RE: Interview with Zenith Energy’s CEO Andrea Cattaneo18 Mar 2026 10:23
Your Italian solar portfolio has increased materially, and the latest public announcement put the pipeline at approximately 163.5 MWp. How do you get from pipeline to real value creation?
The first point is that our strategy is deliberate. We are not trying to accumulate random megawatts on paper. We are building regional clusters in areas where irradiation, grid logic, development conditions, and economics make sense, particularly in Puglia, Piedmont, and Lazio. After the acquisitions announced on 13 March 2026, the portfolio stood at approximately 163.5 MWp, which brings us materially closer to our stated objective of exceeding 200 MWp by the end of 2026.
The second point is that value creation does not stop at assembling the pipeline. The next steps are to move projects toward Ready-to-Build status, structure financing, monetise selected assets where that crystallises value, and construct the projects we want to retain in production. Publicly, we have already said that our first 7 MWp portfolio in Puglia has moved into construction-phase activity, with physical construction targeted for July 2026. That is an important transition because it shows the platform moving from development to execution.
Third, development-stage assets can already carry meaningful value before construction starts. In December 2025, we disclosed an independent valuation of EUR 27.5 million for a 110.5 MWp portfolio at RTB stage. Since then, the portfolio has grown further and an updated valuation has been commissioned. So I think it is important that investors understand the difference between a superficial pipeline number and a pipeline that is being advanced through measurable development milestones.