Ever smarter CPL Concordia

EVER SMARTER

Industry Europe speaks to CPL Concordia again and learns of very interesting news from Mr Zocchi (Sales Director – Products, services and information technologies for natural gas) in terms of smart metering, wood gas cogeneration and a new US based joint-venture. Barbara Rossi reports.

The CPL Concordia group, which last spoke to Industry Europe just over two years ago, was established in 1899 as a work production cooperative. In fact, the acronym which is part of its name bears exactly this meaning (which in Italian is ‘Cooperativa di Produzione Lavoro’). Over the many years of its existence its activities drastically evolved and expanded (initially it was focused on land reclamation, excavation, canal digging, embankment construction and laying out of roads), but it has remained true to its mission of generating real, safe work, which gives dignity to those who carry it out, while offering a reliable, consistent and professional service. Today CPL Concordia is involved in a wide range of activities, covering a variety of sectors including gas, power, photovoltaic, cogeneration, biogas and biomass, water and oil & gas services. Its offer of services includes natural gas distribution, devices and services; public lighting and facility management; energy cogeneration (heat and power) and tri-generation (heat, power and cooling); photovoltaic and biogas; gas and district heating technological network construction and maintenance; water services and smart metering.

The group is headquartered in the Modena area of northern Italy (the exact location is Concordia sulla Secchia, hence the other part of its name). It also has a number of operational sites located all over Italy, as well as in some foreign countries, where it carries out activities more closely linked to their geographical area, such as heating management, construction and technological network maintenance .

The CPL Concordia cooperative group employs 1278 people and has 806 members. In 2012 it achieved a consolidated turnover of €411 million. It publishes an annual ‘social account’, 40 per cent of the electric power that it uses comes from renewable sources and has carried out 91 initiatives in favour of the community. It mainly operates in Italy, but is also active in Romania, Poland, Tunisia, Algeria, India and now the US. It has a representative office in Germany, through which it will further its development on Northern European markets. Synfon, the US and smart meters.

“A recent development has been that of Synfon, a high-efficiency and integrated plant for cogeneration from wood gas, which integrates the gas plant Spanner RE2. This system is designed and assembled by CPL Concordia and is able to produce, in a continuous process of synthesis, gas from the pyrolysis of wood biomass; it uses the gas to power a CHP plant for the production of electricity and heat. The CPL system has been optimised and tested to achieve the highest levels of energy efficiency, through a sophisticated calibration procedure and computerised management of the entire process. The strength of this product lies unquestionably in the housing that contains the system (CHP/gasifier/ dryer), which makes Synfon a “plug and play” product that, apart from being easy to install and handle, is totally unique in the market” Mr Zocchi explains. “Thanks to this system small mountain communities will be able to produce power and heat using waste wood”.

Another interesting piece of news is the establishment of Manhattan based CPL Concordia US, with the merger of two major acquisitions. The new company, which employs 21 people, is jointly owned with US partner ‘G Three Partners’. “We already have contracts for the electrical services and metering of 40 tall buildings, the most important being the very famous Empire State Building. Forecasts for the U.S. market indicate a turnover of over $50 million over the next five years. CPL Concordia USA is now the sole shareholder of the New York Electric Maintenance & Data Corp. – an enterprise, formerly owned by G Three Partners, that specialises in system engineering and maintenance – and fully controls CPL Energy Management Service Group Inc., which was created following the acquisition of assets from Archangel Energy Group Inc. CPL EMS Group will handle metering, engineering and technical services, monitoring and fuel billing. This operation fits within the group’s framework of development and is of particular interest because the US market demand for alternative energy and associated services is growing at an extremely fast rate. Fur-

thermore, finding industrial partners for our international activities, who can recognise the high level of technology and expertise that we can offer and which can be combined with their activities, is extremely important in conquering new markets.”

Lastly, but equally importantly, Mr Zocchi talks about smart metering. This is an activity which is not new to CPL Concordia, but which the group has developed significantly in the last two years. “We are now offering a new residential natural gas smart meter with remote communication and management system, called EG4. It sets a new standard in natural gas metering and it has been especially developed to comply with the Italian Regulator Authority Standard 155/2008. It represents a perfect match between a traditional diaphragm mechanical meter and advanced electronic high performance metering. Furthermore, this meter offers a range of additional features. While this product has been developed for the Italian market, in response to the previously mentioned standard, which follows the EU directive on energy efficiency and which will come into force next year, we also know that similar requirements will be gradually implemented in the UK, starting from 2015, and soon in France as well.”

All of these innovations are part of the development strategy of the group, which involves growth within Europe and other markets. The goal set out by the recently approved industrial plan for 2012-2015 is that of continuing with the growth experienced in the last five years. One of its main goals is expansion in both established and new foreign markets. n

Via Torricella, 40 42122 Reggio Emilia Tel: 0522 355511 Fax: 0522 556880 E-mail: informa@bertani.it Web: www.bertani.it Bertani S.p.A distributes and sells leading brands of sanitary fittings, heating and air conditioning systems, energy saving and renewable energy systems, bathroom furniture, brassware, showers, Jacuzzis, wellness systems, sliding doors and systems, tiles and flooring both in Italy and abroad.

The company was set up in 1916; over the years it has grown, acquiring new sites and widening the range of products and services on offer.

Currently it has a turnover of over 50 million Euros, thanks to its 10 operational sites, 7,500sqm of showroom space, about 160 employees and over 200 distributed brands. Since its foundation Bertani S.p.A has been a family-run company.

Among the companies belonging to the Bertani Group, there are Bertani London Ltd –which manages the London outlet – and Dubai-based Bertani Middle East Llc, which distributes the company’s products in the Gulf States.