Kiwa Deutschland acquires PI Berlin

Kiwa Deutschland GmbH, the German unit of Dutch testing and certification services provider Kiwa, has agreed to acquire PI Berlin, a technical adviser for PV projects in Germany.

The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement. “We were looking for a strong partner who also has a focus on sustainability and technical expertise to support our mission to accelerate the transition to renewable energy worldwide,” said Sven Lehmann, CEO and co-founder of PI Berlin.

The structure and the company name will remain unchanged. The only change is that the company will have a single owner, Kiwa Germany, rather than individual private shareholders.

Kiwa offers laboratory, inspection, audit and consulting services. It serves private and public sector customers in virtually every market and employs more than 10,000 people in over 35 countries throughout Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America and Oceania. It is based in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, and is a member of the SHV Holdings consortium.

In the field of renewable energy, Kiwa offers testing and certification services for solar modules, inverters and batteries, as well as technical consulting services for PV plants.

PI Berlin was founded in 2006 and offers technical advice, risk management, and quality assurance for solar projects and storage installations. The international team includes more than 100 professionals and provides audit, testing, inspection and engineering services to investors, utilities, developers, EPCs and government agencies. The most important locations of PI Berlin are Germany, Spain, the United States, and China. PI Berlin also has a licensing deal for PV module tests with Mitsui Chemicals in Japan and India.

Sven Lehmann and Steven Xuereb, members of the PI Berlin board of directors, will continue to lead the business of PI Berlin as active members of the management board. Gero Schoenwasser from Kiwa Deutschland GmbH will also join the board of PI Berlin.

“This acquisition represents a strong momentum for PI Berlin, which will undoubtedly lead both to a reinforcement of the services already offered in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America, and to the inclusion of new capacities thanks to the infrastructure already owned by the Kiwa Group,” said Asier Ukar, general manager of the Spanish subsidiary of PI Berlin. “The improvement will be reflected in the areas of factory, laboratory and field services, which will benefit our customers developing greenfield projects, but also those repowering or refurbishing existing assets, which is of increasing importance for the Spanish market.”