Conergy, one of the world’s largest downstream solar companies, announces an equity investment by RWE Supply & Trading, the energy trading arm of the giant European utility. The investment comes as part of a larger equity funding round led by Kawa Capital Management and results in RWE owning a minority stake in Conergy.
Kawa Capital Management Inc., which acquired Conergy in 2013, maintains majority ownership in the company. The additional capital will be used to support Conergy’s aggressive global growth plans.
Conergy recently announced a profitable 2014 with nearly half a billion dollars in revenue, in expanding its services providing project development, financing, engineering, procurement and engineering (EPC) and operations and maintenance (O&M) globally. Conergy provides these services across all solar segments: utility-scale, commercial and residential, and in both emerging and high-growth solar markets.
Andree Stracke, Member of the Board of RWE Supply & Trading, said: “Having worked with Conergy successfully in Europe, we are pleased to be supporting the group’s worldwide expansion.”
The investment follows the partnering between RWE and Conergy for commercial PV ‘solar rentals’ partnership which targets business customers of RWE Group, initially in Germany, and the finance, construction and sale of one of the UK’s biggest solar farms, at Kencot Hill in Oxfordshire.
Andrew de Pass, Chief Executive Officer of Conergy, said: “We are pleased to have RWE’s financial backing and endorsement of Conergy as one of the most strategic and fastest-growing downstream companies in solar. We look forward to using this capital to develop more projects with new and existing partners in the solar industry as our global pipeline approached 4 GW. With this important stamp of approval, it is clear that the turnaround of Conergy is complete and our growth trajectory is certain.”
Alexander Gorski, Chief Operating Officer of Conergy, said: “We’ve had a very successful business relationship with RWE over the last two years and are pleased to build on that with this equity partnership.”