- Voltalis, with the support of its majority shareholder Meridiam, has closed a new €57 million tranche of financing on top of the first tranche of €91 million obtained in February 2023, to pursue its development. Voltalis won RTE’s call for tenders in 2022 for 1.4 GWp capacity, confirming the strength of its value proposition. Voltalis already manages 450 MWp and is leading the domestic demand-response market in Europe.
- Two new investors are joining this round: Schelcher Prince Gestion, specialist in active management, affiliated with Arkéa Investment Services, within the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa group and SCOR Investment Partners, the portfolio management company of the SCOR Group, a leading global reinsurer. LPB AM, present in the 1st round, also strengthens its support.
- With the initial lenders LBP AM, Edmond de Rothschild AM and CIC Private Debt, five management companies are thus contributing to the financing of the project, which responds to the electrical system’s challenges of sobriety and flexibility and is directly in line with the French Government’s future Thermostat Plan.
Voltalis was born in 2006 out the idea that smart management of electricity consumption provides an essential source of flexibility to steer power systems. The company targets residential and tertiary consumers – which represent 46% of national electricity consumption. The Voltalis community now has more than 150,000 members in France and Europe and has equipped over a million heaters.
Voltalis’ unique technology coordinates and aggregates reductions in electricity consumption in real time, on millions of flexible equipment such as heaters, air conditioning units, heat pumps, hot water tanks, EV chargers, etc. Demand Response (DR) relieves the power networks when needed. This limits the use of generation from gas or coal power plants – with high CO2 emissions – and allows for a higher ratio of renewables in the energy mix.
Voltalis’ economic model is to be free to its members. This is a win-win for energy users, enabling the massive adoption of the solution by consumers, while actively contributing to the security of the electricity supply for all French people. Voltalis aims to equip 3 million homes by 2030 and manage 10 GWp of DR capacity in Europe.
DR investment: a necessary response to the French electrification challenge
While last month RTE revised its electricity consumption forecasts upwards in 2035: +140 TWh on average; the French public authorities are increasingly communicating on energy sobriety – like the French thermostat plan which will be unveiled this fall.
A decree published last June thus makes programmable thermostats compulsory in all homes by 2027. Free of charge for consumers, Voltalis makes it possible to meet this future obligation, while supporting the electrical systems.
While security of supply looks less tight than last winter, the penetration of intermittent renewable energies will indeed accelerate, driven by the upcoming energy climate programming law that will be enforced in the fall. The search for new sources of flexibility to alleviate the intermittency of wind or solar power is essential to deliver the energy transition timetable.
This new investment responds to our country’s key challenges and should therefore accelerate further in the coming months.
Charlotte Lavit d’Hautefort, Infrastructure Debt Director – Schelcher Prince Gestion: “We are proud to support Voltalis in its development through this pioneering investment, which is fully in line with the energy transition financing strategy of Schelcher Prince Gestion’s Infrastructure Transition Platform.”
Paola Basentini, Head of Infrastructure – SCOR Investment Partners: “We are delighted to contribute to the development of Voltalis, a pioneer in power consumption flexibility solutions called upon to play a key role in the French energy transition. This investment fits perfectly with SCOR Investment Partners’ strategy, which positions itself as a reference partner for financing the sustainable development of societies”.
Bérénice Arbona, Head of Infrastructure Debt – LPB AM: “We are delighted to continue supporting the development of Voltalis and the Demand response sector in France. This activity is fully in line with the intention of our Climate Impact Infrastructure Debt Fund“.
Mathieu Bineau, CEO of Voltalis, concludes: “This second financing round confirms the green shift made by financial players as well as the maturity of Voltalis’ solution to contribute to the decarbonization of buildings. Our rate of installation has been multiplied by 6 in 2 years, 500 new members join us every day. The proof of our conviction: a desirable sobriety, simple, easy and inexpensive solutions”.
PR contacts:
- VOLTALIS: Emma CORSON – PR Manager – +33 (0)7 60 89 81 89 – emma.corson@voltalis.com
- LPB AM: Yohann HENDRICE – Media and Content Manager – +33 (0)7 85 59 01 32 – yohann.hendrice@lbpam.com
- Kristell LE NADAN – Citigate Dewe Rogerson – +33 (0)6 98 49 22 27 – Kristell.lenadan@citigatedewerogerson.com
- SCHELCHER PRINCE GESTION: Caroline MATUSZEWSKI – 01 56 26 72 32- arkeais@agence-profile.com – Cécilia POULIQUEN – cecilia.pouliquen@arkea-is.com
- SCOR INVESTMENT PARTNERS: Anne-Laure MUGNIER – Head of Marketing & Communications – +33 6 87 86 75 79 – amugnier@scor.com