FRANCE: Amundi Energy Transition lines up ZE Energy investment

Amundi-managed funds have agreed the acquisition of a stake in French solar and battery storage developer and IPP ZE Energy from one of the company’s early-stage backers.

Paris-headquartered ZE Energy, which was incorporated in 2019 by former executives at Solairedirect, Alston-GE, Gazprom and Nippon Koei, looks to offer communities, companies and real estate groups with a clean source of energy 24 hours a day through combining solar power units together with battery storage capabilities.

The group raised an initial EUR 4m seed round of funding from DEMETER, High-tech Grunderfonds, EverWatt and Ze Way Invest in mid-2020 and followed this up with a EUR 40m funding round led by Marguerite, with participation from Soregies, in late 2021.

The group has now agreed a new commitment from French holding company WIFRA, which is fully owned by ESR Alba II FCPR and Amundi Seed Alba II FCPR, two investment funds which are managed by Amundi Energy Transition, in a transaction through which DEMETER will divest its holding, according to filings.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory clearance, comes shortly after ZE Energy last month raised a junior debt package from Sienna Investment Managers for its 77 MWp hybrid Landes solar with battery storage project in south-west France.

ZE Energy as of mid-2023 had a project portfolio of more than 1 GW of solar PV and more than 300 MW of battery storage.

The group aims by 2025 to have brought 900 MW of solar PV into operation and 600 MWh of battery storage.

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