“Anyone can participate”: investing in renewable energies according to your means is possible with Enerfip

Julien Hostache, l’un des quatre fondateurs d’Enerfip, la plateforme de financement participatif pour les énergies renouvelables. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

The energy transition is everyone's business. This is obvious to Enerfip, a Montpellier-based company that has set up a platform that allows everyone to finance this type of project, with an entry ticket of 10 euros.

The surge in energy prices, which is a nightmare for both individuals and businesses, is a contrario a godsend for all those involved in renewable energy production projects, which are increasingly popular. It is also a good plan for savers. In order for everyone to be on an equal footing in this area, four friends from professions related to renewable energies (RE), created Enerfip, a crowdfunding platform dedicated to the energy transition in September 2014.

The trigger ? The creation by the government of the time of the legislative framework on crowdfunding, which did not have one at the time. “Every time we presented projects around renewable energies in the territories, people asked us if they could invest in them. That's how we came up with the idea of ​​creating our platform so that anyone could participate. That's also why we set the entry ticket at €10, because we believe that the energy transition is everyone's business“, comments one of its founders, Julien Hostache.

More than 500 million raised in 10 years

After obtaining approval from the Financial Markets Authority in April 2015, Enerfip launched its first fundraising campaign in September for a rooftop photovoltaic power plant project on a stable in Tarn-et-Garonne for €50,000. “To raise this amount in three months, we pestered family and friends, but we did it“, recalls Julien Hostache.

Since then, the small company, a pioneer in crowdfunding for sustainable projects and even number 1 in the sector in Europe, now employs 46 people and has opened offices in Paris, Lyon, Madrid, Milan and Amsterdam. What's more, it no longer needs to pester its loved ones to raise funds. And for good reason. Since its launch ten years ago, it has managed to raise more than 600 million euros and financed more than 500 projects dedicated to the energy transition, thanks to its community of investors which now numbers 53,000 people.

Investing pays off

While the scope of the energy transition is broad – soft mobility, energy efficiency, hydrogen and reforestation – renewable energy projects still take the lion's share on the platform, i.e. around 90%. Among the most recent in Hérault, “we financed €500,000 worth of photovoltaic canopies for the Palais des sports in Castelnau-le-Lez, just before the Olympic Games. Of the €500,000, €280,000 was provided by the inhabitants of this commune and the rest by those of the Montpellier metropolitan area“, underlines Julien Hostache.

Key figures

More than 600 million euros raised More than 500 projects financed 53,000 people registered on the platform 2,000 euros on average per investment, which can go up to 4,000 euros for projects concerning the investors' territory

Contributing to the energy transition of your country is good, but receiving interest is even better. “We offer interest rates of 7% to 9.5% per year. Interest is paid once a year on the anniversary date. You just have to deduct the single flat-rate deduction of 30%. Only the capital is blocked until the end of the project's maturity, before being paid out. We have set the duration of this blocking from one to five years, depending on the size of the project“, he indicates.

On the cost side, “we had fun, there are none, neither when registering, nor when investing, nor even in investment management. As for us, we are paid by the project leaders on the amounts we collect for them and the annual management fees“, specifies Julien Hostache.

What are the risks?

The risks inherent in this type of investment areat a minimum, because all the projects proposed on the platform are scrutinized by Enerfip analysts, whether on the financial, technical, administrative or regulatory aspects, before being validated by the selection committee. Another guarantee: the technologies implemented in terms of renewable energy are no longer at the discovery stage, except for hydrogen.

Since the launch of the platform, only one project has failed in 2017 due to the poor cash management of the person who initiated it. With such a low default rate, crowdfunding in the energy transition is a safe bet.

I subscribe to read the rest