Leading technical advisor enhances presence in French and Francophone solar and wind markets with regional office opening and senior appointment
Paris, 24th August 2016 – OST Energy (OST), a leading technical advisor for global renewable energy projects, has announced the opening of a new office in Paris to support the growth of its French solar and wind operations. Alongside the move, the business has also recruited experienced wind specialist, Jean-Pierre Callens, as its new Head of Wind for France.
This regional expansion comes as OST seeks to enhance its technical due diligence and investment advisory service proposition for the French wind sector, having already built a strong reputation for supporting the ambitions of French solar developers both domestically and overseas.
French wind continues to experience healthy growth, with a strong construction pipeline that has seen around 1GW of new capacity added each year for the past ten years. As this market has matured, there has been a steady increase in the number of secondary investments and acquisitions taking place. In turn, this has driven demand for investor advisory services and technical due diligence for the fund community.
Furthermore, as many French developers look to Francophone countries in Africa for new opportunities, demand is also growing for domestic advisors to support activities overseas.
OST’s French operation is headed by Fabrice Aymat, Country Manager for France, who joined OST in 2014, following a career at GDF SUEZ, now Engie, and a number of years spent working as an independent consultant.
Fabrice will be supported by new Head of Wind, Jean-Pierre Callens, and three further OST consultants in Paris as they begin work on a growing pipeline of new solar and wind projects. To date, OST’s French team has supported the development and operations of a combined 500MW of solar and wind energy.
Jean-Pierre has 15 years of experience working in the wind energy sector. Prior to joining OST, he started out as a wind analyst in the UK market, before leading independent engineering teams conducting Technical Due Diligence and Owner’s Engineering work throughout France. To date, Jean-Pierre has advised on more than 10GW of wind projects in Europe and North Africa.
“Whilst new wind energy construction has slowed in parts of Europe, there is still a large domestic demand for technical due diligence and advisory services as the fund community looks for secure and stable secondary assets,” said Fabrice Aymat, Country Manager, OST France.
“Onshore wind construction in France is likely to continue at pace until the mid-2020s. Simultaneously, ambitious French firms are developing projects in Africa and further afield and turning to the experience of domestic consultants to help them manage market-specific technical, logistical and contractual risks throughout the lifetime of their assets.”
Jean-Pierre Callens, OST’s newly-appointed Head of Wind for France, commented: “OST’s reputation for leading technical advisory in the French market is growing rapidly, following the work the business has been undertaking worldwide in onshore wind and solar over the past eight years. I welcome the opportunity to help drive this growth as we support French wind and solar developers both at home and overseas.”
OST’s Paris office is located at: OST Energy France, 30 bis, Rue du Vieil Abreuvoir, 78100 Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France.
OST Energy has an expanding global presence, employing a growing team of over 120 renewable energy experts spread across offices in the UK, Italy, France, South Africa, the USA, Australia and India. The firm has worked on over 1,000 renewable energy projects in more than 50 countries across the globe.
About OST Energy
An Edif ERA company, OST is an award winning, independent global engineering consultancy, specialising in investment support and technical advisory services for the renewable energy market and offering a complete package of services to Investors, Lenders, IPPs and Developers.
The firm’s unbiased specialist knowledge and holistic approach provides clients with accurate insight that they can rely on, in order to make decisions about renewable energy projects.
Established in 2008 by Oliver Soper and Simon Turner in Brighton, the business now employs over 120 renewable energy experts throughout the world in London, Brighton, Paris, Milan, Cape Town, Detroit, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Santiago, Sydney and Delhi.
For critical industries and environments world-wide, Edif ERA provide engineering and consultancy services to reduce risk, optimize performance and enhance capability, giving our customers the confidence to build successful operations. Edif ERA is now part of Rina S.p.A, a multinational testing, inspection, certification and engineering group. For more information, please visit www.ostenergy.com
