Cristiano Spillati’s view on shifting perceptions and scaling renewables across the globe 

With extensive experience in the renewables sector spanning 21 years and 13 countries, Cristiano Spillati currently serves as the Managing Director of an international renewable energy development company, Limes Renewable Energy (Limes). Throughout his career, Cristiano has been involved with several projects including solar PV projects with SkyPower Global and in an advisory capacity with Koralion Partners. 

Having managed various projects and associated teams, Cristiano oversees the entire process from development and initial feasibility studies to equity sourcing and structuring. While he is currently based in Milan, Cristiano graduated from Bologna University in Italy and completed an MSc in Economics from Warwick University in the UK before embarking on a career in renewables. 

“I entered the renewables sector almost by chance in 2004,” Cristiano begins. “I studied and worked in the UK for seven years, and when I moved to Barcelona, I reconnected with a friend of a former colleague who was a partner at a renewable energy research and consulting company. It was a micro-organization with just the three partners, but around one year later, there was an opportunity for me to join them and so I worked in consulting in the renewable energy sector until around 2012. 

“After some experience in renewables, I and the other cofounders of Limes recognized a gap in the market for an international renewable energy development company in Italy. Although there were some transformative opportunities and developments across Europe, Italy seemed to be at a standstill, and we believed there was a key opportunity to create a company and portfolio that combined then subsidy-free renewable projects in more mature markets with emerging markets. In 2016, we began forming a strategy and founded the company one year later. Our belief in the future of renewables in Italy and the potential to move away from a reliance on subsidies was compounded by the first subsidy free transaction in the country, by Octopus in 2017.Following this, Limes’ first successful funding closed at the beginning of 2018.” 

With a focus on solar, onshore wind, and battery storage projects, Limes is headquartered in Milan, Italy, and specializes in the active development of renewable energy projects within Italy and also overseeing and coordinating such developments at an international level. The company operates physical offices in Italy, Vietnam, and Chile, as well as a handful of remote, virtual offices, and is currently present in seven countries: Italy, Sweden, the US, Colombia, Chile, Indonesia, and Vietnam. 

“We’re gradually expanding in these markets, and our overall portfolio is around six gigawatts including projects currently in development and those under review,” Cristiano elaborates. “I’d explain our current position as ‘Limes 1.0’ and we’re structuring the company for a new era as ‘Limes 1.5’ by doubling the headcount and preparing for the next round of fundraising. Where we previously focused on the development and sale of assets, such as the recent sale of a 300-megawatt portfolio to an international independent power producer (IPP), there’s potential to move to a hybrid model where we keep a stake of each project and offer commercial asset management services or create a fully-fledged renewable energy IPP.” 

Aside from Limes’ evolution and its impressive portfolio, we’re keen to understand how Cristiano’s experiences have shaped his approach and thoughts about global energy transition and renewable energies. “Regulation, politics, and public awareness are changing constantly, including the maturity of what was once a very niche market,” he states. “Climate crisis and energy transition is now an established movement, and one that I believe is unstoppable; it can be delayed, and many forces are currently trying to do so, but it’s a process that cannot be stopped.” 

While growth in renewable energy was mainly driven by big players in the utilities sector in its early days, independent power producers took over. With no existing or legacy assets, IPPs can focus exclusively on renewable energy generation, changing perceptions on who controls renewable projects.

“Although people have realized the significant role renewables will play in energy transition, the investment space remains conflicted,” Cristiano shares. “While the sector has matured and attracted significant funding in recent years, this is now under attack, causing further delays. Triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, when the economy became a top priority, mainstream thinking shifted towards short termism in several sectors, with more people focused on the short-term impact rather than having a longer-term vision. 

“Also, the pandemic caused an attack on science; with people relying on cultural and political thought rather than scientific facts, many scientific concepts, including environmental science, are increasingly diminished. However, despite these challenges, the train has already left the station, as it were, and although development can be slowed as it’s increasingly challenged, global energy transition will continue regardless.” 

With these challenges in mind, we’re keen to understand how Cristiano remains optimistic. “The most important quality for anyone working in the renewable energy concept is resilience,” he states. “It can take years to develop a project, especially in countries like Italy where the process is more cumbersome and bureaucratic. As a leader, I focus on the long-term, overall objectives, but I’m also committed to growing Limes as a business, both in terms of people and the number of markets we serve. To ensure we don’t lose focus or motivation, we set short- and medium-term milestones as well as long-term goals.” 

Speaking specifically about the impact of a new administration in the US, Cristiano adds: “We’re in discussions with our partners in the US to continuously monitor the changes being proposed by President Trump. With four-year presidential cycles, it can be difficult to plan, finalize, and develop energy projects without changing regulations. Some Republicans are challenging Trump’s removal of the tax credits introduced by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) brought in by Biden. For many governors, including Republicans, the IRA is helping to create jobs and therefore boosting the economy in several states, so while some are proposing a removal of tax credits for renewable energy projects over the next couple of years, others are arguing to push this back until 2030. 

“However, for most renewable projects, developers face localized and location specific issues, with unique challenges pushing us to find new and innovative solutions. Across all markets, there needs to be a good regulatory regime that doesn’t change each year to foster a good investment environment for renewables developers. The permitting process is complicated and uncertain, often taking years to navigate even before development begins, which is again why a collaborative approach and robust resilience are crucial to navigating the ever-changing market.” 

While there are mounting pressures in the renewable energy sector, there are also positive news stories dotted around the globe, and Cristiano shares what he’s most excited to see in the coming years. “As one of the main bottlenecks is the grid system, storage is the missing link for renewables,” he explains. “The grid hasn’t developed as quickly as renewables, but it’s evolving, and batteries costs are declining, with many people arguing that storage is the new solar. An interesting example of the bottlenecks currently facing the industry is the recent power outages in Spain and Portugal, as everyone was quick to attack renewables despite later confirmation that renewable energy was not at fault and in fact helped to quickly restore power. 

“We’re seeing increased storage projects across the globe and some countries, including Vietnam, are introducing a mandate that any new renewable project should be coupled with a storage system of at least ten percent of the project’s capacity. For Europe, on the other hand, the integration of battery storage in renewables means a secure, stable future based on 100-percent clean energy is much more likely. Some traditional energy generation processes also play a part in supporting the shift to renewable projects, as most renewables require a traditional base load to gradually build upon. Personally, I support the integration of large-scale renewables projects with some nuclear or minority nuclear.” 

With ever-growing demand for electricity, driven by population growth and technological developments like AI, the need for renewable generation is only increasing. “There are no other solutions that can meet rising demand as quickly as renewables can,” Cristiano argues. “There is so much work to be done, and even if it takes much longer than anticipated or if government support wanes, we can change the narrative by proving the cost savings and efficiencies gained by leveraging renewable energy as opposed to legacy sources. We’re experiencing specific growth in our markets in Indonesia and Vietnam, for example, and with Asia’s electricity demand growing by up to ten percent per year in some countries, both renewable energy developers and legacy industries need to rapidly evolve to meet increasing pressures on the electricity grid. The next generations have a huge part to play, as we need to secure funding for new projects, reshape beliefs that have been tainted in recent years, and continuously innovate.” 

With short, medium, and long-term objectives, Cristiano is clearly optimistic about the future for both the business and the wider industry. Cristiano is exactly the kind of leader needed at the helm to ensure these projects are not only successful but also contribute to changing perceptions of renewables amid various ongoing social, cultural, and political challenges. 

“Limes is focused primarily on the longer term, and I’m passionate about leaving a better world for my children and the next generations to come,” Cristiano concludes. “I see greater consolidation and integration of storage technology over the next five-to-ten years, but for Limes, our strategy concentrates on overall positive contributions to changing the narrative around renewables, energy transition, and climate crisis.”  

www.limes-re.com