Rüschlikon, 29 September 2025
The New Energy Investor Summit 2025, hosted by Smartenergy at the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon, Switzerland, convened leading voices from finance, industry, and government to accelerate investments into renewables, green hydrogen, eSAF, and energy infrastructure. The summit is a landmark event in Europe
Session 1: The Renewables Landscape – Policies Supporting Decarbonization and Investments
The summit opened with a welcome address from Smartenergy, framing the event as a bridge between investors, innovators, policymakers and projects. Christian Pho Duc, CTO, Smartenergy, presented a State of the Union on Energy Transition and highlighted Europe’s need to strengthen its energy security architecture by embedding renewables, storage, and green molecules at its core.
María Luisa Huidobro, Economic and Commercial Chancellor of Spain, highlighted the rapid expansion of electric mobility and the growing impact of AI-driven energy demand. She explained how these trends are creating pressure on grids and driving the need for accelerated investments in renewables, transmission infrastructure, and hydrogen corridors such as H2Med.
Pedro Amaral Jorge, CEO of APREN, presented Portugal’s leadership in renewables, noting that the country already generates more than 80 percent of its electricity from renewable sources and is aiming for 93 percent by 2030. He described Portugal’s plans for large-scale solar PV, onshore and offshore wind, electrolysers, and storage, while also acknowledging hurdles around grid adequacy, permitting, and social acceptance.
Cornelius Matthes, CEO of Dii Desert Energy, presented the MENA perspective. He pointed to world-record solar tariffs, the rapid expansion of battery storage, and Saudi Arabia’s ambitious target of achieving 50 percent renewables by 2030. He also noted how the region is scaling hydrogen hubs, carbon capture, and data center projects, making MENA a fertile ground for giga-scale investments.
The panel concluded that true European energy security and competitiveness will depend on renewables, supported by digitalization, pragmatic policies, and above all, streamlined permitting to accelerate deployment.
Session 2: Market Trends and Challenges – Renewables to AI
The second session examined the intersection of renewable energy and digital infrastructure. Martijn Koning of ABN Amro described how the explosive growth of generative AI is dramatically increasing global data center demand. He cautioned that Europe faces severe grid bottlenecks and regulatory hurdles, but identified Spain and Portugal as promising hubs due to their high renewable penetration, competitive energy prices, and strong connectivity.
María Ángeles Zatarain of Bankinter explained how solar projects directly linked to data centers (known as “Power-to-AI” projects) have become the most bankable renewable assets in Spain. She outlined how self-consumption regimes are helping PV plants secure grid access for hyperscale data centers and how such projects deliver guaranteed demand, premium PPAs, and valuable permitting advantages.
José María Llopis, CEO of Edisun Power Europe introduced Project Peacock, a 941 MW PV development near Madrid that includes dedicated high-voltage infrastructure and sites for data centers. He positioned the project as a flagship example of how Iberia can become Europe’s crossroads for renewable energy and digital growth.
The expert panel agreed that although regulatory frameworks differ across Europe, Iberia’s rapid project development offers valuable lessons. It also stressed that announcements alone are not enough, real renewable capacity must be built to meet AI’s insatiable demand. Integrated PV to data center projects, they concluded, are fast becoming the new frontier of bankable renewable investments.
Session 3: Supply and Demand – Scaling up Green Molecule Production
The third session focused on the role of green molecules such as hydrogen, ammonia, and eSAF in decarbonizing aviation and industry. Josef Janssen from the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) outlined Switzerland’s pragmatic approach to SAF adoption, including blending mandates and the development of new funding instruments financed directly by the aviation sector.
Thorsten Lange of MB Energy Holding highlighted the gap between ambition and reality in aviation fuel. He noted that while mandates like ReFuelEU Aviation are essential, current production capacities fall far short of projected demand. Modest cost increases for passengers, he argued, could help support a large-scale ramp-up, but this requires significant CAPEX support, long-term offtake contracts, and robust supply chains.
Gunnar Holen, CEO of Nordic Electrofuel, showcased Norway’s pioneering eSAF projects, backed by patents, secured offtake agreements, and EU Innovation Fund grants. He stressed Europe’s first-mover advantage and the importance of building a resilient domestic value chain.
From Spain, Manuel Breva of ANFFECC presented the H2frit project in the ceramics sector, where hydrogen is being piloted to replace natural gas in high-temperature processes. This case, he said, illustrates how industrial clusters can become powerful pioneers of decarbonization, provided that regulatory stability and cost predictability are ensured.
Smartenergy’s Raghu Viswanathan mapped out the company’s eSAF portfolio in Portugal and Italy, which totals more than 800,000 tons per year under development. He emphasized that such projects cannot succeed in isolation but require integrated ecosystems combining renewable power, biogenic CO₂ sourcing, airport logistics, and long-term offtaker partnerships.
The discussion highlighted that scaling green molecules requires parallel action on both supply and demand. Stable policies, cost-sharing mechanisms, and cross-industry cooperation are vital if Europe is to lead globally in building sustainable value chains.
Session 4: Bridging the Gap – Financing Mega-Scale New Energy Projects
The final session tackled the crucial question of financing giga-scale renewable and green molecule projects. Smartenergy’s Group CFO, René Cotting, explained why investors are increasingly drawn to renewables and eSAF. He pointed to factors such as reputational benefits, avoidance of climate-related liabilities, stronger equity performance of low-carbon sectors, and regulatory drivers like ReFuelEU penalties. He noted that eSAF projects can yield internal rates of return between 11 and 20 percent, supported by structured financing models that combine bonds, subsidies, and project finance.
Vincent Girard of the European Investment Bank underscored the EIB’s catalytic role. He argued that public lending and guarantees are essential to de-risk private capital, especially in early-stage hydrogen and Power-to-X projects, and called for innovative instruments and stronger partnerships with commercial banks, ECAs, and governments.
Urbano Troncoso of Santander Corporate & Investment Banking emphasized the importance of project finance as a vehicle to scale the hydrogen industry. He outlined key challenges, from securing long-term power and water supplies to mitigating project-on-project risks, and explained that true bankability arises when these risks are sufficiently mitigated to make lenders comfortable.
Gian Schelling of Hitachi Energy highlighted three major growth drivers: electrification with renewables, balancing with battery storage, and Power-to-X applications. Drawing on case studies from Bulgaria, Angola, and Sweden, he showed how reliable forecasts, regulatory alignment, and collaboration between public and private stakeholders are indispensable for FID.
Finally, Erik Schäfer of Green Investors argued that “money is not the problem.” Projects remain unbankable not due to lack of capital but because of unresolved risks. Presenting eight “impulses,” he outlined a toolbox ranging from insurance and subsidies to structured offtake and equity co-investments, the “Swiss Army Knife” needed to transform early-stage projects into scalable, investable assets.
Together, the session demonstrated that capital is ready and available, but scaling new energy industries requires credible frameworks, robust risk-sharing mechanisms, and deep collaboration across the value chain.
A Platform for Action
The New Energy Investor Summit 2025 once again confirmed its reputation as a meeting place where investors, policymakers, and innovators converge to unlock projects that will shape the continent’s energy future. By connecting leaders across the value chain, the summit provided a roadmap for scaling renewables, building hydrogen ecosystems, decarbonizing aviation, and securing Europe’s competitiveness in the era of digital and AI-driven demand.