02.05.2019 | Mister Renewables Christoph Sutter on the purchase of Urbasolar
"An agile and very successful SME"
After entering the wind power business four years ago, Axpo is now also becoming a major player in the solar energy sector. In doing so, the company has secured itself a place in the sun in this promising business.
Axpo continues to focus on renewable energies: Switzerland's largest energy group will soon no longer be just a hydropower, wind power and biomass company, but also a heavyweight in the booming solar energy sector. With the acquisition of the French project developer Urbasolar, Axpo is entering a new international business segment with a high growth potential.
In the video interview, Christoph Sutter, Head New Energies Division at Axpo - something like the "Mister Renewables" at Axpo - provides information about sleepless nights, draws parallels to the success story of Volkswind and explains why it makes sense to run Urbasolar as an independent subsidiary.
About Urbasolar
Urbasolar is one of the most important companies in the solar energy sector in France: its portfolio currently comprises operational photovoltaic systems with a total installed capacity of 187 MW. In addition, Urbasolar has a development pipeline of more than 1,000 MW and offers maintenance, repair and asset management services. Since its foundation, Urbasolar has built a total of 457 turbines with an installed capacity of 350 MW. These include systems on office buildings, industrial roofs or shopping centres as well as open space systems. The project developer's customers include public authorities, industrial companies, logistics companies, retail chains and the real estate industry.
The photovoltaic developer was founded in 2006 in Montpellier, France, and currently employs 160 people. In addition to its headquarters, it has offices in Toulouse, Aix-en-Provence, Nantes, Bordeaux, Vichy, Paris and Le Port (La Réunion). The company's main market is France, whereas individual projects are also developed and implemented outside the country, e.g. in French overseas territories. The company is managed by Arnaud Mine (Chairman) and Stéphanie Andrieu (CEO), both of whom have many years of experience in the solar business.
