WiseEnergy Africa awarded 500MW facilities management deal by ix:Africa fund
WiseEnergy Group now managing €2bn renewable energy assets worldwide
London – 7th December 2011: WiseEnergy Group, a leader in the complete management of renewable energy generation assets, with €2 billion under control, will manage up to 500MW of solar and wind power projects in South Africa on behalf of ix:Africa, a new impact investment fund seeking to raise €400m to dedicate to renewable energy projects in Africa.
Already present in the UK and Italy, the world’s largest market for solar energy, WiseEnergy will operate in Africa as WiseEnergy Africa. Its local team is already working with the ix:Africa fund and the South African Government to review the potential for major solar and wind projects in the country, ahead of the next round of government project auctions in March 2012.
WiseEnergy Africa offers investors seeking to enter the South African market a full suite of services, from project design and consent, to management of construction and operation of the plant.
"Africa is one of the most promising markets for the development of renewable energy projects and South Africa acts as a true gateway”’said Aldo Beolchini, Director at WiseEnergy. “Having expanded into the UK and South Africa, two attractive markets for renewable energy, we seek to replicate our success in the Italian market where we are the largest operator in the sector.”
“In emerging nations such as South Africa, there is an enormous appetite for energy and a requirement to double generation capacity in a very short space of time. Only renewable energy projects can meet this demand. Last year, Italy and Germany alone installed solar power equivalent to ten new nuclear power plants. Combined with high solar radiation and a willing Government, South Africa’s hunger for the swift development of new generation capacity makes it an attractive, low risk market for renewable energy investment.”
Earlier this year, WiseEnergy passed the milestone of managing €2bn of renewable energy assets worldwide, having taken on the management of its first solar energy development in the UK – a 2MW facility in Trevemper, Cornwall, owned by NextEnergy Capital and with an expansion capacity of up to 5MW.
WiseEnergy UK is now in talks to take on comprehensive management and operation responsibilities for a string of other utility-scale UK solar developments owned by third parties. Aldo Beolchini explains: “There are over twenty professional solar project owners in the City that have been impacted by changes to UK solar subsidy and policy. Similar to NextEnergy Capital, these investors had no choice but to complete the construction of their most advanced developments and shelve plans for a much bigger portfolio of UK assets.
“It no longer makes sense for these owners to invest in their own in-house asset management teams. The solution is outsourcing. We have brought WiseEnergy to the UK to fill this gap in the market. Asset management is a fundamental requirement in the solar sector, where people underestimate the potential for performance optimisation and the need to ensure professional technical management.
“There is a common misconception that PV stands for “Plain Vanilla” and that these assets can be left to operate on their own following grid connection; this is far from true and our experience demonstrates that with active management these plants can perform better than expected, with exponential impact on their financial returns. With over fifty years’ combined solar management experience, our team is well placed to offer the UK market the independent asset management it now clearly needs.”
About WiseEnergy:
WiseEnergy is a subsidiary of NextEnergy Capital, a London-based merchant bank focused on the renewable energy sector in Europe and South Africa.
In the field of private equity, NextEnergy Capital promotes, co-finances and manages funds whose objectives are to identify, acquire, realise and manage investment platforms in the renewable energy sector. These include power plants implementing different technologies (mainly photovoltaic, thermodynamic, biomass from algae and biofuel for aircrafts) in Europe, with the brand name NextPower.
NextEnergy Capital launched NextPower development, the largest development company in Italy, and WiseEnergy, the firstEuropean company specialised in solar asset management. In the field of Financial Advisory, NextEnergy Capital undertakes mandates involving M&A and capital market transactions for clients wishing to expand their presence in the renewable energy market. Over the past 18 months, NextEnergy Capital has arranged investments for €100m in the renewable market. www.nextenergycapital.com
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