More wind with Axpo

In other words: Investors participate in the construction of a wind farm, for example with a fund or with equity capital, banks take over debt financing and the builder constructs the wind farm. Before the banks make the financial resources available, the issues of marketing and expected cash flow must be clarified - and this is where Axpo comes in.

What does Axpo offer?
Axpo offers risk management and individual customer solutions that are aligned with market conditions and provide flexibility or more security depending on the customer’s needs. As already mentioned, this includes power purchase agreements for generation from wind, as well as biomass, hydropower and photovoltaic plants. Services include market access to the spot market exchange and management of the wind park portfolio, as well as long-term fixed price or long-term minimum price contracts where Axpo guarantees the power plant owner a certain return per MWh.

Axpo currently markets renewable energies from plants with an installed capacity of over 14,000 MW or 40 TWh per year for its customers. In doing so, Axpo is a leading marketer of renewable energies in Europe. In Spain we manage the largest customer-specific portfolio with some 7,700 MW and also handle the technical management of customer plants.

What’s more: Axpo experts are present in over 39 energy markets and can address individual customer needs. In addition, Axpo has great expertise in risk management.

Can you give us an example of a power procurement agreement?
At the beginning of December 2016, a long-term power procurement agreement between the Scandinavian subsidiary Axpo Nordic AS and LUXCARA, a leading asset manager for renewable energy investments in Europe, was concluded for an onshore wind farm in Egersund, Norway. The agreement with LUXCARA states that Axpo Nordic AS will pay a fixed price for 100 per cent of the power to be produced at the plant that was still under construction at the time of signature. The contract went into effect when construction was completed in the second half-year of 2017. The plant in Egersund is located directly on the Norwegian west coast and will reach a capacity of 111.2 MW with its 33 wind turbines. Owing to its location, Egersund offers exceptionally good production conditions for wind power throughout the year.

And what happens when there's no wind?
Not much, in so far as the right marketing strategy was decided on. However, the risk of too little wind can be reduced with a "wind volume hedge" that guarantees the customers a fixed price independent of how much power is actually produced. The wind data of the plant location is the basis for all calculations. Axpo focuses on customer requirements and works out the right solutions in close cooperation with the customer.

Where is Axpo's wind marketing headed?
Primarily, we want to work in markets with low subsidies and high market liquidity. In this context we see that in Europe, for example Scandinavia or the UK, renewable energies are increasingly aligning with the market. The most recent example is Spain or Italy where no new subsidies are available for the construction of wind plants. These developments represent new opportunities for Axpo's marketing business in the area of new, innovative customer solutions.

Wind is your career and your passion. You’re a passionate kite surfer. A coincidence?
In my environmental science studies at the ETH Zürich I learned to better appreciate and respect nature. Kite surfing intensified the connection to nature and offers me an ideal balance to my work life. I support the Axpo sales reps and technical experts in developing diverse customer solutions and ensure transparency and the basis for a detailed analysis and a successful deal. Wind is exciting in every sense.