Flexibility for a wide customer base
With over 30 years on the market, Eolus has established a large, wide and satisfied customer base.
Our long experience is one of the reasons why customers, landowners, shareholders, lenders and employees have so much trust in Eolus. It is not the only reason though: a complete offering, a flexible business model and the ability to adapt the business to market fluctuations and conditions are also key. Over the years, Eolus has successfully met the demands of investors and society, probably because we are always thinking ahead – about the next opportunity and future needs.
Value all the way
Over the years, Eolus has built up expertise across the entire value chain and a financial position that makes the company a strong, stable and reliable partner. Our project portfolio in wind, solar and energy storage presents major opportunities to offer facilities that suit the conditions and needs of each individual customer at the lowest possible cost per generated or stored MWh. Many customers greatly value our operation and management services, a complete professional management offering that maximises revenue for both large and small investors.
More major players
The customer base has changed over time. From selling most of the established wind power to various types of domestic investors on the Swedish market, the majority of customers are now larger international companies. The vast majority are in the institutional investor and major consumer segments, where geographic market and technology do not play as great a role as for smaller, domestic players.
Institutional investors
International institutional investors, such as various types of funds, insurance companies and reinsurance companies, now account for the majority of investments in the Nordic wind power market. This is also a clear global trend. Ownership of public infrastructure, such as renewable energy in the form of wind power and PV facilities, is driven by long-term investments with relatively stable returns and cash flows. This, in turn, generates security in companies’ commitments to their own customers in the reinsurance and pension investment segments. Anyone who invests in renewable electricity generation is also supporting the transition to a fossil-free energy system, which reduces CO2 emissions and, in the long term, reduces risk in other climate-related investments and insurance commitments. As people are increasingly looking to make sustainable investments, this group of customers will continue to play a key role in the social transition.
Major consumers
Major consumers are those companies and organisations that consume large amounts of electricity but do not have electricity generation as their core business. This customer group is growing – partly because electricity generated by wind and solar guarantees secure, low and stable electricity costs over time, but also because of the sustainability aspect. The proportion of companies that want to be recognised for their role in the transition to a fossil-free future is increasing sharply and rapidly – because customers want, or demand, reduced environmental impact and increased responsibility. Investments are made either through direct investments in own facilities or, most commonly, by signing long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). Theses are contracts whereby the major consumer agrees to purchase the electricity generated by a specific facility for a certain period of time. In this way, the company contributes to the expansion of capacity without actually owning facilities. This type of arrangement does not tie up capital needed for core operations, but still creates benefits for the environment. Eolus has signed PPAs for wind farms in Sweden, Norway and the US with a wide range of players. Amazon Web Services is the leading buyer of renewable electricity generation through PPAs in the world, followed by Google.
Energy companies
Onshore wind power is one of the most cost-efficient ways to add new generation capacity in many markets, including the Nordic region. Solar power is the cheapest alternative in other markets. These basic conditions make investments in renewable electricity generation attractive to companies with energy generation as their business concept. As well as adding cost-efficient generation capacity, investments in wind and solar power are enabling energy companies to offer customers green electricity from their own facilities. In the US, energy companies are actively signing PPAs instead of owning their own facilities. This has also started happening in Europe. Over the years, Eolus has sold wind power facilities to both Swedish and international energy companies.
Public-sector investors
Public-sector investors are mainly municipalities, county councils/regions and municipal companies. Ownership of electricity generation facilities creates predictability and control over costs for electricity consumption in their own operations. Investments in renewable electricity generation are contributing to sustainable development and thus meeting the environmental and energy objectives that many public-sector players have set for their operations. In recent years, transactions with these types of customers have been less common in Sweden.
Wind turbine cooperatives
Eolus has been selling shares in wind turbines to customers almost since the company was founded. This has enabled thousands of private individuals and companies to become wind power shareholders and has the benefit of helping to engage the local community in a wind farm, for example. The cooperative model was also one of Eolus’s critical success factors for many years, but changed market conditions and a focus on utility-scale facilities or the packaging of several small facilities into one larger transaction mean that Eolus is not establishing any shared-ownership projects at present. This does not rule out the possibility of us offering the opportunity to become a wind power shareholder in the future, given the right conditions.