Engyco plans to raise EUR1bn for solar power investment

Solar power producer Engyco is looking to raise EUR1bn for investment as the renewables group plans to acquire EUR3bn in assets over the next three years by consolidating operations across the fragmented solar energy sector.

The company has its eyes set on Spain in a first phase and other southern European countries before expanding across the rest of the continent.

According to a report in The Independent, Ian Rosen, the former head of renewable energy investment at Banque AIG and the co-founder of Deutsche Bank’s renewable principal finance division, will be chief executive of the company. Alexander Voigt, the founder of German-listed solar power firms Solon and Q-Cells, will be executive vice-chairman.

Although interest in solar power production has been increasing, official figures show that the renewable energy source accounts for less than 0.1 per cent of the world’s total energy supply. European producers of solar energy have benefitted from “feed-in incentives”, which are aimed at speeding up sector development. However, as start-up costs are declining, there is growing pressure to reduce these incentives.