ReneSola, BayWa r.e. double down on UK focus with new partnerships and expanded strategies

Solar developers ReneSola and BayWa r.e. have both doubled down on their commitments to project development in the UK.

ReneSola is to expand its UK presence through a utility-scale pipeline developed with subsidy-free solar platform Novergy.

The duo have formed a joint venture (JV) with an aim of continuing to develop an existing 100MW pipeline before looking at “at least” another 100MW over the following few years.

This follows ReneSola announcing in March it would be refocusing on its core markets, including developments in the UK, US and Spain. The company, which originally started life as a solar manufacturer before shifting to pureplay development in 2017, has zeroed in on the US as of late, moving its headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut last year.

It also has experience developing in the UK market, with Josef Kastner, CEO of ReneSola European Region, stating that the partnership with Novergy offers “new opportunities to enable further expansion into the UK market”.

“We expect the JV to benefit both companies by building a more robust utility project portfolio while leveraging our expertise in project development.”

It unveiled its return to profitability earlier this year, posting revenue of US$26.2 million during Q2, which was up more than 20% sequentially and up 93% on the revenue recorded in the same quarter in 2019.

Yumin Liu, CEO of ReneSola Power, said that "business momentum continues", adding "we believe this once again represents an important step for us to grow our global pipeline in the next several quarters and beyond".

Novergy, meanwhile, claims to have involvement in over 1GW of utility-scale solar projects. Its CEO, Florent Leblanc, said the partnership will “enhance our financing and development capabilities in the UK”.

Meanwhile, BayWa r.e. said it had entered into a “new phase” of an ambitious growth strategy in the UK, expanding its presence into energy storage, hydrogen and power-2-x, amongst other renewable energy technologies.

The company has appointed Stefan Tait as head of energy storage and power-2-x in the UK, and his responsibility will be to drive the strategic development of new projects in the UK and Ireland. Tait previously headed up the developer’s strategy team, based in Munich, playing a pivotal role in the company’s EMEA project portfolio.

Gordon MacDougall, managing director at BayWa r.e. UK, said: “Since my appointment in 2018, we have been heavily investing and building our position in the UK market. With strong foundations in place, I am delighted to welcome Stefan to the team to drive the next stage of our strategic development and futureproof our business by growing our position in new storage technologies.”

Tags: uk, renesola, baywa r.e., green hydrogen, power-2-x, energy storage, recruitment, utility-scale solar