Germany's Enviria targets commercial solar energy market with $200M BlackRock funding

Frankfurt-based Enviria has secured over $200 million in a Series B funding round provided by the world's largest asset manager, BlackRock. The investment will provide Enviria with further support as it expands upon its existing 500 commercial and industrial solar projects across Germany.

While the vast majority of solar energy-related projects hailing from Germany focus on residential installations and rental and maintenance services, Enviria is taking a different route, focusing instead on photovoltaic energy solutions including energy-as-a-service products customised for the distinct needs of businesses. 

Not unlike their residential-focused counterparts, Enviria’s business model centres around navigating and mitigating the headaches involved when going solar: ensuring compliance with relevant regulations, sourcing solar systems appropriate to project requirements and goals, coordinating suppliers and contractors, managing the inevitable energy surplus, and last but certainly not least, sourcing the capital to finance the project.

In Germany alone, estimates place commercial and industrial entities as consumers of around 70 per cent of the country’s total electricity usage, while only 10  per cent of suitable company roofs are leveraging the power of photovoltaic systems.

In opposition to its residential cousin, rooftop sizes across the commercial and industrial sectors are significantly larger, providing ample space for renewable energy capacities to be rapidly deployed. 

And Enviria wants to be the provider to do so.

According to the company, its development pipeline includes approx. 2,000 commercial and industrial projects totalling more than 2.3GW. Enviria is aiming to realise at least 1.7GW of this pipeline by 2029.

On the deal, Enviria founded and CEO Melchior Schulze Brock shared:

“BlackRock brings exactly the resources we need to continue our growth – both financially and in terms of knowledge. Understanding the complex, capital-intensive nature of our business, BlackRock is able to support us in realising the full potential of the C&I sector across Germany.  

“BlackRock’s experience in working with companies in our sector globally, especially in Asia and America, has impressively shown what a successful collaboration can look like.”