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Conergy was a multinational
renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...
company headquartered in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. It was founded in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, in 2000 by former CEO Hans-Martin Rüter, and specialized in the development, operation and maintenance of photovoltaic power plants and plant components. In July 2013, shortly after filing for preliminary
insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...
, the Conergy brand and some of the company's international sales and service units were acquired by American private equity firm Kawa Capital Management. In August 2017, the company and its subsidiaries were acquired by American private equity funds Tennenbaum Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs BDC, before they were sold to Green Investment Group a year later.


Operations


Europe

In July 2011, Conergy built what
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
called "one of Britain's largest solar farms" in Hawton,
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
, with a capacity of 5 MW. In June 2014, Conergy announced two projects with German utilities company RWE: its first solar power plant in the UK and a solar leasing partnership for businesses in Europe.


Asia-Pacific

In February 2014, Conergy opened its first office in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. In May 2014, the company completed the first large solar plant in the Philippines and in September 2014, Conergy Australia announced it would build a heart-shaped solar farm in
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
. In Australia, the company has built solar rooftops for a factory owned by
Mars, Incorporated Mars, Incorporated (doing business as Mars Inc.) is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services founded on June 23, 1911, headquartered in McLean, Virgini ...
, as well as for a call centre run by the
Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the state Legislative Assembly, with the governo ...
.


Americas

In January 2014, Conergy announced plans to move into asset investment by establishing a tax equity fund with an initial target volume of US$100 million in order to expand its US and Canada project business. In October 2014, the distribution groups in the US and Canada were sold by Conergy. The sale highlighted the company's focus on project development, finance, EPC and O&M. Conergy won the tender for the 2MW SunMine project in Kimberley, British Columbia which will see an operational coal mine partially converted into a solar power plant.


History

In March 2005, Conergy AG was registered at the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (, former German name: , ''FWB'') is the world's 3rd oldest and 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Located in Frankfurt, ...
, raising an estimated
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
243 million in its
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
(IPO). Three months later, the company was added to the TecDAX index, in which it remained until March 2011. In October 2007, Conergy entered into a ten-year contract with
MEMC Electronic Materials SunEdison, Inc. (formerly MEMC Electronic Materials) is a renewable energy company headquartered in the U.S. In addition to developing, building, owning, and operating solar power plants and wind energy plants, it also manufactures high-purity ...
worth
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
7 billion for the supply of solar silicon wafers. However, in April 2009, Conergy announced that it would file a lawsuit against the contract after a breakdown in renegotiation talks with MEMC, seeking the "invalidity of the contract by declaratory judgement in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
". In January 2010, MEMC announced that the lawsuit was settled out-of-court, with new terms for the contract agreed and MEMC receiving an undisclosed payment. In November 2007, with the company's share price having fallen by an estimated 43 percent that year, Hans-Martin Rüter stepped down as CEO and was replaced by supervisory board chairman Dieter Ammer, who took over as interim CEO. The company also announced that it had raised €100 million in capital, in response to a "shortfall in liquidity". In September 2008,
LG Electronics LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG, LG Corporation, the fourth ...
announced a preliminary deal to form a joint venture with Conergy, its first in the field of solar energy. The deal was to be completed by the end of 2008 and see LG acquire a 75 percent stake in Conergy's
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
solar panel plant. However, due to the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
], LG ended talks with Conergy. On 5 July 2013, Conergy filed for preliminary insolvency at the District Court of Hamburg, one of a succession of German solar manufacturers that collapsed under pressure from depressed prices due to oversupply by Chinese manufacturers. Later that month, American private equity firm Kawa Capital Management announced it would buy the Conergy brand and some of the international sales and service units, without the manufacturing businesses. In December 2013, the company applied to delist from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, with its final share price standing at just €0.04. In July 2014, the company secured a US$60 million credit guarantee arranged by
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...
to finance an expansion of its international projects business; the company had already acquired insolvent Wirsol and the rights to 166 MW of UK projects from developer Lumicity earlier that year. In order to focus on its downstream business, Conergy sold its distribution arms in the U.S. and Canada to Soligent and HES PV in October 2014, respectively. In August 2017, it was announced that Kawa Solar Holdings sold Conergy Asia & ME Pte. Ltd. and its subsidiaries to American private equity funds Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC and Goldman Sachs BDC, a business development company managed by
Goldman Sachs Asset Management The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many international ...
. In August 2018, the Green Investment Group, a subsidiary of the
Macquarie Group Macquarie Group Limited (), more commonly known as Macquarie Bank, is an Australian multinational investment banking and financial services group headquartered in Sydney and listed on the ASX (). Macquarie's investment banking division is Au ...
, completed its acquisition of the solar development portfolio and assets of Conergy Asia. In August 2019, Conergy rebranded as blueleaf energy. The rebranding was done to reflect the company’s changing focus from a solar EPC contractor to the ownership and operations of solar energy systems. In March 2020, former CEO Alexander Lenz left Conergy for Aquila Capital.


See also

*
First Solar First Solar, Inc. is a publicly traded American manufacturer of solar panels, and provider of utility-scale PV power plants, supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling. First Solar uses ...
*
SolarCity SolarCity Corporation was a publicly traded company headquartered in Fremont, California, that sold and installed solar energy generation systems as well as other related products and services to residential, commercial, and industrial custom ...
*
SunEdison SunEdison, Inc. (formerly MEMC Electronic Materials) is a renewable energy company headquartered in the U.S. In addition to developing, building, owning, and operating solar power plants and wind energy plants, it also manufactures high-purity ...
* Sunrun * South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) *
Sunpower SunPower Corporation is an American provider of photovoltaic solar energy generation systems and battery energy storage products, primarily for residential customers. The company, headquartered in San Jose, California, was founded in 1985 b ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Solar power in Germany Engineering companies of Germany Photovoltaics manufacturers Companies of Singapore Renewable resource companies established in 1998 German brands German companies established in 1998