European energy company Finlight and UK-headquartered distributed solar PV firm Atrato Onsite Energy have merged, and aim to increase their operational solar capacity in Europe to over 2GW by the end of the decade.
The new company, which will operate under the Finlight brand, currently has an operational solar PV portfolio of 700MW split across 815 commercial and industrial (C&I) facilities, alongside 23,000 residential solar projects and battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the UK, Spain and Portugal. The new Finlight will offer on-site power purchase agreements (PPAs), solar renting and 100% financing services for both companies and individuals across the C&I and residential sectors.
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The majority of this portfolio was previously owned by Finlight—which had around 20,000 residential solar and battery projects in operation prior to the merger—and Finlight plans to invest a further €2.3 billion (US$2.6 billion) into the new company by 2030, to achieve its capacity addition goals.
Distributed solar and storage has been touted as a solution to Europe’s ongoing grid capacity crisis, which has seen the European Commission introduce legislation to help improve the grid permitting process across the continent. Locating electricity generation systems, such as solar and BESS projects, in the locations where that electricity is going to be used can eliminate the need for cumbersome grid connections.
“Centralised power stations have dominated energy markets for a century but increased electrification is reshaping electricity demand,” explained Finlight CEO Gurpreet Gurjal. “This requires smaller, more flexible power stations located closer to where energy is used.”
Finlight noted that using electricity generated and stored by local projects such as these can reduce energy costs by around 25%.
The company also plans to invest in its “core markets” of the UK, Spain and Portugal, the latter of which are notable for a considerable lack of grid availability to accommodate the scale of renewable energy capacity that has been brought online in recent years. According to figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Morningstar, Spain has the highest ratio of late-stage renewable energy projects in grid connection queues to installed capacity in Western Europe, with 170%.
This translates to almost 130GW of renewable energy capacity in late-stage development that is awaiting grid connections, and the ratio compares to less than 40% in Italy and the UK. Last year, Spain passed a decree to remove barriers to the deployment of BESS, as the country looks to shore up its grid function.
Finlight and Atrato were merged by Canadian asset manager Brookfield to create a new company that will be “one of the largest European distributed generation operators”, according to Finlight. The transaction includes Brookfield’s acquisition of Finlight for around €150 million (US$172.2 million), and follows its £220 million (US$292.1 million) acquisition of Atrato back in 2024.
Leaders in the European solar sector are turning their attention to this year’s SolarPlus Europe event, to be held in Italy on 15-16 April by PV Tech publisher Solar Media. Information about the event, including the full agenda and options to purchase tickets are available on the official website.
