FiveT Power

FiveT Power is the newest subsidiary within the FiveT ecosystem, dedicated to financing the European power infrastructure across the full value chain, from generation, transmission and distribution, to storage solutions and electrification applications. FiveT Power invests in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), a core pillar of one of Europe's fastest-growing infrastructure markets, essential for building an efficient, flexible, robust, and circular energy system.

OUR AMBITION

Electrification is reshaping every sector of the economy. From digital infrastructure and industrial production to mobility, heating, and AI, electric solutions are rapidly outcompeting legacy systems, delivering cheaper, cleaner, quieter, and more efficient alternatives. As deployment accelerates exponentially, all these applications draw from the same source: power and the infrastructure behind it. Europe’s decade-long expansion of solar and wind, further accelerated by recent geopolitical and energy-security shocks, has now reached a point where aging grid systems are being pushed to their limits.

OUR AMBITION

Grid incidents and potential blackouts are rising, renewable curtailment is hitting record levels, and even negative power prices are happening daily, progressively becoming the new normal. These signals show that flexibility solutions and enhanced grid connectivity are critical. At FiveT Power we aim to mobilize capital at scale and partner with industry leaders to accelerate the build-out of a resilient, flexible, and electrified energy system.

Key People

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Jean-Philippe Tripet

Chairman of the FiveT Power Investment and Advisory Committee.

Since 1988, Jean-Philippe has built an extensive career as an international banking executive.

During his 7 years at Lombard Odier & Cie (1994-2001) he was based in Geneva, Zurich, London, and New York. As Executive Vice President, Head of Equity Research and Head of Equity, as well as member of group management board, he had CHF 10bn of assets under management and steering more than 100 employees.

Jean-Philippe is the founder and Managing Partner of Aravis AG, a Swiss-based investment firm. At Aravis (2021-2025), Jean-Philippe was responsible for launching, deploying and divesting - among other fund strategies - two renewable energy infrastructure fund vintages, Aravis Energy I (2008-2014) and Aravis Energy II (2011-2016). In 2015, Preqin ranked ‘Aravis Energy I’ the “Overall Best Performing Unlisted Infrastructure Funds” in the world (place #1 of over 200 unlisted infrastructure funds, ISBN: 978-1-907012-84-6). While the exact terms of the Aravis Energy II exit are under NDA, the results delivered were significantly above the targeted performance parameters. Jean-Philippe and Thorsten Schulz have collaborated on those funds.

Jean-Philippe invested in more than 140 private-companies across the USA, Europe, and Asia, frequently as lead investor. He has played a pivotal role in the creation and development of several leading Swiss biotech companies, including Novimmune, Glycart, Cytos, Evolva, Symetis, Synosia (now Biotie), and Telormedix. He also originated multiple IPOs on the Swiss exchange and Nasdaq and co-founded the luxury leather brand Maison Takuya in Asia.

Jean-Philippe has served on numerous private and public boards and currently sits on two portfolio company boards. He advises the Swiss Government on digitalization and is a founding member of the Swiss Entrepreneurs Foundation.
He holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Geneva, completed graduate finance studies in San Diego, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

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Thorsten Schulz

Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at FiveT Power AG

Dr. Thorsten Schulz is Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at FiveT Power AG, overseeing all investment activities and leading deal teams.

He is a senior energy-transition investor with extensive experience in renewable infrastructure and grid-scale energy storage.

Previously, he worked closely with Jean-Philippe at Aravis, contributing to the Aravis Energy I LP and Aravis Energy II (Lead Swiss Renewables AG) and establishing a long-standing joint track record in European power infrastructure. After Aravis, he held senior investment roles at Smartenergy and This Decade, shaping investment strategies and executing renewable and energy flexibility transactions. Earlier in his career, and on a strategic basis thereafter, he was involved in renewable-energy project development across solar, storage, hydropower, and green-ammonia projects.

Thorsten holds a Doctorate of Science (Dr. Sc. ETH) in Energy Economic Modelling from ETH Zürich, an MSc (Dipl.-Ing.) in Environmental Protection Technology from the University of Stuttgart, and an MBA from the University of St. Gallen (HSG).

Leading Energy Transition Team

FiveT Power combines a strong infrastructure track record built through Aravis and Hy24, our joint venture with Ardian, with decades of technical expertise in power transmission, distribution systems, and high-voltage equipment, drawn from backgrounds at RWTH Aachen, ABB, and Siemens Energy.

Unlocking the Battery Storage

Energy storage is becoming essential for balancing variable renewables, reducing grid congestion, enabling grid-service markets, and ensuring system stability particularly as electrification accelerates across industry, mobility, and buildings. A circular energy system of the future requires Europe to deploy hundreds of GWh of new storage capacity over the next decade.

BESS costs have been falling dramatically thanks to economies of scale on a project level and battery stack cost reductions (a 97% drop over the past 15 years and a 40% decline from 2023 to 2024 alone).

Intraday spreads have increased significantly due to structural supply demand dynamics. European utilities are comfortable to contract that spread into long term offtake agreements for BESS capacities, called “Tolling Agreements”, turning BESS assets into stable cash flow generating and bankable assets.

Summing it all up, BESS projects represent investable, commercially viable, and long-term revenue-generating infrastructure assets.

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