Just over a year after postponing its IPO plan, Opdenergy is back at it. The renewable energy company announced this Wednesday its plans to start trading in the coming months on the Spanish stock market with a valuation of up to 575 million euros. The group, which expects the operation to bring in funds of 200 million to finance its expansion over the next three years, claims to be in “advanced talks” with an “anchor investor” who would be willing to take over 25% of the offer. .
Opdenergy’s goal is to reach a total capacity of 3.3 gigawatts (GW) by the middle of this decade, both in projects in the operation phase and under construction. It’s double what he has today. “The funds obtained will allow us to continue developing renewable energy projects in our markets, with a profitable and business-oriented strategy,” says the company’s chief executive, Luis Cid, in a statement made public on Wednesday morning.
Opdenergy’s initial roadmap was to go public on May 7 of last year, with a much higher capitalization than now forecast: between 826 and 926 million. However, the company chose to postpone the operation in a decision that was justified by the “unstable” conditions of the markets and the premiere of its competitor Ecoener a few days before, which registered a drop of more than 15% in its debut. The current moment for the stock markets does not seem the most propitious either, with strong volatility induced by inflation and the expectation of a sharp increase in interest rates in the coming months.
Opdenergy is focused on solar photovoltaic power generation (with 34 plants) and, to a lesser extent, onshore wind (one plant in operation). It currently has a total gross installed capacity of just over 1.6 GW, to which must be added another 780 megawatts (MW) in the pre-construction phase.
The company, based in Madrid, is present in five European markets (Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, France and Poland), in the United States and in three Latin American countries (Chile, Mexico and Colombia). Its strategy is to accelerate its growth in “attractive first-tier countries”, where it can sell “in hard currency (or linked to a strong currency)”. The supply contracts that it signs are for the sale of long-term energy (PPA, in the jargon of the sector).
