Sometimes youthful ideals can become the foundation for a successful business career. At least, that’s the story of Prosolia Energy, a multinational leader in the renewable energy sector. The company recorded a profit of €19.2 million and €56 million in new investments in 2024, operates in six different countries, and counts major clients such as Stellantis.
The company has an unusual and inspiring origin, rooted in the dreams of four friends who, in 2003, were taking their first steps into adulthood between Alicante and Valencia. One of them was Juan Carlos Guaita, then the founder of a small environmental group called “Los Verdes” in Ontiyent and today the president of Prosolia Energy. Prosolia is one of the most important independent power producers in Europe, with the ambitious goal of accelerating industrial self-consumption and distributed generation to decarbonize the energy system in Europe and Latin America.
A rural project born to fight climate change
“We were young and idealistic, and we felt we needed to do something concrete to mitigate climate change by promoting the use of renewable energy sources,” recalls Guaita. “In the rural areas of the Valencian Community at that time, private homes were not connected to the electricity grid. We decided to start there to achieve the change we dreamed of in the world: we opened a small company and began developing autonomous photovoltaic projects to bring clean energy to isolated properties in the Valencian countryside.”
The turning point came relatively early, in 2005, thanks to a regulatory opening in Spain that allowed the company to change its business model: ‘to offer renewable energy solutions not only to private properties but also to large industrial consumers, to maximize our environmental impact and really make a difference in creating a more sustainable future.’
This marked the beginning of a phase of rapid growth for the company, which was abruptly interrupted in 2010. The combination of major changes in energy regulations across several European countries, including Spain, and the global economic crisis led to a true corporate “catastrophe.” “Between 2010 and 2015 we went through a very difficult period: we were forced to close most of the offices we had opened in Europe, the United States, and Africa, and we laid off 250 employees in Spain alone,” explains Guaita.
An example of business ethics
Among the offices that had to close was the one in Italy. “In 2011,” recalls Juan Carlos Guaita, “I called Graziano Cucciolini (current country manager of Prosolia Energy Italy) to announce the closure of our office in Prato. Six years later, I called him again: the storm had passed, and the conditions were right to resume our work together.”
The same care was applied to the rest of the team: as soon as it was possible, they committed to rehire most of those who had been laid off. “I have always felt a great responsibility to take care of all my employees and partners, with whom I have shared both sacrifices and successes,” explains the president of Prosolia Energy, highlighting the importance of a business ethic that always seeks to reconcile social, environmental, and economic sustainability.
Prosolia’s current climate commitment
In 2024 alone, the renewable energy plants built by Prosolia Energy in Europe allowed for a reduction of more than 15,000 tons of CO₂ emissions, equivalent to the absorption capacity of approximately 500,000 trees. A few months ago, the company launched a major reforestation project covering 13.5 hectares in Pontevedra, Galicia, to voluntarily offset 10% of its own CO₂ emissions, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
Juan Carlos Guaita has clear views on this: “Protecting the environment is not an optional choice; it is a global imperative.” And it should not be surprising that these words sound like those of a climate activist, because the current manager has not given up anything of the idealistic young person he once was.
When asked how much of the original vision that inspired the founding of that small environmental group in the early 2000s remains in the current multinational, Guaita does not hesitate: “That vision still guides our decisions, naturally combined with a management strategy. I am convinced that the balance between these two goals — commitment to the environment and business growth — is the secret to our success. Without that guiding ideal, Prosolia Energy would have failed, like many other companies that entered the renewable energy sector purely for speculative purposes”.
