Expansion and growth, but increasingly in the name of renewable energy

Q. The Audax Group immediately moved to be present in other markets besides the Spanish one. Since the opening of the Portuguese branch in 2013, there has been a succession of investments in Europe: 2014 Italy, 2015 Germany and Poland, 2017 Holland. A decidedly rapid expansion, especially in a competitive sector such as the energy sector…
Yes, we can call it a rapid expansion, but never reckless. Every single operation was carried out with prudence, according to clear investment logics and careful risk analyses. I would say that the development of the Audax Group abroad is guided by at least two criteria.
First, all those highly competitive and already highly mature energy markets, typical of Northern European countries, for example Sweden, Finland, Denmark or the United Kingdom itself, are excluded from the current expansionary strategies. Advanced markets, in which the delicate transition from a situation of monopoly or oligopoly to one of true liberalization has already occurred, with the active participation of a variety of subjects in the energy offer.
Second criterion, we do not aspire to enter markets which, on the contrary, are excessively blocked, rigid and to date still far from possible openings to real competition between players. To be clear, those where the presence of state-owned companies is still too significant.
D. So you are looking for a middle path…
Audax looks with interest at those countries in which the transition towards a liberalized market is taking place or is close to taking place. Only there is it useful and makes sense to bring our solutions, our working method, our vision.
This is why, after Spain and Portugal, Italy is an ideal market to invest in and to which to propose our idea of energy consumption.
Q. For Audax, therefore, expansion and growth continue to be concepts that go hand in hand?
In the 2020 strategy we talk about 1/3, 1/3, 1/3. That is, the two-year objective is to achieve substantial turnover equivalence considering the activities carried out in Spain, Europe and Latin America respectively. Although, to date, the majority of investment returns have Spanish origins, we are nevertheless witnessing a decisive growth in what we can call the "European share" and therefore also Italian.
Il ritardo maggiore – se così possiamo definirlo – riguarda l’espansione in America Centrale e Meridionale. Questa difficoltà di penetrazione sconta non solo la relativa vicinanza temporale degli investimenti, ma anche le differenze fra le nazioni oggetto d’interesse dal punto di vista economico, politico e, soprattutto, normativo-regolatorio.
Q. Panama is an example of what penetration to those latitudes could be like…
Senza dubbio. Audax è presente a Panama in una doppia veste, quella di produttore di energia con un parco eolico – in costruzione – da 66 MW di potenza installata e di oltre 150 milioni di dollari investiti, e quella di venditore, in seguito ad accordi presi con soggetti locali per accedere al mercato energetico retail del Paese centroamericano.
Q. Do we therefore expect Audax to be present in other markets?
Yes, it's in our plans. However, I would like to add a brief reflection. Investing abroad is, without a doubt, a pillar of our development strategy; but it can't be the only one. In this sense we have always reasoned also in terms of diversification of the activities and areas on which to focus. Diversify to reduce the economic-financial but also regulatory-regulatory risks that an energy player may encounter while operating in a specific market.
Q. Director, could you point us to another “pillar”?
Energy for Audax must above all be clean. And therefore derive from renewable, safe and environmentally sustainable sources.
Una scelta strategica duplicemente positiva che ha in sé una componente etica, da intendersi quale doveroso impegno che ognuno di noi – specie se si tratta di un soggetto collettivo – deve assumersi nei riguardi della conservazione del Pianeta e dunque del futuro nostro e delle generazioni a venire. E una componente economico-finanziaria, considerando che una politica green può portare a interessanti vantaggi in termini monetari. Elemento che per una compagnia che dà lavoro a migliaia di persone e fornisce energia a centinaia di migliaia di clienti è tutt’altro che trascurabile.
Q. So is renewable energy worthwhile?
The price of electricity produced by gas or coal-fired power plants is inevitably subject to fluctuations in this type of fuel. Fluctuations that we know depend on a plurality of different factors, which are difficult to control and which range from market speculation, to the taxation of each individual country, to their greater or lesser availability up to issues of a geo-political nature.
The investment in wind or solar photovoltaic technology is, however, independent of the factors mentioned above. This is why it seems like the right way to us, in every sense.
Q. How green will the Audax Group's energy be?
We have set ourselves a goal: to ensure that by 2020, 60% of the energy sold to our customers (private or business) comes from renewable sources.
Green energy can come directly from plants owned by Audax (as already happens or will happen thanks to the wind and photovoltaic parks in Panama, France and Poland) or from other producers, by virtue of purchase agreements capable of guaranteeing prices advantageous for the entire supply chain, from the producer to the final consumer.
Q. How long will we have to wait to reach this kind of agreement?
Nothing, it's already happening. In March this year, we signed a clean energy purchase agreement from a major Spanish producer, Cox Energy. In short, it is a PPA, Power Purchase Agreement, long-term energy purchase agreements between renewable energy producers and large selling companies. The terms of this operation concern the coverage of 660MW of installed power, sufficient to distribute 1,300 GWh of green energy per year, equivalent to the consumption of more than 390 thousand families. Considering the numbers and figures of the operation, this is the most important PPA ever signed to date for the purchase of photovoltaic energy.