This 20-year contract, worth €20 million over its duration, involves the construction and operation of a trigeneration plant to provide air conditioning and heating for 110,000 square metres of building space, including a shopping centre and hotel. The total investment amounts to €2.1 million.

The trigeneration process produces cooling, heating and power from a single energy source (here, a natural-gas-fired engine) by recovering the engine's exhaust gas. This type of installation offers significant environmental and cost advantages. It is much more efficient than conventional heating or chilling plants and considerably reduces particulate and greenhouse gas emissions. The solution proposed by Dalkia convinced project developer Yumao Estate, which wants to make Jiahe Yumao a national benchmark for environmental protection.

This new success story for Dalkia in China comes just a few months after the signature of a contract to operate the air conditioning system on the world's largest university campus, in Guangdong. It is the tangible result of Veolia Environnement's strategy to add energy services to its existing base of water and environmental services in China.

A subsidiary of Veolia Environnement and Electricité de France (EDF), Dalkia International is the leading European provider of energy services to local authorities and businesses. Since its creation, it has focused on energy and environmental optimisation. It meets customer expectations by delivering customised, end-to-end solutions to ensure comfortable living and efficient energy supply, including management of heating systems and energy and industrial fluid production facilities, energy plant engineering and maintenance services, technical services for commercial and industrial building operation, and global building management services. With more than 47,000 employees in 38 countries, Dalkia reported 2005 managed revenue of €6.1 billion.