Clean Energy: Solar | Wind | Hydro | Biomass | Geothermal | SMR Nuclear | OTEC | Waste
Our investors are focused on financing construction-ready clean energy projects across all asset classes, structures and geographies in the following industries. Annotations based on our experience with deal flow, as of late 2016:
Solar – ground mounted or commercial-scale rooftop, photovoltaics, concentrated PV and/or solar thermal, usually including storage when sufficient scale
Wind – onshore and offshore wind farms, where permits can be obtained and long-term offtake agreements secured, or to sell power via favorable nodal pricing with strong historic data (can aggregate to reach sufficient scale)
Biomass — woody biomass such as forest slash, or diseased trees, dry biomass that sometimes presents a fire hazard, food processing wastes such as from palm or rice, manures, sludges, etc. See also: waste-to-value
Small hydroelectricity (typically less than 10MW per turbine, such as run-of-the-river or other technologies that do not require a reservoir). When there is a reservoir, must ensure there is no better option for power generation and that the ecology will not be harmed; displacement of people must be avoided. May need to aggregate multiple turbines to reach sufficient scale for financing.
SMR Nuclear — we will want to understand how waste is managed, as this is perceived as an issue yet to be resolved. more
Waste-to-energy — landfill gas (anaerobic digestion or methane capture and co-generation), refuse-derived-fuels (RDF), MSW to renewable energy via pyrolysis or gasification, and many others
Geothermal — initial site drilling and reservoir optimization costs sometimes get in the way from a risk management perspective. How can you be sure the project is feasible?
Marine or
hydrokinetic — hydrokinetic energy such as tidal or wave power can deliver baseload power that depends less on the weather than solar and wind, and is somewhat immune to climate change. As of 2018, there are few commercial examples with sufficient longevity to demonstrate long-term performance for wave power. Tidal power is getting closer. Insurance products may be necessary to qualify for term loans.
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) — has been piloted successfully in warm-water island locations like Hawaii and Haiti, but further R&D is likely needed. Initial environmental studies gained approval, but there are unresolved issues (more)
See master list for additional sector focus examples.
We can finance energy generation, distribution, infrastructure such as transmission, and manufacture of energy-related products such as drop-in biofuels, renewable fuels, energy pellets, and more. This include proven technologies for all forms of clean energy that make economic sense. When there is remaining project risk, investors usually have a bias toward disruptive innovations, but technically and financially well-supported solutions worldwide can be qualified.
Use our Readiness and Investment Navigator (RAIN) assessment to obtain your pre-qualification scores.
Questions? Contact us. If possible, please complete our fast/friendly RAIN assessment to help accelerate next steps.