TotalEnergies, Baker Hughes, Technip Energies, Azimut and other investors have signed a preliminary agreement to invest in a new company with the mission to develop integrated clean energy projects in Europe and Africa.
Zhero Europe was founded to deliver projects that span wind and solar, interconnections for long-distance exporting and green hydrogen production.
With this round of financing, Zhero Europe will advance the development of its project portfolio, “leveraging the world class expertise” of its new investors.
Paddy Padmanathan and Alessandra Pasini, respectively chairman and chief executive of Zhero Europe said: “We are thrilled to welcome new investors who share our ambition to accelerate the energy transition by delivering large scale bankable projects that will inspire others to follow.
“Green energy is already cheaper than fossil fuels in many countries and we need to accelerate project development and construction to mitigate the growing gap between climate action and climate ambition.
“There is no time to lose.”
Stephane Michel, president gas, renewables & power at TotalEnergies, added: “Zhero Europe’s bold ambition is to bring abundant, affordable and clean energy from the best producing location to the large consuming markets and notably from North Africa, to Europe.
“We welcome the opportunity to join forces with Zhero Europe and its other investors to support the development of those pioneering projects for the mutual benefit of Europe and Africa.”
Zhero was founded by Marco Alverà, Padmanathan, Alessandra Pasini and Enrico Vitali and is developing green energy production and infrastructure projects in the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Zhero is working towards a first target of bringing to FID 5GW of projects by 2026.