Courtesy of NextTracker
The Denmark based European Energy – an emerging renewables player – has established an office in Melbourne and intends to build a significant portfolio of wind, solar and storage projects in the country, reversing the recent trend of international players leaving the market.
European Energy, which was founded in 2004 and says it has a pipeline of more than 20GW of renewable energy projects, and more than 1.2GW under construction, has appointed Catriona Mcleod, formerly investment director at Esco Pacific, as its country head in Australia.
It says it has been active in Australia “for some time”, but the opening of an office in Melbourne is designed to accelerate its activities in this country.
“We are looking to partner on, acquire and develop solar and wind projects, in some cases with collocated storage,” McLeod told RenewEconomy. “We are targeting an annual increase in our development pipeline in the hundreds of MWs moving forward.”
McLeod acknowledged there are “challenges” in Australia, which had driven other international players out of the market, but is confident these can be overcome with an integrated business model, a long term outlook and a flexible approach.
“Australia fundamentally has a lot of sun and a lot of wind and a lot of land. It should be an attractive place for renewable energy generation in years to come,” she said.
McLeod says the company already has three “early stage projects” and hoped to reveal more details soon. The mandate includes the whole of Australia, not just the main grid.
“We are focussed on driving the green transition by building new renewable energy generation, but are not too narrowly focussed on either standalone development or standalone construction or only one sector,” she said.
“Our capability in the Power to X space also offers us multiple potential uses for energy we generate. These things allow us to adapt more easily to challenges facing specific segments of the market or market phases.”
As an example, European Energy recently announced a deal with shipping giant Maersk to develop and construct large scale e-methanol projects in North and South America. Maersk will buy 300,000 tonnes a year of e-methanol and be the sole off-taker on a multi-year contract from the plants.
The company says it has been active in the Australian market for a while and with the establishment of an office in Melbourne aims to accelerate its activities.
“Australia is a market that we see great potential in, and we are excited to take the step of opening a local office”, said Knud Erik Andersen, CEO of European Energy.
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