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| 01 February 2012 | | Amplio secures €16 millionThe Amplio Group, a leading international operator and investor in the renewable energy and environmental sectors, announces today that its solar subsidiary, Amplio Solar, has secured a €16 million financing from a leading Italian bank to invest in 7 MW of solar plants in the Italian province of Latina, Lazio. This expansion brings Amplio Solar’s fully operational solar portfolio to over 30 MW, with a total investment to date of approximately €120 million. Amplio Solar has built and project financed the 7 MW of solar plants in Latina, Lazio, with Rios Renovables of Spain as Engineering, Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) contractor. This latest investment underlines a successful 18 months for Amplio Solar, a period in which it has constructed approximately 20 MW of solar plants, following the expansion of the team in 2010. Amplio Solar’s portfolio now reaches across a number of regions of Italy. 20 MW of ground mounted plants are distributed in Sicily (3 MW), Puglia (8 MW), Lazio (7 MW) and Abruzzo (2 MW). 10 MW of rooftop mounted photovoltaic (“PV”) arrays are clustered in southern Sardinia, in a high sunlight area where Amplio Solar also expects to build approximately 30 MW of similar additional rooftop PV plants throughout 2012. Italy remains at least in the short term an attractive place for solar investment, particularly in selected sectors like rooftop mounted PV plants of less than 1 MW and small size residential and commercial plants sectors in which Amplio Solar is already well positioned and moving aggressively.
Alberto Dalla Rosa, CEO of Amplio Solar, commented: "We are excited to announce the continued expansion of Amplio Solar’s business, which strengthens our regional diversification and brings our total solar developments across Italy to over 30 MW. Despite the challenging economic backdrop, we remain confident in the continued growth of Amplio Solar and look forward to reporting further substantial progress, in Italy and abroad, in the course of the year."
Riccardo Segat, CEO and Founder of Amplio Group, commented: "This latest successful financing achieved in one of the most challenging economic environments is a testament to the strength and strategy of Amplio. While funding across the Eurozone is becoming more scarce, Amplio Solar has succeeded in securing support from our equity partners and strong partnerships with EPC contractors, allowing the continued growth of the solar business. Amplio Solar remains on track and focused on its goal of becoming a 100 MW business." Enquiries: Amplio Partners
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| 01 November 2011 | | THE AMPLIO GROUPAngel News Date of Publication: 31st October 2011 The Amplio Group (London, U.K.), a leading international operator and investor in the renewable energy and environmental sectors, today announces that its water filtration subsidiary, Amplio Filtration Group, has secured a €16 million equity investment. Ambienta SGR, one of the top five global private equity firm investing in the environmental sector, made the investment through its Ambienta I fund, and this leads to Ambienta SGR becoming a minority shareholder in Amplio Filtration Group. Ambienta I, started in 2008, has €217.5 million of committed capital and it is ranked in the top five private equity funds globally investing in the environmental sector (2011 analysis on Prequin data). Amplio Filtration is currently delivering double digit growth and revenues of €35 million expected for FY 2011 ((2010: €22 million); (2009: €14 million)).
To date, Amplio Filtration has acquired four companies across three geographies since it was founded by holding company Amplio Group in H2 2009, with the aim of consolidating the fragmented water treatment and filtration process sector. Ambienta‟s investment will help to accelerate the delivery of Amplio Filtration objectives, which includes continuing to expand the business internationally and to grow it into a €100 million revenue water management company by 2014. Amplio Filtration‟s strategy is to cross-sell technologies and expertise across geographies in order to strengthen growth and deliver an enlarged global footprint.
US-based Envirogen Technology Inc (systems and services for the treatment of potable water, groundwater and wastewater) was the first company to be incorporated, followed by UK-based Puresep Filtration Technologies Ltd and Environmental Water Systems (services and systems for water filtration processes) and most recently Italy-based Fluxa Filtri SpA (distributors of filters and consumables for a wide range of applications).
Amplio Filtration‟s acquisition pipeline continues to be in niche markets – including the decontamination of selenium in wastewater from mining, the removal of nitrates from groundwater, systems used in the food and beverage, healthcare and oil and gas industries – further expanding Amplio Filtration‟s cross-selling opportunities, through its vast client base and the geographic diversification of the business, both in Europe and in the US. By cross-selling, Amplio Filtration is well-placed to strengthen its position in the c. US$600 billion global water market. The market is growing at 6-7% in part due to the stricter implementation of existing environmental legislation. Andrea Davi, Head of Amplio Filtration said:“We are delighted to announce this support and financial backing from such a strong partner in the private equity sector investing in the environmental sector. This agreement with Ambienta further strengthens Amplio Filtration‟s position in the attractive global water market, which is set to grow by a further 6-7% this year to c. US$600 billion. It allows us to accelerate Amplio Filtration‟s growth via acquisition and organically through cross-selling our technologies and expertise across the business. Additionally, we now have access to the cutting-edge Italian water filtration market and we are confident that we can continue to expand Amplio Filtration‟s European and US footprint and achieve revenues of €100 million by 2014.”
Riccardo Segat, CEO and founder of Amplio Group said:“Ambienta‟s investment marks an important step in Amplio Group‟s successful growth story, as we continue to consolidate our operational and financial capabilities in the environmental services sector as a whole. Amplio Group‟s strategic focus over the next five years will remain renewable energy and water treatment, which complements Ambienta‟s commitment to these sectors globally. We are very excited about the strong organic growth and pipeline of acquisitions for Amplio Filtration in both Europe and the US but also in emerging markets.”
Mauro Roversi, Partner at Ambienta SGR commented:“Over the last three years we have looked at a number of investment opportunities in the sector without finding the right balance of leadership capability, strategic focus and geographic mix. Amplio Filtration offers all of these characteristics. Over the next three years, Ambienta will work with management on identifying and acquiring complementary businesses with the objective of creating an important player on the market.” To date, Andrea Davi‟s and Riccardo Segat‟s business has attracted well-regarded industry executives who have brought with them experience from the leading players in the market. Among these executives, Mike Stark – CEO of Envirogen – former Managing Director of Veolia Water North America and one of the leading experts in the sector, was one of the first to support the strategy. Stark‟s move to Amplio Filtration was closely followed by Vince Payne, another high profile figure in the sector, who after managerial roles at US Gilters UK, founded Puresep and now heads up the UK arm of Amplio Filtration.
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| 01 November 2011 | | Ambienta pumps €16m into AmplioReal Deals Date of Publication: 31st October 2011 Milan-based Ambienta SGR has invested €16m into water filtration platform Amplio Filtration, a subsidiary of renewable energy investor Amplio Group. Milan-based Ambienta SGR has invested €16m into water filtration platform Amplio Filtration, a subsidiary of renewable energy investor Amplio Group. The Amplio Filtration platform was created specifically to invest in renewable energy and process water filtration in October 2009. Ambienta's investment will aid the group in delivering its objectives, which includes continuing to expand the business internationally. The group's strategy is to cross-sell technologies and expertise across geographies in order to expand and increase its geographical footprint. The platform kicked off with the acquisition of Nasdaq-listed Basin Water in 2009. Subsequently, Envirogen Technologies was formed. US business Envirogen designs, builds and implements systems for the treatment of contaminated groundwater, industrial process water and air streams from municipal and industrial sources. In July 2010 Amplio bolted on its first acquisition, Puresep, bringing with it a range of water treatment and process filtration technologies. Headquartered in Herefordshire and with a regional office in Lincolnshire, Puresep‟s customers sit within the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, paper and chemical markets. Blue-chip clients include Heineken, Diageo, Britvic, Walkers and Wexport. Shortly after adding Puresep to the Amplio Filtration family, Environmental Water Systems UK (EWS) was acquired in October last year. EWS specialises in manufacturing, servicing and supplying water treatment, water purification and wastewater recovery systems in healthcare and industrial sectors, both public and private. EWS‟s most successful product is the HTM2030 compliant reverse osmosis system, which serves sterile service departments in more than 20 hospitals throughout the UK, generating over half of EWS‟s revenues. Amplio Filtration‟s acquisition pipeline focuses on niche markets, including the decontamination of selenium in wastewater from mining, and the removal of nitrates from groundwater. | | Permalink |
| 01 November 2011 | | PE firm invests €16m in water filtrationInfrastructure Journal Online Date of Publication: 31st October 2011 The Amplio Group, an international operator and investor in the renewable energy and environmental sectors has announced that its water filtration subsidiary, Amplio Filtration Group, has secured a €16 million equity investment. Ambienta SGR, a global private equity firm investing in the environmental sector, made the investment through its Ambienta I fund, and this leads to Ambienta SGR becoming a minority shareholder in Amplio Filtration Group. Ambienta I, started in 2008, has €217.5 million of committed capital and it is ranked in the top five private equity funds globally investing in the environmental sector (2011 analysis on Prequin data). Amplio Filtration is currently delivering double digit growth and revenues of €35 million expected for FY 2011 ((2010: €22 million); (2009: €14 million)). To date, Amplio Filtration has acquired four companies across three geographies since it was founded by holding company Amplio Group in H2 2009, with the aim of consolidating the fragmented water treatment and filtration process sector. Ambienta‟s investment will help to accelerate the delivery of Amplio Filtration objectives, which includes continuing to expand the business internationally and to grow it into a €100 million revenue water management company by 2014.
Amplio Filtration‟s strategy is to cross-sell technologies and expertise across geographies in order to strengthen growth and deliver an enlarged global footprint. US-based Envirogen Technology Inc (systems and services for the treatment of potable water, groundwater and wastewater) was the first company to be incorporated, followed by UK-based Puresep Filtration Technologies Ltd and Environmental Water Systems (services and systems for water filtration processes) and most recently Italy-based Fluxa Filtri SpA (distributors of filters and consumables for a wide range of applications).
Amplio Filtration‟s acquisition pipeline continues to be in niche markets – including the decontamination of selenium in wastewater from mining, the removal of nitrates from groundwater, systems used in the food and beverage, healthcare and oil and gas industries – further expanding Amplio Filtration‟s cross-selling opportunities, through its vast client base and the geographic diversification of the business, both in Europe and in the US. By cross-selling, Amplio Filtration is well-placed to strengthen its position in the c. US$600 billion global water market. The market is growing at 6-7% in part due to the stricter implementation of existing environmental legislation. Andrea Davi, head of Amplio Filtration said, “We are delighted to announce this support and financial backing from such a strong partner in the private equity sector investing in the environmental sector. This agreement with Ambienta further strengthens Amplio Filtration‟s position in the attractive global water market, which is set to grow by a further 6-7% this year to c. US$600 billion. It allows us to accelerate Amplio Filtration‟s growth via acquisition and organically through cross-selling our technologies and expertise across the business. Additionally, we now have access to the cutting-edge Italian water filtration market and we are confident that we can continue to expand Amplio Filtration‟s European and US footprint and achieve revenues of €100 million by 2014.”
Riccardo Segat, chief executive officer and founder of Amplio Group said, “Ambienta‟s investment marks an important step in Amplio Group‟s successful growth story, as we continue to consolidate our operational and financial capabilities in the environmental services sector as a whole. Amplio Group‟s strategic focus over the next five years will remain renewable energy and water treatment, which complements Ambienta‟s commitment to these sectors globally. We are very excited about the strong organic growth and pipeline of acquisitions for Amplio Filtration in both Europe and the US but also in emerging markets.”
Mauro Roversi, partner at Ambienta SGR commented, “Over the last three years we have looked at a number of investment opportunities in the sector without finding the right balance of leadership capability, strategic focus and geographic mix. Amplio Filtration offers all of these characteristics. Over the next three years, Ambienta will work with management on identifying and acquiring complementary businesses with the objective of creating an important player on the market.”
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| 01 November 2011 | | Environmental investor Ambienta invests Newnet Date of Publication: 31st October 2011 Environmental-focused private equity firm Ambienta SGR has invested €16m in water treatment company Amplio Filtration Group. The firm made the investment through its Ambienta I fund, becoming a minority shareholder in Amplio Filtration Group. Ambienta I was launched in 2008, and has €217.5m of committed capital. Amplio Filtration is forecasting revenues of €35m expected for 2011, having recorded €22m in 2010 and €14m in 2009. To date, the company has acquired four companies across three geographies since it was founded by holding company Amplio Group in H2 2009, with the aim of consolidating the fragmented water treatment and filtration process sector. According to the company, Ambienta‟s investment will help it to expand the business internationally and achieve its aims of growing into a €100m revenue water management company by 2014.
The company‟s strategy is to cross-sell technologies and expertise across geographies in order to strengthen growth and deliver an enlarged global footprint. US-based water treatment company Envirogen Technology was the first company to be incorporated, followed by UK-based Puresep Filtration Technologies and Environmental Water Systems, and most recently Italy-based Fluxa Filtri.
Amplio Filtration‟s acquisition pipeline continues to be in niche markets, the company said, including the decontamination of selenium in wastewater from mining, the removal of nitrates from groundwater, systems used in the food and beverage, healthcare and oil and gas. Mauro Roversi, partner at Ambienta SGR, said, „Over the last three years we have looked at a number of investment opportunities in the sector without finding the right balance of leadership capability, strategic focus and geographic mix. Amplio Filtration offers all of these characteristics. Over the next three years, Ambienta will work with management on identifying and acquiring complementary businesses with the objective of creating an important player on the market.‟ Andrea Davi, head of Amplio Filtration, said, „We are delighted to announce this support and financial backing from such a strong partner in the private equity sector investing in the environmental sector. This agreement with Ambienta further strengthens Amplio Filtration‟s position in the attractive global water market, which is set to grow by a further six to seven per cent this year to $600bn. It allows us to accelerate Amplio Filtration‟s growth via acquisition and organically through cross-selling our technologies and expertise across the business. Additionally, we now have access to the cutting-edge Italian water filtration market and we are confident that we can continue to expand Amplio Filtration‟s European and US footprint and achieve revenues of €100m by 2014.‟
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| 01 November 2011 | | Amplio secures investment from Ambienta Bloomberg Date of Publication: 30th October 2011 Ambienta Agrees to Buy $23 Million Stake in Amplio Filtration
Ambienta SGR SpA, an Italian private-equity fund, has invested 16 million euros ($23 million) in Amplio Filtration to become a minority shareholder in the water-management business. The investment will help Amplio Filtration expand and generate 100 million euros in revenue by 2014, London-based parent company Amplio Group said in an e-mailed statement. The filtration business will generate about 35 million euros in sales in 2011, Amplio Group said. | | Permalink |
| 11 October 2010 | | Amplio Filtration Acquires EWSThe Amplio Group (London, U.K.), a leading international operator and investor in the renewable energy and environmental sectors, today announces that it has acquired Environmental Water Systems (UK) Ltd (EWS), a market leading provider of integrated water treatment and purification and wastewater recovery services to both the public and private sectors in the UK.
This signals the continued expansion of Amplio Filtration, a subsidiary of Amplio Group, marking the company’s third acquisition in the water filtration space in the last 12 months. EWS will be combined with Puresep Holdings, acquired by Amplio Group in July 2010, to more than double Amplio Filtration’s share of the UK’s food and beverage, healthcare and industrial filtration water market in the next three years. This target would result in Amplio Filtration having a 25% share of the UK market.
EWS is based in Cheddar, has 38 employees and a turnover of more than £5m. The company has a 10 year history and experience of specialising in the design, manufacture, service and supply of water treatment, water purification and waste water recovery systems in the healthcare and industrial sectors. The healthcare sector represents more than 50% of EWS’ revenues, with EWS’ innovative, state of the art product portfolio including HTM2030 compliant reverse osmosis systems serving sterile service departments in over 30 hospitals throughout the UK.
Andrea Davi, Head of Amplio Filtration, said: “We are delighted to announce Amplio Filtration’s third attractive acquisition in the last 12 months. The addition of EWS is particularly exciting as it extends our customer footprint into the non-discretionary sector of water management in hospitals across the UK, providing us with high quality secure income streams.
We are especially excited about the synergies between EWS and Puresep, which are already bearing fruit through cross-selling of the technology and service offer to a broader customer base. Furthermore this acquisition cements and strengthens Amplio Filtration’s footprint in the UK, where we aim to achieve a 25% market share of water management in the food and beverage, healthcare and industrial filtration sectors and we are also now pleased to be on target to expand globally in 2011.”
Riccardo Segat, CEO and Founder, Amplio Group said: “Amplio Filtration is going from strength to strength and is a growing player in one of the world’s most fragmented water markets. The cross-selling opportunities between EWS and Puresep in the UK and our US filtration business, Envirogen, are huge. This acquisition further strengthens and develops Amplio Filtration’s scale, geographic reach, technology offering and customer mix.
At a time of tightening budgets and increasingly stringent environmental regulations, Amplio Filtration is continuing to bring to the market place flexible, efficient and cost effective solutions and we are now in a good position to extend this offer to other global markets in 2011.”
Vince Payne, Managing Director of Amplio Filtration Holdings said: “EWS has an extensive customer footprint in the fruitful UK healthcare market and Puresep serves some of the UK’s largest clients in the food and beverage sector. Together, we can now offer our customers a far broader technology and service offering. We are already reaping the benefits of the partnership with new customers and look forward to rolling out new products into the healthcare sector over the next 18 months.”
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| 04 August 2010 | | Envirogen secures US$50M FinancingThe Amplio Group (London, U.K.), a leading international operator and investor in the renewable energy and environmental sectors, announces today that its investment company Envirogen Technologies Inc. (“Envirogen”), a water technology and services solutions provider with existing business in municipal and industrial water and environmental treatment applications, has secured US$50m equity financing. Envirogen‟s financing has been secured from an international provider of alternative investment solutions for a pipeline of design, build and operate (“DBO”) environmental treatment projects. The financing will be deployed on a project-by-project basis and puts Envirogen on a very secure financial footing for all future projects. The US$50m financing announced today ensures that Envirogen has sufficient investment capital for future design and installation projects that feature Envirogen‟s innovative, proprietary water technology and long-term service agreements. Target municipal projects include drinking water and wastewater treatment and groundwater remediation for both organic and inorganic contaminants. Industrial projects are expected to include groundwater and wastewater treatment as well as environmental improvement projects such as the recovery of materials from process or waste streams for use as recycled materials.
Envirogen was formed in October 2009 by Amplio Filtration, a subsidiary of Amplio Group from the assets of the former Nasdaq-listed Basin Water Inc. (NASDAQ: BWTR), which Amplio acquired under Chapter 11 for US$2m. Since its formation, Envirogen, alongside maintaining all existing contracts, has also won a number of new orders including: - eight new contracts across the United States featuring a „green‟ biofiltration technology for odour control at municipal wastewater facilities; - agreement to provide process design and materials for a metals recovery system in Poland for the Polski Naftowy Group; - new contracts that demonstrate the commercial viability of the company‟s high efficiency MinXTM ion exchange technology for the underserved small drinking water system market; and - an innovative nutrient removal system for a Pennsylvania wastewater plant that addresses the environmental goals of the regional Cheapeake Bay Tributary Strategy.
Andrea Davi, Head of Amplio Filtration, commented: “Envirogen has had an extraordinary first six months under the Amplio Group, winning numerous contracts and already becoming profitable. The US$50m financing puts Envirogen on a very secure financial footing for all future projects, not only underlining the strength and scope of the business but emphasising the high quality of its technology and the ongoing servicing it provides. Additionally, with the global water treatment market set to grow by 6.4% this year to US$39.9bn, we remain confident of Envirogen‟s continued success and look to expand its innovative technologies into other markets.”
Michael Stark, President & CEO of Envirogen, commented: “We are delighted to be announcing this US$50m financing today as by far the two essential and expensive components of a treatment system installation are the initial upfront capital outlay and the next 10-20 years of operating costs. By adding a robust financing element to our design, build and operate capabilities, we look forward to ensuring the growth of Envirogen and assist both municipalities and companies better manage their costs and maximise their investments in environmental technology. Access to these funds will allow us to broaden the scope and increase the flexibility we have to develop true low lifecycle cost solutions for our customers”
Riccardo Segat, CEO of Amplio Group, added: “This financing for Envirogen continues to demonstrate Amplio Group‟s capabilities in our core sectors to secure funds to scale up our investments. In addition to the US$50m to build and operate our water treatment plants, Amplio Solar in July 2009 secured €40m to build a pipeline of up to about 100 MW of photovoltaic solar plants in Europe over two years large scale solar plants.”
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| 06 July 2010 | | Amplio Filtration first UK AcquisitionThe Amplio Group (London, U.K.), today announces that it has acquired a majority stake in Puresep Holdings, the UK water purification, filtration and separation company. This acquisition is the first geographic expansion for Amplio Filtration, a subsidiary of Amplio Group, which last year acquired Nasdaq-listed Basin Water Inc. (NASDAQ: BWTR) out of Chapter 11 and subsequently formed Envirogen Technologies, Inc.
With over 300 clients, an experienced team of 15 employees, revenues of £3.7m and a comprehensive range of conventional and leading edge water treatment and process filtration technologies, Puresep gives Amplio Filtration a solid foothold in the large, growing and fragmented UK market. Formed in 2002, Puresep Holdings owns Puresep Water Technologies Ltd. and Puresep Filtration Technologies Ltd.
Puresep Filtration, headquartered in Ledbury, Herefordshire and founded in 2002, has over 300 customers across market sectors including Food and Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Paper and Chemicals. Customers include blue chip players such as Heinken, Diageo, and Britvic. Included in its state of the art product portfolio, Puresep Filtration has developed a system, called Pureflow Microfiltration, used in beer, wine, cider and water filtration, which offers process flexibility and is efficient and economical at a time when the Beverage industry is experiencing squeezed pricing and ever tighter competition. Puresep Water, headquartered in Louth, Lincolnshire and started in 2004 provides a comprehensive range of innovative and leading edge water treatment technologies from water softening to the production of ultra pure water for critical process applications.
Andrea Davi, Head of Amplio Filtration said: “We are delighted to have made this excellent acquisition for Amplio Group alongside Puresep’s management. The Puresep acquisition combines innovative technologies, an experienced team, a solid and broad customer mix, secure income and a robust platform for growth. We look forward to strengthening and consolidating Puresep’s position in what is one of the most fragmented water markets in the world at a time when demand in the UK is surging as companies have to adhere to ever more strict environmental, economic and regulatory targets.”
Riccardo Segat, CEO and Founder, Amplio Group said: “Amplio Filtration looks forward to building on our successes already achieved in the US by further consolidation and maximising potentially significant cross-selling opportunities between our US and UK water investments to develop a global, integrated water business of scale.”
Vince Payne, Managing Director of Puresep Holdings, commented: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Puresep. We are delighted with the new relationship with Amplio and look forward to building on our already successful product range and customer base. This enables further expansion of our technology and service business model to include all aspects of water and product treatment to ensure we continue to meet the challenges that our customers currently face.
We believe this relationship with Amplio will allow Puresep to continue to innovate and grow as a technology leader and major player in water treatment and process filtration technologies market.”
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| 02 February 2010 | | Amplio Group Solar AcquisitionAMPLIO CLOSES ON 6MW ITALIAN SOLAR PLANTS WITH ADDITIONAL 20-30MW IN FINAL PERMIT STAGE The Amplio Group (London, U.K.), a leading international operator and investor in the renewable energy and environmental sectors, announces today that it has completed and connected two plants of 1MW each and expects to connect by the end of the month four additional plants of 1MW. Amplio’s investment will be approximately €13 million for a total of 6MW of solar plants in the provinces of Foggia and Lecce in the region of Puglia in southern Italy.
This brings Amplio’s total investment in solar in the last 12 months to approximately €33 million, financed in part with equity and vendor finance in order to accelerate construction of the solar plants. Amplio is expanding its solar team and in 2010 will be seeking finance for an additional 20-30MW, which are in the final permit stages and ready to commence building. Once the plants are fully operational, Amplio intends to refinance its solar portfolio with senior bank debt. This additional 6MW will bring Amplio’s fully operational solar portfolio to a total of 9MW. Amplio has already built and project financed 3MW in Sicily, with Martifer as Engineering, Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) contractor. Amplio has been working with three other EPC contractors, Ecowareand Sinergia Sistemi of Italy and Solarig of Spain.
In July 2009, Amplio announced that it had secured €40m from institutional investors to build a pipeline of up to around 100MW of photovoltaic solar plants over two years. In order to achieve this, Amplio is continuing to expand its solar business into other markets through strategic partnerships with companies active in the installation of solar plants on the roofs of industrial buildings and companies operating in other geographical markets such as France and America.
Alberto Dalla Rosa, CEO of Amplio Solar, commented: "This additional 6MW gives Amplio Solar a good regional diversification as we now have 3MW operating in Sicily and a pipeline of fully integrated solar developments in other regions including Sardinia, the Marche and centre-north areas of Italy. At Amplio, we remain confident of reporting further significant progress in the year ahead."
Riccardo Segat, CEO and Founder of Amplio Group, commented: "Despite a difficult credit market, Amplio continues to grow its solar business thanks to the strong support of equity partners and good partnerships with EPC contractors. Amplio Solar is focused on delivering more MW during 2010 under the current tariff regime, creating one of the leading solar energy businesses in Europe."
The demand for solar energy Solar energy has long been seen as a key renewable energy source and a means to counter the problems of pollution and climate change resulting from the use of fossil fuels. As such, it has attracted significant interest from investors, with around $28.6 billion in investment in the solar energy sector over the last year and, since 2004, the global market for solar energy has grown by an annual rate of 254%. After a 134% increase in 2008 and a flat 2009 for installations post the Spanish solar rush of 2008, most expect global solar sector growth to return in 2010 with a 60% increase with similar growth expected in Italy in 2010 and 2011.
The benefits of using solar energy technology have long been known to provide clean, non-polluting energy from a constant source and it has been found that every minute the sun delivers enough energy to the earth to meet global demands for an entire year.
Italy, like Hawaii, is currently the closest to grid parity due to the combination of isolation from nearby markets and high electricity prices. Although a revision of the current feed in tariff (FIT) is envisaged for 2011, all operators in the sector consider a maximum reduction of 20% in the FIT, and further yearly smaller reduction of some 3-5% afterwards. Given the recent euro-based price reductions, Amplio believes that the market will remain attractive in Italy for at least the next two to three years.
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