Conergy

Conergy is a multinational renewable energy company headquartered in Singapore. It was founded in Hamburg, Germany in 2000 by former CEO Hans-Martin Rüter, and specializes in the development, operation and maintenance of photovoltaic power plants and plant components.

Conergy
TypePrivate limited company
IndustryRenewable energy
Founded11 September 2000 (2000-09-11)[1]
FounderHans-Martin Rüter
HeadquartersFuji Xerox Towers, Singapore[2]
Key people
  • Alexander Lenz (CEO)
  • Marc Lohoff (COO)
OwnerGreen Investment Group
Websitewww.conergy.com

In July 2013, shortly after filing for preliminary insolvency, the Conergy brand and some of the company's international sales and service units were acquired by American private equity firm Kawa Capital Management. In August 2017, the company and its subsidiaries were acquired by American private equity funds Tennenbaum Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs BDC, before they were sold to Green Investment Group a year later.

Operations

Europe

In July 2011, Conergy built what BBC News called "one of Britain's largest solar farms" in Hawton, Nottinghamshire, with a capacity of 5 MW.[3][4] In June 2014, Conergy announced two projects with German utilities company RWE: its first solar power plant in the UK and a solar leasing partnership for businesses in Europe.[5][6]

Asia-Pacific

In February 2014, Conergy opened its first office in Japan.[7] In May 2014, the company completed the first large solar plant in the Philippines[8] and in September 2014, Conergy Australia announced it would build a heart-shaped solar farm in New Caledonia.[9] In Australia, the company has built solar rooftops for a factory owned by Mars, Incorporated, as well as for a call centre run by the Government of Queensland.[10]

Americas

In January 2014, Conergy announced plans to move into asset investment by establishing a tax equity fund with an initial target volume of US$100 million in order to expand its US and Canada project business.[11]

In October 2014, the distribution groups in the US and Canada were sold by Conergy. The sale highlighted the company's focus on project development, finance, EPC and O&M.

Conergy won the tender for the 2MW SunMine project in Kimberley, British Columbia which will see an operational coal mine partially converted into a solar power plant.[12]

History

In March 2005, Conergy AG was registered at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, raising an estimated €243 million in its initial public offering (IPO).[13] Three months later, the company was added to the TecDAX index, in which it remained until March 2011.

In October 2007, Conergy entered into a ten-year contract with MEMC Electronic Materials worth US$7 billion for the supply of solar silicon wafers.[14] However, in April 2009, Conergy announced that it would file a lawsuit against the contract after a breakdown in renegotiation talks with MEMC, seeking the "invalidity of the contract by declaratory judgement in New York City".[15] In January 2010, MEMC announced that the lawsuit was settled out-of-court, with new terms for the contract agreed and MEMC receiving an undisclosed payment.[16]

In November 2007, with the company's share price having fallen by an estimated 43 percent that year, Hans-Martin Rüter stepped down as CEO and was replaced by supervisory board chairman Dieter Ammer, who took over as interim CEO. The company also announced that it had raised €100 million in capital, in response to a "shortfall in liquidity".[17]

In September 2008, LG Electronics announced a preliminary deal to form a joint venture with Conergy, its first in the field of solar energy. The deal was to be completed by the end of 2008 and see LG acquire a 75 percent stake in Conergy's Frankfurt solar panel plant.[18] However, due to "current worldwide economic uncertainty [in reference to the financial crisis of 2007–2008] and changes in strategic direction", LG announced in November 2008 that it ended talks with Conergy.[19]

On 5 July 2013, Conergy filed for preliminary insolvency at the District Court of Hamburg, one of a succession of German solar manufacturers that collapsed under pressure from depressed prices due to oversupply by Chinese manufacturers.[20] Later that month, American private equity firm Kawa Capital Management announced it would buy the Conergy brand and some of the international sales and service units, without the manufacturing businesses.[21] In December 2013, the company applied to delist from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, with its final share price standing at just €0.04.[22]

In July 2014, the company secured a US$60 million credit guarantee arranged by Deutsche Bank to finance an expansion of its international projects business;[23] the company had already acquired insolvent Wirsol and the rights to 166 MW of UK projects from developer Lumicity earlier that year.[24][25] In order to focus on its downstream business, Conergy sold its distribution arms in the U.S. and Canada to Soligent and HES PV in October 2014, respectively.[26][27]

In August 2017, it was announced that Kawa Solar Holdings sold Conergy Asia & ME Pte. Ltd. and its subsidiaries to American private equity funds Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC and Goldman Sachs BDC, a business development company managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management.[28]

In August 2018, the Green Investment Group, a subsidiary of the Macquarie Group, completed its acquisition of the solar development portfolio and assets of Conergy Asia.[29]

In August 2019, Conergy rebranded as blueleaf energy. The rebranding was done to reflect the company’s changing focus from a solar EPC contractor to the ownership and operations of solar energy systems.

See also

References
  1. "Conergy AG - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  2. "Conergy Asia & ME Pte Ltd - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  3. "Conergy wins race to deliver UK's first 5MW solar farm". BusinessGreen. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  4. "Solar farm built at Hawton in six weeks". BBC News. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  5. Andresen, Tino (23 April 2014). "RWE Invests in Its First U.K. Solar Park; Conergy to Build". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  6. Steitz, Christoph (7 July 2014). "Conergy, RWE form solar leasing partnership". Reuters. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  7. Meza, Edgar (26 February 2014). "Conergy lands in Japan". pv magazine. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  8. Roca, Marc (29 October 2014). "Conergy Completes Biggest Solar Park in Phillipines[sic]". Bloomberg News.
  9. Nichols, Will (25 September 2014). "Is this heart-shaped solar farm the world's most beautiful power plant?". The Guardian.
  10. Sinclair, Kerrie (26 September 2014). "Solar CEO building heart-shaped PV plant calls for some love from govt". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  11. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-19/conergy-to-sell-main-brand-to-kawa-in-sales-unit-disposal.html
  12. https://kimberley.civicweb.net/document/14758/PRESS%20RELEASE%20-%20SunMine%20Ground%20breaking%20-%20July%207,%202014%202014.pdf?handle=883A2C9913354669BAD06CD3A918D9CF
  13. "Conergy makes successful stock market debut". Expatica. 17 March 2005. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  14. "MEMC & Conergy Announce $7 Billion Solar Wafer Agreement". RenewableEnergyAccess.com. Renewable Energy World. 30 October 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  15. Steitz, Christoph (27 April 2009). "Conergy to file lawsuit against MEMC contract". Reuters. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  16. Emery, Chelsea (25 January 2010). "UPDATE 1-MEMC says wafer lawsuit with Conergy settled". Reuters. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  17. Barron, Rachel (9 November 2007). "IN BRIEF: Conergy's CEO Steps Down, California Sues EPA and Ethanol-Purification Startup Snags C". Greentech Media. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  18. St. John, Jeff (11 September 2008). "LG Plots Solar Partnership With Conergy". Greentech Media.
  19. Williams, Martyn (7 November 2008). "LG ends solar joint venture talks with Germany's Conergy". NetworkWorld. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  20. Brautlecht, Nicholas (5 July 2013). "Conergy Files for Insolvency as Banks Disagree on Investor". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  21. Brautlecht, Nicholas (19 July 2013). "Conergy to Sell Main Brand to Kawa in Sales Unit Disposal". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  22. "Conergy to be delisted from stock market". SeeNews. Renewables Now. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  23. Nicola, Stefan (7 July 2014). "Conergy Gets $60 Million Bank Guarantee to Expand Solar Business". Bloomberg News.
  24. "Conergy acquires 100MW of solar farms from stricken Wirol". BusinessGreen. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  25. Deduleasa, Anamaria (7 July 2014). "Conergy buys 166MW UK portfolio". Recharge. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  26. Hill, Joshua S. (13 October 2014). "Soligent To Acquire Conergy's US Solar Distribution Division". Clean Technica. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  27. "HES PV to acquire Conergy's distribution division in Canada". HES PV. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  28. Tan, Florence (2 August 2017). "Goldman, Tennenbaum buy Singapore-based solar power company Conergy". Reuters. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  29. "Green Investment Group acquires Conergy solar team and portfolio". Macquarie Group. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
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