IPPN

The Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) has announced details of an exclusive deal for 3,300 primary schools with competitive electricity provider Energia offering savings of up to 10% on energy costs. Combined, the total annual electricity requirement of all 3,300 schools is in the order of 68GWh, the equivalent power usage of over 14,500 homes.

Energia supplies power to businesses, commercial and industrial markets offering competitive prices and currently has a 25% market share in the business electricity market on an all island basis.

Established in 2000, IPPN is an independent, professional association of Principals and Deputy Principals with 6,000 members based in 3,300 primary schools. It organises a wide range of local and national activities to carry out its main objectives of supporting school leaders and enhancing the overall quality of education in Irish primary schools.

Michael Nugent, Regional Manager, Energia, said: "We are pleased to announce this deal which will potentially benefit over three thousand schools around the country. With one quick call to Energia, primary schools can now switch to Energia and realise major cost savings almost immediately."
Seán Cottrell, Director, IPPN, said, "Energia can provide an efficient service and considerable cost savings to our members. We are actively encouraging all our members to avail of this deal in order to realise immediate savings on their schools' electricity bills.

A member of the Viridian Group, Energia sources power from the Group's gas - fired power station at Huntstown in Dublin. The Viridian Group's second power plant at Huntstown was rececently completed, which brings its investment in the Republic of Ireland to EUR 500 million, providing around 17%of the State's total electricity requirements.

Energia has offices in Dublin, Galway, Cork, Belfast and Omagh.
Ends

Viridian Group
Viridian Group, the Irish energy business, owns Energia, Huntstown Power, Northern Ireland Electricity, NIE Energy and Powerteam Electrical Services. The Group has a turnover of circa £1 billion / €1.5 billion and employs around 1,500 staff.
Viridian has played a leading role in promoting and developing the all-island energy market. Viridian's strategy is strongly focused on growing an integrated energy business in the competitive market across the island of Ireland, maximising the efficiency of its regulated electricity infrastructure in Northern Ireland and growing an integrated energy business in the competitive market across Ireland, backed by its investment in power generation.

Viridian's independent retail arm, Energia, is a leading supplier of competitive electricity to the industrial and commercial electricity markets. Energia has a 25% market share in the business electricity market on an all-island basis. Its retail position in the new single electricity market is underpinned by Viridian's investment in state of the art, gas fired generation plant at Huntstown, North Dublin.

Energia has over 210 MW of renewable capacity contracted within its energy portfolio, enough to supply 20,000 businesses or 130,000 homes annually. This renewable capacity will save approximately 275,000 tonnes of CO2 and other harmful emissions from entering the atmosphere and is equivalent to taking 65,000 cars off the roads. As part of this 210 MW of renewable capacity, Energia has entered into long-term contracts with developers that will underpin the construction of 15 new wind farms in Ireland between 2007- 2009, with an estimated contract value of €550m.
The gas supplier of choice to over 25% of the largest industrial and commercial gas users in Ireland, Energia supplies one third of all gas consumed in Ireland.

Hunstown, the first independent generator in the Republic, consists of two combined cycle gas turbines with a total generation capacity of 747 megawatts. Capable of supplying up to 17% of electricity requirements on an all-island basis, Huntstown 1 and 2 brings Viridian's total investment in the Irish electricity market to around €500 million.
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) owns and manages the Northern Ireland Electricity infrastructure, which connects around 800,000 customers via a network of 45,000 km (28,000 miles), of which 32,000 km (20,000 miles) are overhead lines. TBC Julia updating figures.

NIE Energy supplies electricity to around 780,000 homes and businesses in Northern Ireland. As Northern Ireland's premier energy retailer, NIE Energy aims to provide customers with great value for money and the highest standards of customer service. Committed to helping the environment, NIE Energy supplies Eco Energy, renewable electricity, to more than 21,000 households. A UK leader in `pay-as-you-go' Keypad metering, around one in four households in Northern Ireland now pay by this method. For more details visit www.nieenergy.co.uk
Powerteam Electrical Services designs, supplies and constructs high voltage electricity networks for utility and private operators in the UK and Ireland.

For further Information:

Energia: Tim Kinsella / Emily Maher, MRPA KINMAN Communications
Tel: (01) 678 8330

Viridian Group Limited: Viridian Group Corporate Communications
Tel. (048) 9068 9483. Website: www.viridiangroup.co.uk or www.viridiangroup.ie
About IPPN

The Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) is an independent, professional association of school leaders with over 6,000 members based in 3,300 Primary schools. Established in 2000 IPPN's aims to:
â€Â¢ Professionalise school leadership to ensure quality learning
â€Â¢ Represent school leaders on professional issues
â€Â¢ Resource the professional needs of school leaders
â€Â¢ Influence education policy