Q&A: Jared Donald, Conergy Americas – Part I
Copyright © DELINIAN (IJGLOBAL) LIMITED, Company number 15236229, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX. Part of the Delinian group. All rights reserved

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement
News

Q&A: Jared Donald, Conergy Americas – Part I

After selling its Canadian and U.S. distribution businesses and nailing down a $100 million fund to purchase and finance solar projects, Conergy most recently launched a drive to acquire solar assets in Ontario. “Conergy’s new-found bankability and financial stability really gives us the resources to acquire pre-construction projects and really help our partners in the market co-develop new projects,” Jared Donald, president of Conergy tells PFR Editor Sara Rosner in an exclusive interview.

PFR: I originally contacted Conergy regarding the announcement of its campaign to buy solar projects in Canada. Why is Conergy launching this campaign in Ontario now, as opposed to six months ago or six months from now?

pfr-ontario-renewables-103114-web.jpg
Donald: Right now, we are investing. We see Ontario as a very competitive market. But now that we have the political stability from the current government for the next few years, we see some forward visibility and consistency in the market, which isn’t something we’ve had for some time. We see some others leaving the space, but we’ve been in this market for the better part of a decade and we feel like we really understand it well. Conergy’s new-found bankability and financial stability really gives us the resources to acquire pre-construction projects and really help our partners in the market co-develop new projects. We’re going to continue to seek out any opportunities we can find to really maximize shareholder value for our company in that space.

PFR: What qualities is Conergy looking for in potential solar acquisitions in Canada? How much will it look to invest in each asset?

Donald: We’re looking for large single sites or portfolios with Feed-In Tariff contract offers in-hand or pending FIT contracts, all of them in pre-construction. We really look to leverage Conergy’s EPC and O&M capabilities, so pre-construction is critical for us. We’re looking for individual project values over $1 million and again, small single sites or portfolios fit that quite well.

PFR: How much capital is Conergy looking to invest overall in solar in Canada? Over what kind of timeframe?

There’s no cap that we put in place. We think that high double-digit, triple-digit million dollar targets are achievable. That’s where we’re going to start our focus. The key though, is that we achieve capital returns for investors and we’ll continue our predictable program that we can rely on, in the province.

ontario-bar-103114.jpg

PFR: Conergy sold its distribution arm to Soligent. What was the impetus behind that sale?

Donald: We sold to Soligent in the U.S. and we sold to HES [JN1] PV in Canada. We sold the distribution businesses in both countries. Really, it comes down to continuing a strategic shift to focus more on project development, financing, EPC and O&M and really using those resources to support our partners across North America as they look to develop more projects.

PFR: According to the release regarding Soligent, Conergy will be using additional resources to focus on growth in Central and South America. Can you describe Conergy’s development and financing plans in those regions?

Donald: As one of the largest downstream solar companies, we’re really look for opportunities to support developers in all markets that they’re active in, to bring those projects to reality. We see Central and South America as a great place to do so. The specific approach will vary by country, because they all have very different parameters. But we see, as a whole, Central and South America as a strong growth market where we want to ensure that we can effectively support our partners.

PFR: Why are Central and South America attractive right now and what kind of markets are you finding there?

Donald: At a high level, we’re seeing cost reductions on the installation of solar and also seeing [JN2] electricity cost increasing. We have energy volatility issues in a lot of countries and a significant infrastructure growth and renewal process that needs to happen in Central and South America. All of this points to, in our minds, a stronger need for solar. Now is the right time to really invest in those regions.

PFR: Conergy launched a $100M fund to finance and purchase solar projects in the U.S. earlier this year. Has Conergy inked any transactions from this fund to date? If so, please describe them.

Donald: We’ve signed more than a dozen deals from that fund. It is very active and continues to be very active for us.

Check back next week for the final installment of this Q&A, when Donald discusses the company’s strategy for the next 12-18 months.

 




Gift this article