Solar developer NextEnergy Group has set up a new company called Starlight, which plans to develop 5GW of renewable energy assets globally within three years.
Starlight will initially target and develop early-stage solar projects with a focus on key NextEnergy geographies where the team already has existing experience.
Further plans include, but are not limited to, expansion into other jurisdictions and in energy storage, onshore and offshore wind and green hydrogen.
Development projects will mainly target greenfield and brownfield sites and Starlight is keen to work alongside local developers in its new jurisdictions, the company said.
Starlight has been set up with the internal reassignment of a team of over 30 people and about 2.2GW of solar farms at various stages of development, as well as operating assets in Italy and the UK.
Starlight has a target to fully develop 5GW of renewable energy assets within three years across various international jurisdictions, including the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Since 2008 the NextEnergy Group has developed over 100 utility-scale solar plants with an installed capacity in excess of 2GW.
The group operates via its three business units – investment manager NextEnergy Capital, operating and asset manager WiseEnergy and project developer Starlight, covering the full life cycle of solar and other technologies going forward.
Starlight chief investment officer and head of development Aldo Beolchini said: “Our ambition with Starlight is to create an ethical, global project development business that continues to contribute to the NextEnergy Group mission in leading the transition to clean energy.
“We are focusing on developing innovative, sustainable and high-quality projects.
“It’s a natural evolution as the group has been successfully developing solar assets since 2008.
“Now Starlight adds to the group’s capabilities, creating new synergies and strengthening our position as one of the leaders across the global renewable energy sector”.
Starlight managing director Gianluca Boccanera said: “This is a truly exciting milestone for the NextEnergy Group.
“Starlight has instantly benefitted from the existing team’s deep knowledge in the solar sector and is seeking to grow its team further as well as to work in partnership with local developers.
“The entrance in the Greek market for the development of a solar PV pipeline of 1.3GW is only a first step to expand our current leadership in the Italian and UK markets, in conjunction with the early development of other types of renewable energy projects.”