to the characteristics and thermal needs of the building.
   
• To address these issues over the long term, AÏDEN covers the entire value chain: design, construction, financing, installation, and maintenance of low-carbon energy systems for existing or new buildings, real-estate complexes, and eco-districts.

Boulogne-Billancourt, Thursday 24 September 2020 – IDEX, a leading player in infrastructure and energy services, EREN Groupe, an international group specialising in the preservation of natural resources and renewable energies, and ACCENTA, an expert in Artificial Intelligence for low-carbon optimization of buildings, announced today the creation of AÏDEN, a joint venture dedicated to the energy and environmental transition of buildings. AÏDEN aims to bring to market an integrated range of low-carbon thermal systems for building owners and managers.

The building industry is one of the main consumers of energy and producers of CO₂ emissions, and is a key factor in ecological transition. In France, the building industry accounts for 45% of energy consumption and 27% of CO₂ emissions[3].

Given the ecological imperative and the opportunity represented by the thermal renovation of buildings, AÏDEN employs on the disruptive technology developed by ACCENTA to maximize the use of low carbon energies. Combined with EREN’s financial resources and IDEX’s industry expertise, this technology enables AÏDEN to offer a unique heating /air conditioning system which combines inter-seasonal geothermal storage with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

With this innovative approach, AÏDEN offers solutions which capture heat from renewable sources and air conditioning systems (in summer) and store it for reuse to heat buildings in the winter. Similarly, cold is captured (in winter) and stored for reuse during summer to cool buildings. Through this management of renewable resources, AÏDEN offers thermal solutions that are highly cost-effective compared with those based on fossil fuels and traditional renovation of insulation.

ACCENTA’s technology, particularly, makes it possible to optimise the design, installation and system management, taking into account various factors such as the building’s thermal performance, its inertia, the outside temperature, and the weather forecast.

These offered services enable, depending on the case, optimal energy management of single buildings or real estate stocks as well as to respond to the energy and environmental issues of eco-districts.

Benjamin Fremaux, Chief Executive Officer of IDEX, states: “ACCENTA’s technology is a game-changer in terms of reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. Combined with IDEX’s operational expertise and skills in providing energy services, it represents an innovative response to the needs of building owners and managers seeking to decarbonise their properties.”

Pâris Mouratoglou, Chairman of the Supervisory Board and founder of EREN Group, comments: “By joining forces with IDEX and ACCENTA, we have developed an innovative approach that allows the extension of the field of renewable energies producing electricity, via wind and photovoltaic, to the thermal field, while ensuring a high level of efficiency and very competitive prices. This new technology enables us to continue our long-term commitment to support the implementation of low-carbon solutions.”

Pierre Trémolières, Chairman and co-founder of ACCENTA, adds: “France has adopted an ambitious National Low-Carbon Strategy, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and the government has put energy transition at the heart of its recovery plan. In this context, the creation of AÏDEN is a perfect example of companies joining forces to develop a disruptive technology that will support the environmental transformation of a whole segment of the economy and make it accessible to the widest possible market. Already, major groups like AIRBUS, PROLOGIS, EUROVIA, a VINCI subsidiary, and ICADE have placed their trust in us and we are impatient to build on this momentum.”

About IDEX

Through its two core business activities related to energies in territories and energy efficiency services, the IDEX group is a major player in the energy transition in France. It aims to reduce the carbon footprint of regional territories and optimize its customers’ energy bills while ensuring their thermal comfort. The group is involved in the development of sustainable cities, including capturing and distributing local renewable energies (geothermal and biomass), recovering energy (from waste, data centres, wastewater and combined heat and power plants), enhancing energy performance and providing sustainable building management services. First French independent operator of energy services, IDEX achieved more than €1 billion revenues in 2019, is present throughout France with more

than 100 agencies and 4,200 employees, engineers and specialized technicians. Since September 2019, with the acquisition of Danpower Baltic in Lithuania and Go4green in Belgium, the IDEX group has confirmed its ambitions for growth on a European scale.

About EREN Group

EREN Group was created in 2012 by Pâris Mouratoglou and David Corchia, respectively founder and former CEO of EDF Energies Nouvelles (now known as EDF Renouvelables). Through its Total Eren subsidiary, the Group is an independent power producer, specialising in renewable energies, and low-carbon industrial activities. It has strong expertise in developing, financing, building, and operating solar photovoltaic and wind farms across the world. Total Eren now has more than 2,400 MW of renewable energy facilities in operation or under construction, along with more than 2,000 MW of projects under development across five continents. EREN Group also promotes sustainable and competitive industrial solutions aiming at preserving all kinds of natural resources. As part of these efforts, EREN Industries is developing companies that offer innovative technologies in the global market. Its EREN TES subsidiary focuses on reducing energy consumption in buildings with its Fafco and Cryogel heat recovery and cold storage technologies, and through its equity stake in ACCENTA.

About ACCENTA

ACCENTA is a high-tech company which develops software to design and operate low-carbon heating and air-conditioning systems at a competitive price compared to existing industry-standard solutions. ACCENTA’s technology incorporates physical models and simulators for short-term and inter-seasonal thermal storage systems, heat pumps, thermal solar systems, and cooling units. To optimise thermal storage, ACCENTA is developing artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to oversee systems in a proactive way, optimising their thermodynamic and environmental performance.

Press contacts

Brunswick Group – Yannick Tetzlaff/Laura de Carné:

Tel : + 33 (0) 1 53 96 83 83

Email : eren@brunswickgroup.com

For AÏDEN: Pierre Trémolières – Chairman - Tel: +33 (0)1 84 19 71 53

For IDEX: Didier Roux-Dessarps - Deputy Chief Executive Officer – Tel: +33 (0)6 09 44 71 73

For EREN Group: Thierry Faugeras – Chief Executive Officer Eren TES – Tel: +33 (01) 58 97 26 73

For ACCENTA: Yann Usseglio – Head of Marketing – Tel: +33 (0)1 84 19 71 53