Video: What Can We Expect for the Solar Project Finance Market?
It seems as though solar enthusiasm is more abundant than ever before. But with close to 30 GW of solar in the pipeline, and three times more tax equity demand than available, competition is fierce. Many are left wondering what will happen to projects struggling to receive financing. With an uncertain incentive climate what can we expect in the near future? How many of these projects can realistically be financed? What makes one project more attractive than the rest?CANON MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR MOBILE TELESYSTEMS NANYA TECHNOLOGY
Merger and acquistion (M&A) activity within the renewable energy sector surged to an increase of over 70 percent throughout 2010 on the 260 deals completed in 2009. According to KPMG's annual review of M&A deals in the sector, this trend has continued in 2011, with a record 141 renewable deals totaling $11.2 billion in value announced in the first quarter of 2011. Iberdrola's pending 20 percent stake bid for Iberdrola Renovables SA is the biggest deal of the year at ?2.6 billion ($3.74 billion), followed by Electricité de France SA's ?1.5 billion ($2.16 billion) bid for EDF Energies Nouvelles SA (50 percent stake).
The silver lining of all market declines is the chance to buy stock in quality companies at attractive prices. That opportunity has been notably absent over the last two years, which is why my focus has shifted to smaller and smaller companies in search of reasonable valuations over that time. Although I still don't believe the market is cheap by any measure other than comparing it to a couple months ago, the volatility is starting to bring some individual bargains, especially on heavy selling days.
Hansjörg Lerchenmüller, senior vice president at