European Green Transition PLC (AIM:EGT) founder Cathal Friel talked with Proactive about the company’s 2025 results, a transformational acquisition in the UK wind sector and the group’s growth ambitions across renewable energy infrastructure.
European Green Transition founder Cathal Friel joined Proactive to discuss the company’s final results for 2025 and the significant progress made following a major acquisition that has reshaped the business.
Friel explained that the acquisition of Earthmill Maintenance and related businesses has established European Green Transition as a leading player in the UK onshore wind services market. The deal brought an EBITDA-profitable business with substantial working capital, an established customer base and a portfolio of more than 900 turbines under management.
Discussing the opportunity ahead, Friel highlighted how changes in UK government policy have reopened the market for onshore wind development and turbine upgrades. The company has already signed 55 heads of agreement representing approximately £24 million in additional revenue opportunities and has identified a broader pipeline of potential projects.
Friel also outlined the importance of Anemos, the AI-enabled wind turbine monitoring software business in which European Green Transition recently increased its stake to 79%. He said the technology provides predictive maintenance and real-time monitoring capabilities that can serve both the company’s existing customers and third-party operators.
Looking ahead, the company is focused on revenue growth, profitability and selective bolt-on acquisitions. Friel stated: “We’re in probably one of the highest growth areas at the moment, UK onshore renewables.” He also reiterated the ambition to grow revenue significantly over the coming years while maintaining a disciplined acquisition strategy.
Proactive: You’re out with your final results for 2025. It was a transformational year because of the acquisition completed by the company. Talk to us about the year.
Cathal Friel: EGT was my fifth IPO and followed a similar approach to previous ventures. We raised a modest amount of money, developed a concept and looked for distressed assets. I’ve used this strategy before with companies including Amryt Pharma and Open Orphan. Last year, after stepping back from my executive role at hVIVO, I focused much more of my time on EGT. Our aim was to find attractive assets at a fraction of their invested capital, and we are very pleased with what we acquired.
Proactive: For those unfamiliar with the acquisition, tell us about it.
Cathal Friel: We acquired an EBITDA-profitable onshore wind services business that is a joint market leader in servicing distributed onshore wind turbines in the UK. We paid £3.5 million and acquired £2.3 million of working capital and a significant amount of stock. The assets had previously received substantial investment. The parent company entered liquidation, creating an opportunity for us.
The main business is Earthmill Maintenance, alongside related operations in Ireland and Northern Ireland. We also acquired a stake in Anemos software. Together, the maintenance business generates approximately £14-15 million annually and operates in a recurring, predictable market.
A key development was the removal of restrictions on new onshore wind turbines in the UK. We currently maintain more than 900 turbines. Around one-third are overdue upgrades and there is now a significant opportunity to support repowering and turbine replacement projects. Since January, the company has signed 55 heads of agreement representing around £24 million of additional revenue opportunities and has identified a pipeline of approximately 280 qualified customers.
Proactive: The wind energy business appears to have strong momentum.
Cathal Friel: The company is operating in the right place at the right time. The UK is increasing its focus on renewable energy. We had monitored this business for some time and waited for the right opportunity. When the parent company entered liquidation, we were able to acquire the subsidiaries at an attractive valuation while their operations continued trading normally.
Proactive: You recently increased your stake in Anemos. Why?
Cathal Friel: We increased our holding by 27%, bringing our ownership to 79%, while leaving 21% with management and founders. Anemos provides AI-enabled predictive maintenance and real-time monitoring for wind turbines. Software has always been an area of interest for me, and we believe Anemos has significant potential.
The platform complements our existing turbine services business while remaining independent enough to sell solutions to other operators in the sector. Over time, we believe Anemos could potentially become a standalone listed company.
Proactive: What are your priorities for the rest of 2026?
Cathal Friel: The focus is on execution, growing revenue and maintaining profitability. We believe revenue can reach £50 million over the next two to three years. Following the acquisition, we raised £7.5 million and remain debt-free and EBITDA positive.
We will pursue selective bolt-on acquisitions while focusing on opportunities in UK onshore renewables. We are also interested in opportunities related to national grid upgrades and data centre infrastructure, both of which require significant electrical engineering expertise.
The objective is to continue building the business, growing revenue and profitability, and creating long-term value.
