Qanta owned and operated rooftop photovoltaic installation in Aigle, Switzerland.
The main obstacle to Switzerland’s energy transition is not technology, not money, and not political will.
It is the minimum size of the investment ticket.
An industrial energy installation represents anywhere from a few hundred thousand francs to a few million, with twenty-five years of operation underpinned by long-term contracts and solid guarantees. A good asset to own.
No infrastructure fund will buy it. They deploy in the tens of millions, and they don’t have the capacity to analyse a portfolio of dozens of small assets. Nor will traditional project financiers. They are looking for substantial assets, not portfolios of projects spread across several regions.
Private investors who want exposure to energy transition infrastructure can accept this project size, but they find no opportunities. They typically go through a pension fund or a wealth manager, which generally invests in a fund of funds, which in turn invests in large infrastructure assets. Layers of fees for the client, no liquidity, long durations, and ultimately no idea what they own.
Too small for the money with the right duration. Too long for the money that accepts the investment size.
Both problems have the same solution: shorten the value chain, shorten the investment horizon without shortening the asset’s life. Offer investors something tangible — identified installations, each with a site, a contract, a consumer. Not a line in a strategy.
That’s what we’re building at Qanta.