Elgin Energy, a developer of solar power, is set to potentially double its workforce to 200, thanks to securing backing from Copenhagen Investment Partners in a deal worth close to €300 million. The company develops solar electricity farms and storage facilities in the UK, the Republic and Australia. Copenhagen Investment Partners, based in Denmark, is a top player in the green energy sector with a portfolio valued at €28 billion.
An announcement on Wednesday confirmed that both Copenhagen and the management team at Elgin, including CEO Ronan Kilduff, are investing £250 million sterling (€292 million) into the solar developer. While stating that Copenhagen will hold a majority stake, the statement did not reveal how the investment will be split. Nonetheless, it did confirm that Elgin’s executives will continue to be key shareholders and will remain in place to expand the business, which currently employs 100 staff and is expected to grow substantially over the following year.
The additional funding is earmarked to promote the establishment of a segment of the 15,000 mega watts of solar electricity and storage it has slated for development. By doing this, Elgin aims to secure its position as an independent power producer. At present, Elgin’s typical business model involves facilitating the project from planning to building stages, before selling to those willing to finance its construction. Copenhagen’s involvement will assist Elgin in becoming an autonomous energy supplier due to their experience in procurement and construction.
Elgin has been successful in securing funding from renewable energy support schemes backed by the UK and Irish governments for over 30 projects. So far, they have successfully developed almost 2,000MW of ‘ready-to-build’ generators and storage facilities. Last year, Elgin sold 16 Irish projects with the capacity to provide 191MW of electricity to a group of institutional investors and to the German insurer, Allianz. Construction on these projects is due to start this year, with 14 of them having contracts under the State’s Renewable Energy Support Scheme, guaranteeing price levels for the energy they produce.
Notably, Elgin has a 98% success rate for planning permissions across all countries in which it operates. The company has presence in Dublin, London and Sydney. CEO, Ronan Kilduff, deemed Copenhagen Investment Partners the perfect supporter of Elgin’s evolution towards becoming a standalone electricity supplier.
He stated that with its backing, the corporation would be well-placed to fulfill its lofty objectives, inclusive of a pledge to establish upwards of 100 pioneering roles at Elgin. A leading member of Copenhagen’s premier investment crew, Nischal Agarwal, labelled Elgin as the ideal addition to the firm’s blueprint, highlighting the high growth potential of its envisioned enterprises in appealing marketplaces. The declaration of support from Copenhagen Investment Partners ensued just a few days post the revelation by the State-owned Ireland Strategic Investment Fund that it had set aside €200 million for the recent fund of the Danish corporation. The aim is to gather €12 billion, establishing it as the most substantial of its sort globally, with the intention of investing in renewable energy initiatives throughout Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific zone.