Munich, Germany – January 13, 2025. Astris Finance hires Managing Director in Germany to cover Europe’s largest renewable energy market and wider DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).
Astris Finance, the leading independent financial advisory firm specialized in energy transition, has been increasingly active in Western Europe since it opened its Paris office ten years ago and its Madrid office five years ago. In the European renewable sector, Astris has managed more than 150 transactions, both in the debt financing space where the firm has raised in excess of € 10bn of senior, mezzanine and Topco debt, and in the M&A space where the firm has managed c. 70 processes across ten European countries. A key differentiating success factor of Astris is the holistic advisory approach across the whole capital structure combined with deep sector knowledge and the understanding of local markets. For the past three years, we have ranked #1 in the IJ Global League Tables for European Renewable Energy Financial Advisory by number of deals closed.
Among the recent transactions closed by Astris in Germany is the c. € 150m senior debt raise for the Bartow solar project developed by leading German renewables player Encavis (now owned by a KKR-led consortium) - a 260 MWp project located about 150 kilometers north of Berlin in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the second largest PV facility in Germany. The project will sell the bulk of its output to LyondellBasell through a 12-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Germany has become a strategic priority for Astris: The German economy is the single largest power consumer and deepest renewables market in Europe, and the amended Climate Change Act of June 2021 set a net zero objective for year 2045. This will require massive investments in renewables, flexible generation (e.g. storage, hydrogen) and grid infrastructure. An estimated € 700bn investment is expected to be made in the years leading up to 2030.
In this context, Astris is setting up a full-fledged team on the ground. Our effort will be led by Arnaud Germain, who heads our European operations, and Dennis Schröder, the newly appointed Managing Director of our Munich office overseeing the DACH region. Dennis joins Astris from BNP Paribas where he led the Power & Utilities, Renewables sector team for the DACH region as Managing Director for the past two years. Prior to this, he spent three years as Senior Banker with the Energy & Utilities team of UniCredit, five years as Head of Energy for Germany with SEB, and seven years at RBS as a senior member of the Power & Utilities sector team for DACH and CEE. He started his career working for Deutsche Bank. Overall, he has a background of 20+ years in investment banking, including 15 years with a special focus on the Power & Renewables sector. He has executed transactions representing over € 10bn in cumulative investment in the energy transition space.
Fabrice Henry, CEO of Astris, explains: “We are very excited to welcome Dennis and expand our team out of Munich. This is a key step in the implementation of our ambitious European strategy at a time when Energy Transition is a top-priority public policy agenda – in terms of sovereignty, environmental and social sustainability, as well as economic competitiveness. Our German presence will help us consolidate our position as a leading independent advisor in the Energy Transition space in Europe and globally.”
Dennis Schröder, Managing Director and Head of Germany and DACH said: “The German energy transition has made good progress with regards to the decarbonization of power generation by significantly expanding renewable energy – but there is still much to do to develop an integrated sustainable generation mix and a power grid capable of handling the volatility of renewables especially in extreme ‘Dunkelflaute’ scenarios (prolonged absence of wind and sun). As regards the renewables market, we are seeing older projects exiting the guaranteed revenue regime established by the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) of 2000 – to the tune of 3 to 5 GW per year. These projects will need to craft new revenue schemes, by participating in renewable auctions following a repowering, sourcing a corporate PPA, or simply selling in the spot market. On the other hand, the massive investment program ahead – with a target in excess of 10 GW of new generation and in excess of 5 GW of BESS per year until 2030 – is likely to create a need for capital structure optimization and asset rotation for German developers; it will also require the injection of fresh liquidity by new investors at a competitive cost. In this dynamic market context, we are confident we will be able to use our deep experience in renewable markets globally combined with our holistic approach to help create value for our clients – both strategics and financials.”