Invest your savings with new interest: the energy transition!

Crowdfunding for renewable energy continues to grow. It meets the needs of regions and citizens keen to contribute locally to the growth of renewable energy. Citizen savings can be involved in various ways: minibonds, bonds, and soon through the PEA-PME (Personal Equity Savings Plan).

“A wind turbine that floats at sea, producing electricity that we can consume locally, it’s magical!” » Patrick Bourgeois has stars in his eyes when he talks about the Eolmed project. It is the first floating wind project in France, off the coast of Gruissan and Port-la-Nouvelle in Occitanie, to use crowdfunding. On Enerfip, €400,000 in savings were collected in five weeks. 278 people invested in bonds.

Bonds, nothing complicated

Simple or convertible, fixed or subsidized, a bond is a debt security that a company agrees to repay. Each bond entitles the investor to a coupon. This is paid periodically or at maturity with an associated value and interest rate. When the bond expires, it has reached "maturity." The company must then repay its value in full. For fixed-rate bonds, the coupon depends on the issue value; its remuneration does not change over time. For subsidized-rate bonds, the repayment of capital and interest can vary upwards according to predetermined conditions. Finally, for convertible bonds, two options are available to the investor. It is either repaid with interest using traditional bond repayment methods, or it can be repaid in the form of company shares. In all cases, options can be exercised. The bondholder can attend general meetings, but does not have voting rights, unlike shareholders.

Minibond, a crowdfunding tool

Another investment tool recently created for crowdfunding: the minibond. Born from the Macron law of 2016, the minibond allows regulated platforms[1], such as Enerfip, to offer investors debt securities used as a support for crowdfunding through debt (crowdlending). The minibond can only be issued by joint-stock companies (SA, SAS, etc.) or limited liability companies (SARL). A company cannot issue more than €2.5 million in minibonds over a 12-month period, which must be at a fixed rate. Registered and transferable, the minibond is not negotiable. However, it requires the repayment of capital and interest every quarter. Unlike bondholders, minibond holders are not represented at general meetings. They do not have voting rights, but they do have access to all information made available to those represented at general meetings.

Soon the PEA-PME

To encourage the French to invest in small and medium-sized businesses, the government plans to make securities offered by crowdfunding platforms eligible for the PEA-PME. Accessible to any adult, the Share Savings Plan for financing small and medium-sized businesses and mid-cap companies allows you to buy and sell shares in these companies. Whether listed on the stock exchange or not, these companies must have fewer than 5,000 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding €1.5 billion. Designed in 2014, the PEA-PME has never been a success. With only €1.1 billion in assets, [2] this investment needed to be revitalized. This is the government's objective, which intends to do so by leveraging the strong growth of crowdfunding. This is what the PACTE (Action Plan for Business Transformation) bill, which is scheduled for adoption in the fall, provides.

For more citizen savings

Business transformation is already taking shape through crowdfunding. It's a fact: more and more project leaders, startups, and companies invested in the energy transition are using it. They find it, in particular, an alternative to more traditional financing. Citizens have understood this and support these meaningful risks. The successful co-financing of an innovative solution to improve wind farm production by the startup sereema is a perfect illustration of this. For the government, this is also an opportunity to support the channeling of savings towards the real economy and renewable energies. This is why, by the end of the year, the collection ceiling for regulated CIP and PSI platforms (note 1) will be raised to €8 million, compared to the current €2.5 million. Thus, citizen savings will soon have the opportunity to finance even more structuring projects for our energy future.

Cyrille Arnoux, web editorial manager

[1] CIP (Participatory Investment Advisor) or PSI (Investment Services Provider) art. L. 223-6

[2] As of the 3^th quarter of 2017