aream Group and Triodos Bank Germany are working together with immediate effect to finance photovoltaic projects in the commercial sector. aream will take over the construction, operation and marketing of the systems, while Triodos Bank will provide the financing. "Medium-sized customers in particular can now tackle their own PV projects", says Markus W. Voigt, CEO of the aream Group. "Until now, the effort involved in financing was often very high."

The partnership will also make smaller portfolio financing possible for the first time by significantly streamlining processes and financing services. "As we can jointly offer all stages of the projects from a single source, certain steps can be largely standardised", says Voigt. 

Such investments are particularly useful for commercial property portfolio holders. "We address three sub-segments here", says Voigt. Systems can either be designed for full feed-in, for partial feed-in or as Energy as a Service (EaaS). "The investment costs are not covered by the companies, but they receive a long-term power purchase agreement with predictable electricity prices over 15 years and longer", says Voigt, explaining the concept of EaaS. The supply to tenants can play a role here, as can the security of electricity availability.

"In today's world, the transition to renewable energy is not only an ethical obligation, but is also increasingly becoming an economic advantage for companies. Photovoltaic systems produce clean, renewable energy from sunlight without generating harmful emissions. While our focus is on supporting property portfolio owners, not only do they benefit from a significantly reduced environmental footprint, but so do their tenants", says Dominic Hereth, Head of Energy & Infrastructure at Triodos Bank Germany.

Many companies are currently switching to building their own production capacities for green electricity. "This makes the costs predictable for a long time", says Voigt. "It also enables companies to fulfil sustainability requirements, because this electricity really is green." The importance for medium-sized companies would continue to increase.

In this way,

independence from the energy markets can also be created. "Insourcing the energy supply makes companies less dependent on the volatility of the energy markets", says Dominic Hereth from Triodos. "Electricity prices for end consumers will remain at a high level, at least in the medium term." The conclusion of supply contracts that have to be renewed again and again harbours high risks. "Producing your own green electricity fixes the costs and, in addition to high savings compared to buying on the market, also makes it much easier to plan over many years", says Hereth.