Building for the future
On 1st April, Solarcentury announced three senior promotions from within the team.
Barbara Flesche becomes Deputy CEO having previously led the company’s development and project financing teams. Barbara has a reputation for being credible, reliable and resilient.
“Solarcentury is a special place to work. There’s such a strong team spirit buoyed by the belief that we are doing the right thing for a sustainable environment. And this is really powerful when coupled with our technical, analytical and execution experience.
“I’ve spent the last few years helping to build strong teams around the world with lots of different skillsets. We work in a complex business environment with constant disruptions and my focus going forward is to help us become more agile while we expand into new markets and exploit the potential for storage.”
Barbara has more than 15 years’ experience in renewables and has witnessed the maturing of the solar sector. “We’ve gone from small to big, from expensive to cheap, from subsidised to merchant. But I think the most extraordinary development I’ve witnessed is that there are still new coal plants in development, when renewables have clearly won the environmental and economic arguments.
“To ensure we emerge from the current crisis fighting fit, policy makers should be implementing dedicated finance guarantee packages to allow project finance on reasonable terms, and improving the bureaucracy in the permitting process to accelerate deployment of solar.”
Evert Vlaswinkel becomes MD for EMEA having previously led our business in Benelux. Evert has 20 years’ experience in renewables and is known for getting things done.
“To date I’ve been focused on building a strong team in Benelux. Looking forward, I’ll be working with my colleagues across Europe and Africa to increase our professionalism and speed of execution.
“I want to build on Solarcentury’s strengths which to my mind are a combination of our experience and our integrated business model; we cover the whole value chain of developing, building, owning and operating utility-scale solar. We’re preparing now for solar energy 2.0 which will see the emergence of energy storage and further integration into the power markets.
“If I had one request coming out of the pandemic, it would be for policy makers to continue to pursue the Green New Deal with ambition, and to increase the demand for green electricity.”
Enrico Ambrosini becomes Global Head of Assets & Origination. Enrico is well known as an energy market expert with experience in structuring, negotiating and implementing complex transactions. His first experience in renewables was assisting wind farms hedge their market exposure in 2005.
“It’s extraordinary to witness the boom in non-subsidised solar plants; a space where Solarcentury is making a significant difference.
“Solarcentury has got itself to a really strong position financially, geographically, and technically. The integrated model means the company is able to generate five separate revenue streams, and that’s a real differentiator. My role going forward is to build the team and capabilities to optimise the assets under management; a relatively new area for Solarcentury.
“Utility-scale solar projects are in high demand and that continues to be true regardless of COVID-19. However, a carbon tax is needed now more than ever to assign the right costs for polluting the planet. In such a scenario, solar will prosper as never before.”
