Financial, Legal, Professional

The largest climate package in US history promises to turbocharge the country’s solar sector, but considerable uncertainty remains around the impact the Inflation Reduction Act will have and how it will be enforced by authorities, writes Sean Rai-Roche.

While renewables procurement is more challenging for SMEs with smaller power demands and less energy sector expertise, PPA aggregations offer a solution. Meghan McIntyre of Schneider Electric explores the deal structures for such aggregations and how project developers can benefit from them.

ESG is now at the centre of many investor requirements when it comes to finalising deals, and while solar is obviously a destination of choice from an environmental perspective, that is only part of the puzzle. Galp’s head of Renewable Energy Innovation Centre Emilien Simonot and its environment and CSR manager Claudia Montenegro detail the essential considerations for the solar industry from an ESG perspective.

Manufacturers and developers alike have felt the pain of supply chain constraints of the last two years but, amidst sky-high prices and contractual disputes, how have relations between manufacturers, distributors and developers changed? Liam Stoker reports.

Consistently high levels of inflations seen across the world are impacting all industries in different ways. And solar PV is no exception. Alexa Capital examines the risk and reward profiles for different company structures and moots than greater market consolidation may be on the way.

With Europe’s energy crisis showing no sign of abating, Charlie Ward, head of renewables at New Stream Renewables, assesses the contributing factors to price volatility and PPA strategies for renewables moving forward.

In the midst of an energy crisis, both generators and offtakers are considering their next moves. Sean Rai-Roche speaks with analysts and experts across the continent to decipher what is expected to happen to prices and what that means for companies’ operations.

Identifying reliable module supply has become a huge challenge in the PV industry over the past couple of years. Moving forward, the industry needs to create a more globallydiversified manufacturing footprint, thereby avoiding any unexpected trade-related barriers that could be enforced. Understanding which module suppliers are going to prevail in this landscape will become of key importance over the next 12-18 months, Finlay Colville explains.

As energy systems the world over embrace renewables en masse, flexibility is quickly outpacing generation as the most valuable provision an asset has. Alexa Capital CEO Bruce Huber examines the rise of flexibility and the major economic opportunity it poses for the energy sector.

In September 2021 Lightsource bp set itself the target of reaching financial close on 25GW of solar by the end of 2025. Liam Stoker spoke to the developer’s leadership team to discover how it is expanding into new markets, securing financing deals and assembling a workforce capable of reaching that target.