Paul Weaver joins Conergy from Balfour Beatty to lead senior team
Milton Keynes/ Miami, 18 February 2015 – Conergy, one of the world’s largest solar companies, announced an expansion of its UK rooftops offer today, in another sign that Europe’s biggest solar market is diversifying away from solar farms, which dominated installations in 2014.
Conergy, already one of the top five builders of solar farms in Britain, has sought out and secured senior executives from some of the biggest names in real estate and energy management as it looks to cement its place in the fast-developing rooftop segment.
Starting today, Conergy UK will have two divisions, the first focused on Solar Farms, which will be led by long-time Conergy executive Birgit Eggl, and the second, the expanded Rooftops division, led by Paul Weaver. Paul has joined Conergy from London-listed infrastructure multinational Balfour Beatty plc., where he was Head of Energy, responsible for both public and private sector renewable energy developments, including approximately 5,000 social housing units.
Joining Paul Weaver in the Rooftops division as Business Development Manager is Christelle Lawson, formerly sales manager at Kingspan Energy, where she was responsible for commercial roof-mounted systems in the South East of England. Christelle has been responsible for over 200 rooftop installations in her career.
Senior engineer Nena Kogiou completes the Rooftops team. She joined Conergy in February last year from Renewable Resources, where she was head of engineering for the UK installer’s Northern office. To date, she has designed and implemented solutions for 30MW of rooftops.
Robert Goss, MD Conergy UK & Ireland, said: “Today we’re announcing Conergy’s commitment to invest in the scale up of solar rooftops across the UK. First we have brought together the best team in the country. Paul Weaver and Christelle Lawson together add hundreds of megawatts’ experience over many years in multi-residential and larger public and private sector installations. They will work with our partners in the sector to source and develop the kind of high quality projects that others simply would not be able to do.”
Goss continued: “Second, Conergy will start bringing new capital to the market, which we will invest strategically, in new and scalable business models. This will give us a strong position across all market segments in the UK, alongside our long-standing leadership in solar farms.”
Paul Weaver, Director of Rooftops, Conergy UK, added: “There’s a rooftop solar solution for everyone in Britain whether you’re a tenant or a property owner, you’re in the north or the south, or in the public or private sector. At Conergy we now offer the full range of professional and technical services, including finance, roof leasing, PPA, hire purchase, commissioned EPC, and industry-leading O&M. Make no mistake, rooftop solar is going to happen in a big way in Britain.”
Conergy has installed over 700MW of solar rooftops worldwide, including for the City of Sacramento in California and Mars in Australia. Earlier this month Conergy agreed a partnership with municipal utility network Trianel that will offer solar leasing to six million homes in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The company has also been working with utility giant RWE to offer solar system rentals to businesses.
About Conergy
Conergy is one of the world’s largest downstream solar companies, specializing in the design, finance, build and operation of high performance solar systems for homes, businesses and utility-scale power. Founded in 1998, the company pioneered the expansion of solar power internationally, and today combines innovative technology and industry-leading engineering with access to capital. Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, Conergy has a global sales network and established subsidiaries in 11 countries. The company is privately-held and majority-owned by Miami-based asset management firm Kawa Capital Management, Inc.
Conergy UK & Ireland, based in Milton Keynes, has worked on some of Britain’s most pioneering projects, including the UK’s first large scale solar farm (5MW) and a wave-shaped rooftop installation at Nationwide Building Society headquarters.
