UPDATE: IBM Signs Clean Energy Deal With China's ENN Group
(Adds background on IBM's smart cities initiative, ENN deal with Duke Energy.)
By Aaron Back
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) said Friday
it has signed an agreement with Chinese gas-distribution and energy company ENN
Group to help Chinese companies and cities become more energy efficient.
IBM will provide consulting and information technology services to ENN Group
to help it become "a total clean energy solution and services provider," the two
companies said in a statement.
"The two companies will explore innovative business models for energy services
and help Chinese companies and cities develop a low-carbon economy," the
statement said.
The two companies said they will work together on IBM's "smart cities"
initiative in China, under which IBM uses information technology and data
analysis to make public services, in this case energy production and
distribution, more efficient.
In September, IBM launched its first full-scale smart city project in the
northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, to help the city improve everything from
water treatment to traffic management.
ENN, based in the northern Chinese province of Hebei, operates natural gas,
biofuels and thin-film solar panel manufacturing businesses. It is the parent
company of Hong Kong-listed XinAo Gas Holdings Ltd. (2688.HK), a piped-gas
distributor.
IBM's announcement follows news last month that Duke Energy Corp. signed an
agreement with ENN to help it develop and operate solar-power projects in the
U.S.
The companies will focus on developing large-scale solar farms to serve
utilities, as well as smaller commercial rooftop solar systems, according to
Duke.
IBM's statement didn't include any financial information on the agreement, but
D.C. Chien, chairman and CEO of IBM's Greater China Group, said in the statement
the deal with ENN is "IBM's biggest and most influential strategic collaboration
in China over the past decade."
-By Aaron Back, Dow Jones Newswires; (8610) 6588-5848; aaron.back@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-27-090428ET
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