The latest episode of IJGlobal’s podcast service – Infra Dig – focuses entirely on international renewables with discussion predominantly centred on solar PV, with a side portion of wind and energy storage.

Hosted by IJGlobal content director Angus Leslie Melville, today’s podcast is a fireside chat with Axel Thiemann, Miami-based chief executive of Sonnedix, the solar PV developer / operator with an international footprint.

In a far-ranging discussion on all things renewable, Axel runs the listener through the Sonnedix story, building up to a presence in France, Chile, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the US and the UK… boasting 9GW of capacity – 6GW of which is pipeline.

“We have a team of 500 very engaged people who deliver on the energy transition,” says Axel. “We develop, build and finance, contract, and – most importantly – we operate renewable energy plants (primarily solar) with roughly 2.5GW in operation, more than 500 under construction and a pipeline of a little more than 6GW.

“We do that with a very long-term focus, so we develop them, but the most important thing we do is to operate them. And we intend to run these plants for the long term… run and optimise for the long term.”

Axel adds: “Solar will continue to be the core of what we do and – just from physics – when you think about where renewable energy can come from, I believe that globally the biggest potential is in solar energy, followed by wind and hydro.

“But, as you say, we are branching out and going into different technologies. We are going into wind having acquired a wind platform in Chile last year. That we are seeing as the starting point for us to develop and acquire more wind. And we have gone into storage.

“The main reason for this hybridisation is to get closer to the customer. To be fair, solar produces electricity whenever the sun shines and that is not necessarily when everyone needs electricity. Being able to tailor our offering to what the end customer needs is the next step of what we do.”

Tune into the entire podcast – which runs for 39 minutes – on Spotify or your favoured platform to hear more about Sonnedix and its plans for the future.