First strong winds, now permanent sunshine: Measured in terms of energy yield, the weather in 2022 has so far shown its best side. "After just three weeks of March, the solar energy yield is almost ten percent above plan", says Markus W. Voigt, CEO of the aream Group. "And it's looking strong for wind as well."

After the strong wind months at the beginning of the year, the production of wind power almost reached the target after only three weeks, despite the nice weather in March. "Here, we are already well above plan with 75 percent of the monthly output", says Voigt. The solar energy yield is much more strongly in the plus. "Here, 9.5 percent over target has already been achieved - although nine production days are still to come", says Voigt. March will certainly come close to breaking records. And it also creates a good buffer for the year as a whole, because January was already a good month for the solar energy harvest in Germany. "February also brought more sun than usual", Voigt said.

The strong solar energy harvest is mainly limited to Germany in this regard. "In Spain as well as Italy, production results are on or even slightly below plan", Voigt says. For example, Spanish plants reached about 66 percent of their monthly target by March 22, 2022, while Italian plants reached about 65 percent. 

"Once again, this shows that the mix of solar and wind is delivering very good results for power supply as well as return on investment", Voigt says. "The additional regional distribution of portfolios, as well as power capacity across Europe, further secures the entire system." In the future, intelligent solutions for distributing electricity volumes in Europe such as electricity storage facilities will also become more important given the growing demand. "This presents interesting investment opportunities for investors in many respects", says Voigt.

Building renewable energy infrastructure will take years and decades. "For long-term investors, these projects are an excellent opportunity", Voigt says. "New opportunities are also emerging for investors who, like retail investors, tend to think in shorter cycles." For example, a number of open-end infrastructure funds are currently coming to market that cover precisely these projects at various stages. 

As renewable energy continues to expand, regional diversification will continue to increase. "And as European power grids become more integrated, the distribution of electricity will become more efficient", Voigt says. "The entire sector will make an important contribution to security of supply in the coming decades - and thus also offer steady, predictable and solid returns for investors", Voigt says. "This is also and especially true if the large-scale entry into the hydrogen economy still succeeds soon."