Founded in 2017 in Bolzano, Italy, LCF has established its leadership in the Italian renewable energy market, focusing its core business on the acquisition, standardisation and optimisation of small-scale industrial photovoltaic plants, i.e. those with an average power of 1MW. The current portfolio under management includes more than 113 plants located throughout Italy, from as many as 85 different companies. Gianluca Paci, Head of Origination, and Vincenzo Ventricelli, Senior Business Developer, talk about the future challenges that the company is called upon to face in an increasingly globalised and sustainable context.
by Roberta Imbimbo
Dr Paci, with what mission was LCF born?
LCF was born in 2017 from a spin-off of BELECTRIC Italia, an Italian branch of a German multinational company that is one of the largest providers of O&M (Operation & Maintenance) services, globally, managing a portfolio of over 1.7 GWp of photovoltaic and storage systems. Established therefore as a financial rib of a historical reality highly specialised in the design, construction and management of large-scale photovoltaic systems, strengthened by this strategic alliance, LCF has decided to focus its core business on the acquisition of small and medium-sized plants in the secondary market, i.e. plants ≥ 0.6 MWp already implemented and connected by other players, with whom it has established over time valuable commercial partnerships. To date, its portfolio includes over 113 plants located throughout the country, with an aggregate capacity of about 102MW, from as many as 85 different companies. Thanks to a strategic vision, highly specialised know-how, an innovative acquisition approach, and a multidisciplinary team of 30 qualified and motivated professionals, this all-Italian excellence is today perfectly capable of successfully managing the acquisition of existing plants in all Italian regions – in our country there is considerable potential in terms of existing plants to be expanded or made more efficient – also taking care of repowering and revamping operations, and successfully managing the legal, technical, financial, fiscal and bureaucratic issues of each operation, also taking into account a regulatory framework that is constantly evolving. The ultimate goal is also to sell electricity to local companies without intermediaries.
LCF is a company with a green heart that has always combined economic growth objectives with sustainable development policies.
Absolutely. The growing sensitivity towards environmental issues and sustainable economy have pushed LCF towards a mission that places corporate social and environmental responsibility at the centre. In fact, we strongly believe that good governance is an essential requirement for sustainable development, and we have quickly become a spokesperson for best practices throughout the industry. Our decision to target the secondary market was therefore by no means accidental, and over time it has proved rewarding. (In recent years, over half a million new systems have been installed in Italy. This exponential growth in installations, especially since the lavish government incentives came to an end, has created the conditions for the development of the secondary photovoltaic market). Thanks also to substantial investments in R&D, throughout this time we have strived to give a second life to obsolete or disused installations, replacing old panels with the latest generation (our interventions are aimed at tripling the energy output of the installation with the same surface area used, and exploiting the areas bordering production facilities to build plants that can sell energy directly to energy-intensive companies). This strategic vision has allowed us to combine business development objectives with a low environmental impact policy, using the same land, i.e. land that is already anthropised, significantly decreasing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, and fuelling the circular economy in line with the parameters of Industry 4.0.
Dr Ventricelli, so many achievements in so many years of activity. Future goals?
The goals we have achieved – today LCF is the leading Italian operator in terms of number of systems acquired, managed, and relaunched – tell the story of a dynamic, future-oriented company with increasingly broader horizons that has succeeded in asserting its leadership in a highly competitive and constantly evolving market. However, our most ambitious challenge is to continue to expand in all major European countries by 2025, acquiring 100 MW each year (between efficiency upgrades and expansions of existing plants). We also aim to offer increasingly high added-value services to the local communities in which we operate, not only by continuing to offer highly qualified and reliable technical, financial, and legal assistance, but also by starting to sell energy directly to the end user (today, energy produced and not immediately self-consumed is fed into the grid and managed directly by the GSE (Gestore Servizi Energetici). In short, thanks to its expertise and professionalism, LCF aims to play an increasingly leading role in a flourishing and solid market, to disseminate a new culture on renewables, offering increasingly sustainable and innovative financial, operational and energy consumption models aimed at facilitating the energy transition strongly desired by the EU. With this prospect of expanding our services, we are aiming to implement our network of collaborations and partnerships, both in the technical and commercial fields, and we invite operators in the sector to contact us for more information. We want to structure a solid network of alliances with whom we can share our goals and achieve great results together.
For more information (https://lcfalliance.com/it)
