Energy Transition Solutions Sells Its Spanish Solar Community and E-Mobility Businesses to Visalia

  • Visalia will take over from Energy Transition Solutions as a partner in Barter, the leading independent solar community company
  • The transition in Barter will be completed in the coming weeks, subject to the fulfilment of the conditions precedent of the purchase agreement

Madrid, 08 May 2025 – Visalia will take over from Energy Transition Solutions (ETS), a company backed by Asterion Industrial Partners, as a shareholder in Barter following the signing this week of a share purchase agreement with ETS and other key minority shareholders including Jazzya, Soluciones de Fábula and Kira Ventures, led respectively by Martín Varsavsky, Isabel Reija and Mario Sancho.

 

Visalia has a €100 million, five-year green bond program in place to finance investments in solar community and electric mobility businesses such as those developed by ETS in Spain through the Barter platform.

 

As part of the transaction, Visalia will acquire 256 operational solar communities located across 25 provinces with high solar irradiation. These include 34 in Jaén, 32 in Badajoz, 31 in Seville, 25 in Córdoba, 24 in Murcia and 20 in Cáceres. The remaining 90 communities are spread across 19 provinces, Granada (14), Toledo (11), Cádiz (10), Málaga (10), and Madrid (7).

 

The operation also includes 72 electric vehicle charging stations and management agreements for 41 third-party charging points, with a total managed charging capacity of 6.1 MW handled by Barter.

 

Beatriz Trocolí, CEO of ETS, stated: “Since launching our platform in 2021, Barter has established itself as the leading independent operator in solar community management in Spain. Having reached a mature stage and fully achieved our value creation objectives, we believe this is the right time to take the next step in its growth. In this context, we are confident that Visalia is the ideal partner to lead Barter’s next phase of consolidation and expansion.”

 

Pablo Abejas, CEO of Visalia, said: “Our goal is to build on the excellent technological platform developed by Barter’s outstanding team of professionals. Together with the trusted and experienced installers they work with, they are essential to developing a pipeline of over 1,000 new solar community projects in the next 24 months—a process that will be accelerated with Visalia’s support.”

 

Barter’s platform will provide Visalia with greater capacity to rapidly and efficiently roll out new solar communities. Moreover, Visalia is a strong fit as Barter’s new partner thanks to its energy supply capabilities and a client base of nearly 140,000 customers across electricity, gas, telecoms and diesel fuel, offering significant potential to onboard new users to the solar communities.

 

In this regard, Abejas noted: “Just by integrating our existing customers who live near these communities, we expect to increase their occupancy by 35%. From day one, Barter’s value grows within Visalia.”

 

ETS was advised on the transaction by Mediobanca and the law firm Uría Menéndez. Visalia was advised by JQ Advisors (financial and strategic), Araoz & Rueda (legal), and E3 Ingenia (technical).

 

This transaction is part of Visalia’s 2024 Green Finance Framework Investment Plan. With this acquisition, Visalia accelerates the deployment of funds raised through its green bonds, completing the investment of proceeds from its bond issues to date.

 

Visalia stands out for its strong social and environmental commitment. It currently holds the highest ESG score globally in the electric utility sector according to Clarity AI, a platform backed by BlackRock. With an ESG rating of 82, Visalia leads all utilities, electricity producers, distributors, and retailers, as well as all energy companies involved in renewables.

 

Pepi Jiménez, ESG Director at Visalia, commented: “This transaction significantly amplifies Visalia’s social and environmental impact by enabling lower-income families in apartment buildings to access more affordable and efficient renewable energy, without any upfront investment. Additionally, Visalia will dedicate energy from these communities to fight energy poverty locally through Energy Banks—initiatives similar to Food Banks, but distributing energy—further reinforcing our global leadership in social responsibility by providing ongoing support to vulnerable households.”

ABOUT ETS

 

A platform created by Asterion Industrial Partners in 2021 to provide a range of energy solutions, services, and technologies that promote the energy transition. Its mission is to enable access to more sustainable, efficient, and decentralized energy models, actively contributing to the decarbonization of Europe’s energy system. ETS currently operates through two platforms: Barter in Spain and Samso in Italy.

ABOUT VISALIA

 

Visalia is a vertically integrated energy and telecommunications operator with its own infrastructure, including over 500 km of electricity and high-speed fiber networks, and nine diesel logistics storage centers. With annual revenues of €250 million and a BBB– investment grade rating from EthiFinance Ratings SL (2024), Visalia supplies electricity, gas, diesel, internet, and mobile services to over 110,000 customers. It is the largest independent, vertically integrated energy operator with its own distribution networks outside the dominant players. Visalia is also a founding member of the Fundación Energía Responsable and leads multiple ESG programs including the Energy Bank initiative to combat energy poverty, as well as programs supporting children, cancer research, and workplace inclusion for people with disabilities.