BayWa has announced that it is planning to sell its international solar trading business Solar Trade.

The company said the decision is based on a “strategic realignment of BayWa r.e. AG, which in future will focus on international project business and further expansion as an independent power producer (IPP)”.

“The aim is to use the sales proceeds to finance the tripling of the current project business by 2026 and to expand the IPP portfolio to 3 gigawatts,” it added.

The sale will serve to reallocate the capital employed and should give Solar Trade the opportunity to continue operating with a new potential buyer.

Solar Trade is represented worldwide with a global network of over 20 distribution companies and more than 1,400 employees.

BayWa said the trading business has the potential to increase annual sales of solar modules and inverters to more than 10GW.

BayWa chief executive officer and BayWa r.e. chairman of the supervisory board Klaus Josef Lutz (pictured) said: “With a powerful buyer, we have the opportunity to continue the extraordinary success story of the group that began in 2008.

“Today we are an important pacesetter in the energy transition. We generate more than half of our consolidated earnings with renewable energies.”

BayWa r.e. chief executive officer Matthias Taft said: “BayWa re has experienced incredible growth to advance the global energy transition.

“We owe this success to the commitment and passion of our employees.

“Now is the right time to set this forward-looking strategic course, so that BayWa re and Solar Trade can pursue this claim even more purposefully.”

Energy Infrastructure Partners co-founder Roland Dörig said: “The future has an enormous demand for more renewable energies, which results in enormous potential for the players in this market.

“The high market momentum of recent years combined with Solar Trade’s success and market-leading position should prove extremely attractive to a potential buyer.”