Glennmont Partners from Nuveen (“Glennmont”), one of Europe’s leading clean energy fund managers, has launched Verdian Power (“Verdian”), a new independent power producer (IPP) aiming to develop 3GW of renewable energy in Southern Europe. Verdian has a pipeline of 800MW of capacity sourced both in-house and from acquisitions at “ready to build” phase.
The IPP will seek to build on traditional models of renewable energy generation by fully integrating established renewable energy sources with storage and hybridization technologies.
To this end, Verdian will focus on designing, building and operating solar photovoltaic and wind power plants, incorporating storage and hybridisation technologies, as well as distributed generation projects, in European markets.
These projects will be located mainly in Italy and Spain, although Verdian also plans to have a presence in other markets. The first solar photovoltaic projects will begin its construction in 2024 and could be operational by the end of 2025 in Italy and Spain.
The company’s main objective is the production of 100% renewable energy to move towards a net-zero future and contribute to Europe’s energy independence. Verdian Power’s target is to achieve an installed capacity of 3GW by 2026, which would be capable of supplying the annual electricity needs of almost 3m people. The clean energy produced by Verdian Power annually will avoid the emission of 1m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year. In addition, Verdian Power estimates that it will create 8,300 direct and indirect jobs by 2026**, from the construction of its current 800MW pipeline.
Verdian will form a key part of Glennmont’s clean energy portfolio of investments. Its multidisciplinary team will be based in Barcelona and will coordinate with country teams across different European countries to carry out the management and implementation of energy projects.
The launch of Verdian means it joins BNZ in Glennmont’s portfolio of IPPs. BNZ was launched in late 2021 and operates 1GW of solar PV projects in Spain, Italy and Portugal.
Glennmont Partners Co-Founder and Board Member of Verdian, Scott Lawrence, said:
“Glennmont are pleased to launch Verdian – a venture that not only demonstrates the enduring appetite for renewables investment in Europe, but also represents a future-proofed approach to clean energy generation.
“The combination of established renewables technologies with hybridization and storage capacity in particular, is a recognition of the importance of increasing control over intermittency and grid fluctuations, and provides a further means of ensuring safe investment with potential for consistent returns.”
Jordi Francesch, Head of Asset Management & Chief Risk Officer of Glennmont Partners, added:
“Through the expertise we have built up over the last few years and by leveraging the latest technologies to increase efficiency in our value chain, we are poised to meet all the demand we have already identified in key markets such as Italy and Spain. Furthermore, we will do so through a completely collaborative approach with the communities in which Verdian will operate, putting our utmost effort into making a decisive contribution to local socio-economic development and the improvement of global environmental sustainability”
