Swiss company MET eyes renewables and gas growth opportunities in Portugal

Swiss renewables giant MET, which has six solar parks and two wind farms in Europe, has now begun operations in Portugal.

The MET Group operates in the natural gas, electricity and renewable energy sectors with a presence in Spain, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Poland, and is now investing in the Portuguese market.

According to the business daily Negócios which did an interview with Ángel Crespo, CEO of MET Energia España, the company is eying the possibility of potential growth in the Portuguese energy market using the port of Sines to import natural gas into Europe.

The Hungarian company founded in 2007 and based in Switzerland, is also looking at renewable projects in Portugal.

“In the first expansion phase for Portugal the focus will be on selling energy, but we are open to investing in renewable energy generation projects either through strategic alliances or developing new projects”, he said.

At present the company has six solar parks and two wind farms (in Spain, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland) and a further 850 MW in the pipeline.

For now, the company is operating in the energy wholesale market (electricity and natural gas) in Portugal (Mibel and Migas) from Madrid, but plans to open an office with a dedicated Portugal team in Lisbon.

MET Energia España is also operating in Portugal in the long-term energy purchase and sales contracts segment (PPA), hedging solutions for solar producers, the sale of guarantees of origin and natural and GNL gas provision to Portuguese companies.

“We have managed to gain maturity in the Spanish gas sector and in energy transition and we want to replicate this business model in Portugal which is a natural and important step in our growth strategy on the Iberian peninsula”, he said.