Company type | Société Anonyme |
---|---|
Euronext: NEOEN CAC Mid 60 Component | |
Industry | Electricity |
Founded | 2008 |
Headquarters | , France |
Area served | Africa Australia Europe Central America Europe Southern America |
Key people | Xavier Barbaro (CEO) [1] |
Products | Electric power from renewable sources |
Revenue | 524.4 million euros in 2023 |
137.4 million euros in 2023 (consolidated) | |
Total assets | 5.8 billion euros in June 2024 |
Number of employees | 439 (31 December 2023) |
Parent | Impala SAS, BPI France |
Website | www |
Neoen is a French producer of exclusively renewable energy headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 2008, it develops, finances, builds and operates solar power plants, onshore wind farms and energy storage solutions. As at 31 December 2023, the company's total capacity was 8 GW, [2] made up of 50% solar, 30% wind and 20% battery storage. Neoen aims to attain 10 GW in operation or under construction by 2025.
Neoen is owner and operator of the Cestas solar plant (near Bordeaux, France), the largest of its kind in Europe (300 MWp) at the time of its commissioning in 2015; Mutkalampi, the largest wind farm in Finland (404 MW); [3] the Victorian Big Battery (300 MW / 450 MWh), one of the largest batteries in the world; [4] and of Providencia Solar (101 MWp), [5] the largest solar plant in Central America at the time of its commissioning in 2017 and of one of the largest solar farms in Australia: Western Downs Solar Farm.
Founded in 2008, Neoen opened its first power plant in France in 2009 and reached its breakeven point in 2011. In 2014, the company began its international development with the opening of three solar plants in Portugal: Seixal, Coruche and Cabrela. Cestas, the most powerful solar plant in Europe with 300 MWp, was opened in south-west France in 2015. In 2016 Neoen commissioned the largest solar park in Central America (101 MWp). The company's total capacity in operation or under construction exceeded 1 GW. The following year (2017), Neoen commissioned the worlds’ first big battery, Hornsdale Power Reserve, in Hornsdale, Australia (100 MW/129 MWh) and announced its intention to triple its business by 2020.
The company went public on 16 October 2018, entering Euronext compartment A, with the support of its historical shareholders. It became the youngest French company in its field to surpass a capitalization of one billion euros. The same year, its total capacity in operation or under construction reached 2 GW.
In 2019, Neoen sold its only biomass unit and continued its international expansion, with an agreement to provide wind power for Google in Finland and the financing of a 375-MWp solar park in Mexico providing energy at US$18.93 per MWh. That year, the company reached the milestone of 1 GW of assets in Australia alone.
In 2020, building work began on the Yllikkälä Power Reserve in Finland (30 MW/30 MWh) [6] and the Victorian Big Battery in Australia (300 MW/450 MWh). [7] Work also began on Western Downs (460 MWp), [8] Neoen's largest solar park and the largest of its kind in Australia.
In June 2020, the company entered the SBF120, MSCI France Small Cap Index and S&P Global Clean Energy indexes.
In April 2021 Neoen increased its capital by €600 million. [9] The company had 4.1 GW in operation or under construction in 15 countries [10] and set itself the target of 10 GW by 2025.
In July 2021 Neoen reached the milestone of 1 GW of renewable energy under operation or construction in France. [11] In December 2021, the Victorian Big Battery (300 MW / 450 MWh) was commissioned. [12] It is the largest battery in Australia and one of the biggest in the world. Also in December, the company also began construction of its largest wind farm, Goyder Renewables Zone (412 MW) in South Australia. [13]
In 2022, Neoen signed Corporate Power Purchase Agreements totalling c.1 GW on assets in Australia, [14] Finland, [15] France [16] and Sweden, [17] including a baseload PPA with BHP to supply the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia. [18] At the same time, the company began building the Fox Coulée solar plant in Alberta, its first in Canada. [19]
The beginning of construction work on Blyth Battery [20] in South Australia in late 2022 took Neoen over the 1 GW mark in storage capacity. The company then totalled nearly 6.6 GW in operation or under construction.
In March 2023, Neoen undertook a second capital increase, [21] of €750 million, with the intention of increasing installed capacity by 50% and stepping up investment in storage. The company's expansion continued over the first half of 2023, with the start of construction of several wind farms and batteries, most notably in the Nordic countries and Australia. These projects bring Neoen's capacity in operation or under construction in Finland to more than 700 MW. In June, Neoen launched the construction of its first long-duration battery in Australia (Collie Battery, 197 MW/4 hours). [22]
In early 2024, Neoen reached 1 GW [23] of renewable energy capacity in the Nordics. In France, it is a consistent top winner in CRE calls for tenders [24] in the ground-mounted power plants category, with awards amounting to 479 MWp over two years. [25] In June 2024, Neoen topped 4 GW in operation or under construction in Australia. [26]
In May 2024, asset manager Brookfield enters into exclusive negotiations with Impala and other shareholders to acquire a majority stake in Neoen. [27]
Neoen operates in the solar power, onshore wind farm and battery storage markets.
Its turnover for 2023 was €524.4 million, made up of 41% solar power (€213.7 million, an increase of 10% year on year), 48% wind power (€251.2 million, 16% increase) and 11% storage (€58 million).
As at March 2024, Neoen is present in 15 countries across three geographic regions: Australia (47% of capacity in operation or under construction); Europe/Africa 41%; and the Americas (12%). Its capacity in operation or under construction is 8 GW. [28]
Neoen's main solar plants are in Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, El Salvador, Portugal, Sweden and Zambia. [29]
In France, Neoen built and operates the Cestas solar farm, in the Gironde department. With 980,000 solar panels, the 260-hectare farm was the largest of its kind in Europe when it opened on 1 December 2015. At 300 MWp it remains one of the largest in France. With an annual production of 350 GWh, it can cover household consumption for the 240,000 inhabitants of Bordeaux (excluding heating).
Neoen is operator of Providencia Solar, (101 MWp) in El Salvador, the biggest solar power plant in Central America at the time of commissioning in 2016. In 2017, the 140 MWp Capella Solar project reinforced the company's presence in El Salvador. Neoen is now also developing projects in Argentina and plans to build two 100-MWp solar farms near San Antonio de los Cobres in the province of Salta. In Mexico the company developed and operates the 800-hectare El Llano farm [30] in central Mexico (375 MWp).
In 2020, Neoen announced the construction of the Western Downs Green Power Hub (460 MWp), Australia's largest solar park. Spanning 1,545 hectares (equivalent to 2100 football pitches), the new farm has been operational since end of 2023 and will produce up to 1,080 GWh per year. [31]
In 2021, Neoen commissioned its Altiplano solar plant (208 MWp) in Argentina. Situated at an altitude of 4,000 metres above sea level, the site has some of the highest levels of solar irradiance in the world.
In 2022, Neoen launched the construction of the Fox Coulée solar power plant (93 MWp), the company's first farm in Canada, [32] and the Rio Maior solar power plant (272 MWp), the largest in Portugal. [33] Neoen has also made agrisolar energy a major focus of its development in France, with almost half of its projects integrating an agricultural component.
Neoen has continued to develop its solar activities around the world. In France in 2023, winning 238.5 MWp [34] of solar projects in calls for tender issued by the French government's Energy Regulation Commission (CRE), bringing its secured solar capacity in the country to almost 1,500 MW.
The company announced its intentions in Sweden, where it began construction of the country's largest solar plant, Hultsfred (100 MWp) [35] in October 2023, under contract to sell 95% of its production to H&M group. In Italy, the construction of the first three solar plants started in late 2023. [36] Neoen, the renewable energy leader in Australia, has also launched construction of Culcairn solar farm, which, at 440 MWp is the company's largest solar asset. [37]
Neoen remains the first independent producer of renewable energy in France beginning of 2024, strengthening its position by winning another 119 MWp in solar projects in the latest government call for tenders, making it the top winner in the ground-mounted solar plant category, with a total of 479 MWp in two years. Under the PPA contract with the SNCF, [38] the energy produced at Le Couret (139 MWp) agrisolar farm will power the equivalent of the Paris-Marseille high-speed train link.
As at end of March 2024, Neoen is edging towards one hundred solar power plants in operation or under construction around the world, for a total capacity of nearly 4 GWp. [39]
Wind power
Neoen's wind power operations are focused on five countries where wind resources are abundant: Australia, France, Finland, Ireland, and Sweden. The 55 plants in operation or under construction have a combined capacity of 2.4 GW (as at 31 March 2024).
In 2017, Neoen commissioned the first phase of its Hornsdale Wind Farm in Australia, with 99 wind turbines and a capacity of 316 MW.
On 3 July 2020, Neoen announced the commissioning of its Hedet wind farm in Finland. [40] The 81-MW farm supplies Google with green electricity for its data centre in Hamina.
In 2021, Neoen began construction on the Kaban Green Power Hub (157 MW) [41] and Goyder South Stage wind farm (412 MW) in Australia. The Bulgana Green Power Hub (194 MW of wind power and 20 MW of battery storage), also located in Australia was commissioned in December 2021. Finally, construction of the Goyder wind farm (412 MW) in South Australia began: on completion, it will be the largest wind asset in Neoen's portfolio.
On 14 May 2022, Neoen inaugurated the Madon-Moselle wind farm in France (39.6 MW). The company also opened two wind farms in the Nordics in 2022: Björkliden (40.4 MW) with partner Prokon in Finland [42] and Storbrännkullen (57.4 MW), Neoen's first wind farm in Sweden. [43] Neoen also commissioned Finland's largest wind farm, Mutkalampi (404 MW).
Construction of new wind farms have started in 2023, notably in the Nordic countries (Storbotet with a capacity of 105.4 MW and Lumivaara, 55.8 MW [44] ), of which respectively 60% and 80% of the energy produced will be sold to Equinix
Energy Storage
To overcome the intermittency of renewable power sources, Neoen also develops and operates lithium-ion battery projects to store electricity. Costs have fallen by a factor of seven [45] in the last nine years, allowing Neoen to develop storage on a large scale.
At the end of March 2024, Neoen is a leading player in the storage sector, [46] with some twenty batteries in operation or under construction around the world, with a total capacity of 1.6 GW / 3.1 GWh. [47]
In 2017, Neoen installed the world's first big battery (initially 100 MW / 129MWh, increased to 150 MW/ 193.5 MWh in 2020) built by the American company Tesla, at the Hornsdale Power Reserve in the Mid North region of South Australia to provide grid-support services. In another collaboration with Tesla, Neoen also commissioned the Victorian Big Battery located near Melbourne (300 MW/ 450 MWh), one of the most powerful in the world.
In 2020, Neoen began operating a storage unit in Finland, the largest such battery facility in the Nordic countries. The 30 MW/30 MWh Yllikkälä Power Reserve One is the first large-capacity battery to be connected to the Finnish grid. Since 2022, it has been supplying rapid reserve for the implementation of EPR [AO1] Olkiluoto 3 (Europe's most powerful nuclear reactor), [48] operated by Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), the Finnish nuclear power operator.
In 2021, Neoen built the Albireo Power Reserve, [49] comprising two 11 MW/8 MWh batteries for the Capella (140 MWp) and Providencia (101 MWp) solar plants. Commissioned in 2022, the assets take Neoen's total capacity in El Salvador to 14 MW, with storage of 10 MWh, making it Central America's number one battery storage operator.
In April 2022, Neoen launched a new virtual battery service, with AGL Energy as its first customer. [50] The virtual battery service will allow major energy consumers and distributors to replicate the functionality of a high-capacity battery without the need to own or build one. Shortly afterwards, in July 2022, Hornsdale Power Reserve became the first large battery in the world to deliver inertia services at scale to the Australian grid. [51]
In late 2022, Neoen began construction on Storen Power Reserve (40 MW/40MWh), [52] its first battery and second asset in the Nordics, as well as on Blyth Battery (200 MW/400MWh) and Western Downs Battery (200 MW/400MWh) in Australia. In conjunction with Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm, [53] Blyth Battery will provide BHP with a continuous energy supply.
In late 2022, Neoen began construction on Storen Power Reserve (40 MW / 40 MWh at the time, now 52 MW / 52 MWh), its first battery and second asset in Sweden, as well as in Australia, with Blyth Battery (200 MW / 400 MWh) [54] and Western Downs Battery, where capacity is now 270 MW / 540 MWh. [55] In conjunction with Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm, Blyth Battery will provide BHP with a baseload energy supply.
June 2023 is a turning point: having been awarded a contract for 197 MW / 4 hours, Neoen launched construction on Collie Battery (Western Australia [VM2] ), [56] its first long-duration battery.
With the start-up of Collie Battery (197 MW/4 hours), its first long-duration battery, [57] in June 2023, Neoen now exceeds 1.1 GW of storage capacity in operation or under construction in Australia.
Expansion in the Nordics continued throughout the winter of 2023/24, with the building of Yllikkälä Power Reserve Two (56.4 MW / 112.9 MWh) in Finland, [58] the largest in the Nordics, and Isbillen Power Reserve (94 MW / 94 MWh), the largest in Sweden.
In the second quarter of 2024, Neoen pursued investments in long-duration battery storage with phase 2 of Collie Battery (341 MW / 1,363 MWh), [59] having been awarded a second contract with AEMO. Confirming its rapid expansion in Canada, Neoen won a 380 MW, 4-hour capacity contract to stabilise Ontario's electricity grid. Grey Owl Storage, the battery assigned to the project, will have total capacity of 400 MW / 1,600 MWh.
The company is an S.A. Corporation, whose main shareholder is Jacques Veyrat (former chairman of Louis Dreyfus) via his company Impala. Xavier Barbaro is Neoen's chairman and founder. Neoen is listed in Compartment A of the Euronext’s regulated market in Paris. Directors:
Xavier Barbaro, CEO and founder.
Romain Desrousseaux, Deputy CEO since 2013.
Norbert Thouvenot, Chief Operating Officer since 2021.
Olga Kharitonova, General Counsel since 2018.
Christophe de Branche, Energy management director since March 2024
Yves-Eric François, Financial Director since April 2024
Louis de Sambucy, International Development Director, since July 2024
Impala | 42,17% |
Fonds Stratégique de Participation (FSP) | 6,92% |
Bpifrance | 4,39% |
Carthusia/M. Xavier Barbaro | 1,28% |
Public float | 45,24% |
Iberdrola, S.A. is a Spanish multinational electric utility company based in Bilbao, Spain. It has around 40,000 employees and serves around 30 million customers.
Solar power is a major contributor to electricity supply in Australia. As of December 2023, Australia's over 3.69 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 34.2 GW photovoltaic (PV) solar power. In 2019, 59 solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,881 MW were either under construction, constructed or due to start construction having reached financial closure. Solar accounted for 12.4% of Australia's total electrical energy production in 2021.
EDF Renewables is a wholly owned subsidiary of the French utility EDF Group, specializing in renewable energy production. As an integrated operator, the Group develops and finances the construction of renewable energy facilities, and manages operations and maintenance for its own account and for third parties.
The energy sector in Hawaii has rapidly adopted solar power due to the high costs of electricity, and good solar resources, and has one of the highest per capita rates of solar power in the United States. Hawaii's imported energy costs, mostly for imported petroleum and coal, are three to four times higher than the mainland, so Hawaii has motivation to become one of the highest users of solar energy. Hawaii was the first state in the United States to reach grid parity for photovoltaics. Its tropical location provides abundant ambient energy.
Enel Green Power S.p.A. is an Italian multinational renewable energy corporation, headquartered in Rome. The company was formed as a subsidiary of the power generation firm Enel in December 2008. It has operations in five continents generating energy from solar, geothermal, wind and hydropower sources. As of 2024, it manages a capacity of 63,8 GW, with an annual production of 75.95 TWh and has over 1300 plants worldwide.
The electricity sector in France is dominated by its nuclear power, which accounted for 71.7% of total production in 2018, while renewables and fossil fuels accounted for 21.3% and 7.1%, respectively. France has the largest share of nuclear electricity in the world, and together with renewable energy supplies, this has helped its grid achieve very low carbon intensity.
Solar power in Mexico has the potential to produce vast amounts of energy. 70% of the country has an insolation of greater than 4.5 kWh/m2/day. Using 15% efficient photovoltaics, a square 25 km (16 mi) on each side in the state of Chihuahua or the Sonoran Desert could supply all of Mexico's electricity.
The Westlands Solar Park is large-scale solar power project in Kings County south of Fresno, California. It intends to build many photovoltaic power plants with a capacity totaling upwards of 2,000 megawatts (MW), larger than the world's largest photovoltaic power plants operating as of 2017. It will be constructed on brownfield land owned by the Westlands Water District that is unusable for agriculture due to excess salt pollution.
Mount Signal Solar, also known as Imperial Valley Solar Project, is a 794 MWp (614 MWAC) photovoltaic power station west of Calexico, California, United States, in the southern Imperial Valley, near the Mexican border. The facility was developed and constructed by 8minutenergy Renewables in three phases, with two completed as of 2018, and the third in 2020. It is one of the world's largest PV solar farms with a capacity of about 800 MWp (600 MWAC). The project has been supported by several environmental groups, as the power station was built on low-productivity farmland.
The electricity sector in Australia has been historically dominated by coal-fired power stations, but renewables are forming a rapidly growing fraction of supply. In 2021, Australia's electricity production reached 265 TWh, with coal accounting for 52.9% and natural gas for 18.8%. Renewable sources, comprising solar, wind, hydro, and bioenergy with waste, collectively made up 26.7% of the total electricity generation mix.
A battery energy storage system (BESS) or battery storage power station is a type of energy storage technology that uses a group of batteries to store electrical energy. Battery storage is the fastest responding dispatchable source of power on electric grids, and it is used to stabilise those grids, as battery storage can transition from standby to full power in under a second to deal with grid contingencies.
The Hornsdale Wind Farm is an electricity generator in the locality of Hornsdale in the south-west of the Narien Range, north of Jamestown, South Australia. It consists of 99 wind turbines with a generation capacity of 315 megawatts (422,000 hp). The plant is owned and operated by Neoen, a French renewable energy company.
Vietnam utilizes four main sources of renewable energy: hydroelectricity, wind power, solar power and biomass. At the end of 2018, hydropower was the largest source of renewable energy, contributing about 40% to the total national electricity capacity. In 2020, wind and solar had a combined share of 10% of the country's electrical generation, already meeting the government's 2030 goal, suggesting future displacement of growth of coal capacity. By the end of 2020, the total installed capacity of solar and wind power had reached over 17 GW. Over 25% of total power capacity is from variable renewable energy sources. The commercial biomass electricity generation is currently slow and limited to valorizing bagasse only, but the stream of forest products, agricultural and municipal waste is increasing. The government is studying a renewable portfolio standard that could promote this energy source.
Hornsdale Power Reserve is a 150 MW grid-connected energy storage system owned by Neoen co-located with the Hornsdale Wind Farm in the Mid North region of South Australia, also owned by Neoen.
ACEN Corporation, formerly AC Energy, is the energy firm under the Ayala Group. The company has over 4,000 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Australia, with a renewable share of 98% which is among the highest in the region.
The Victorian Big Battery is a grid-connected battery electricity storage facility adjacent to the Moorabool Terminal Station (substation) near Geelong in Victoria, Australia. The battery provides 450 MWh of storage and can discharge at 300 MW. It surpasses the 250 MWh Gateway Energy Storage in California, United States. As of December 2021, the project is the largest lithium-ion battery in the Southern Hemisphere.
Enel North America is an American company headquartered in Andover, MA, United States. One of the renewable energy operators in North America, it was formed as a subsidiary of the global utility Enel S.p.A. in 2000. It has operations in the United States and Canada through its renewables and energy services businesses, with a portfolio including over 9.6 GW of renewable capacity, 160,000 EV charging stations, 4.7 GW of demand response capacity and 14 utility-scale battery energy storage systems, totaling 1,416 MWh of capacity under construction or in operation. It serves a customer base of over 4,500 businesses, utilities, and cities in North America.
CleanCo Queensland is a Queensland Government-owned corporation. CleanCo owns and operates a range of electricity generation assets in Queensland, including run-of-the-river and pumped-storage hydroelectricity, gas-fired power plants, grid-scale solar farms and wind farms. The Queensland Government has a long-term ambition to generate 50 per cent of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030. CleanCo was established in 2018.
Sanankoroba Solar Power Station is a 200 MW (270,000 hp) solar power plant under construction in Mali. The power plant is in development under a public private partnership (PPP) arrangement between the government of Mali and NovaWind, a subsidiary of the Russian conglomerate Rosatom. The output of this solar farm is expected to be sold to the national electric utility, Energie du Mali (EDM-SA), for integration into the Malian national grid.