A joint venture of AGP Group, NaGa Solar and Hartree Partners plans to develop a pipeline of 4 GW of solar projects across Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, the companies announced Feb. 1.
The equally-owned new company, AMPYR Solar Europe, or ASE, aims to raise over Eur1 billion ($1.21 billion) of investment to deploy 2 GW in Germany and 1 GW each in the Netherlands and the UK, AGP Group Partner Andrew Gould said in a press briefing Jan. 29.
Of this, 200 MW were "very close" to being ready to build, with another 400 MW just behind that, mainly in Germany and the Netherlands, Gould said. Most of the 4 GW pipeline could be delivered within 18-24 months, he said.
Gould characterized the three focus markets as "open, transparent and with strong government support for renewables generally. Germany and the Netherlands have subsidy regimes which we are adept at bidding into, while we are watching the UK's CfD rounds very carefully."
Thomas Stenvoll, a partner and managing director at Hartree Partners, said the company was open-minded when securing revenues.
"An optimal strategy can involve a government feed-in tariff, a corporate power purchase agreement or merchant revenue. Corporate PPAs require developers who understand markets and protect against risk – that is where we think we can add value," he said, noting PPA prices would "not be too far away from long-term baseload pricing."
With reduced government subsidies, finding suitable locations for development had become harder to find, the company said.
"To continue to generate strong consistent returns from solar, we believe investors must deploy capital earlier in the development process as well as embrace new technologies such as batteries and hydrogen," said Henny Pelsers, CEO of NaGa.
"We've come together to create a new European solar development and investment enterprise with 4 GW pipeline of utility-scale ground-mounted and rooftop solar, plus associated battery storage, with the intention of accelerating the journey towards zero carbon," Gould said.
Hartree Partners is a commodity and energy trading house with energy market analytics, trading and risk management capability.
NaGa Solar, headquartered in Maastricht, has a large pipeline of solar projects in Germany and the Netherlands with local development teams.
AGP has 1.5 GW of onshore wind, solar and battery capacity in development in the UK and has developed over 3 GW of renewable projects in Asia Pacific.
