Qualitas Energy, the Spanish renewable energy-focused investment platform, is opening a new office in Chile.
Alfonso Ardizzoni has joined the investment firm to head the Santiago-based office. He will work alongside Oscar Pérez, partner and chief business development officer, and Cristóbal Santa Cruz, investment principal, both responsible for new investments in Latin America.
Ardizzoni takes on the role after spending more than a decade heading Chilean utility Generadora Metropolitana. Pérez has spent close to 17 years at Qualitas focusing on renewable energy investments across Europe while Santa Cruz joined the firm in 2018.
“We are pleased to announce the opening of our office in Chile, which represents a significant step in our growth plan and our ambition to accelerate the global energy transition. Alfonso’s extensive experience as the CEO of one of the major power companies in the country for over ten years has demonstrated his ability in project financing, participation in distributor bids, and leadership of operations and teams,” said Iñigo Olaguíbel, founding partner of Qualitas Energy.
The Chilean office, the first outside of Europe, will focus its investments on renewable assets, including solar, wind, run-of-the-river hydroelectric power, and storage technologies, along with energy transitioning infrastructure.
Qualitas Energy’s entry into the Latin American market is part of the company’s strategy to identify opportunities through its fifth fund, Q-Energy V. The company made its first investment in Chile with the acquisition of a run-of-the-river hydro asset.