The investment is the first from CapMan Infra’s second fund. Partner Harri Halonen says the principal objective of the investment is to develop renewable energy projects with an initial focus on solar in Finland. That includes the construction of a solar farm in Utajärvi, which gets underway later this year. Over the next five years the target is to develop enough production to cover the power consumption of over 20,000 households.
The investment to develop solar energy will help improve energy security in the Nordic countries, says Halonen, who adds that Skarta Energy will play an important role in the transition away from fossil fuels. Solar energy has a promising future, he says, noting that it currently only accounts for 0.5% of all electricity produced in Finland. That figure Halonen expects to rise significantly as Finland aims to become free of fossil fuels by 2035.
CapMan Infra Investment Associate Ibrahim Makdessi says that one reason they were impressed by Skarta Energy was “the team’s broad skillset”. CapMan Infra, he says, also saw the advantage of “having a joint venture partner in NYAB which can support the construction of projects.”
Halonen says about Skarta Energy that “local knowledge of the Finnish market is strong in the company. They have a team that know the municipalities and their needs.” He adds that there was certainty in the new venture because of an “impressive project funnel”, explaining that “Skarta’s near-term concrete projects” will go a long way in helping the company achieve its targets.
After signing the joint venture Halonen explains they turned to a tried and trusted friend in the form of Trailmaker to ensure alignment. “Trailmaker gets everyone running in the same direction,” he says. “Trailmaker is very good for accomplishing that. It’s about alignment on the goals, which is extremely important.”
Makdessi agrees, explaining that Trailmaker helped in “hammering down the various goals and strategic choices” that the company needed to make. “The key for us was to agree on different goals for different phases. Trailmaker made sure we achieved that efficiently.”
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TRAILMAKER is a concept for faster strategy execution:
• Concrete common view and commitment
• Identified capability needs
• Visibility
