Global investment manager CarVal has invested €100 million (US$107 million) in Swedish solar company Svea Solar to support its expansion of utility-scale solar plants in Europe.
Svea Solar is expanding its Swedish utility-scale platform and CarVal’s investment will be used to help Svea Solar become an independent power producer (IPP) with a target of 500MW of solar PV, the company said in a media statement.
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Svea Solar is also looking to expand its international presence. The company aims to start establishing utility-scale solar parks abroad by expanding into other European countries, with Cyprus first on the list.
A report from renewables advisory firm Pexapark yesterday, however, noted how volatile European energy prices may be masking huge price cannibalisation for renewable projects, with Spain, Germany and Sweden studied for the report.
“This partnership with CarVal will give us the muscle to build our own projects and to keep our strong position in Sweden while we also expand into other European countries,” said Erik Martinson, CEO and co-founder of Svea Solar.
“We are excited to have Svea Solar as one of our partners in Europe,” said Philip Blix, managing director at CarVal Investors, which has also recently invested €400 million (US$455 million) in IPP AMPYR Solar Europe to fund 2GW of PV development.
“As the market leader in Swedish utility-scale solar, we look forward to funding their growth. The capital intensive nature of the clean energy transition means that partnerships like this remain a key opportunity set for CarVal,” said Blix.
Earlier this year, Svea Solar announced another investment of €100 million that would be focused at the European residential PV sector.
Speaking with PV Tech Premium after that announcement, Martinson discussed the renewed surge in residential solar in Europe, why the market is not being held back by supply chain constraints and why interest from consumers in a broader suite of energy products is supporting its business model.
