Sunedison! Sunedison is back on the New York Times pages with a story about fees paid to McKinsey in relation to the restructuring at the end of the corporation’s life. Reading between the lines it looks like a bit of PR battling by the solar restructuring firms and I wouldn’t be surprised if shareholders and debt holders were taken for a bit of a ride.
Finance Woes? The US is going to build around 10GW this year and there will continue to be more capital than solar projects. A balance between finding the deals and paying the right price goes agains the need to deploy capital and at times that means making deals work just to get money out the door. Moreover, the PG&E situation and lack of some long term contracts will increase the cost of debt and equity in the solar space as developers look for capital to take bigger risks. The solar market will remain hot and projects will get done but at this very moment the cost of capital will bend the wrong direction, momentarily.
Pipeline Wins Again. Cubico is a renewable IPP that is part bankers and backed by tremendous pension fund capital. The mandate was to deploy hundreds of millions per year and get good return in stable investments and Cubico looks to have found that in the Cypress Creek pipeline.
Save Us. A new poll is out with interesting data on Americans support for a carbon tax. 44% of the respondents said they support the tax/dividend. While the group of economists that are supporting the initiative are looking for the tax to be returned to taxpayers as a refund, most Americans prefer the money to be used to fund initiatives that invest in nature and eco-restoration. Second in line comes renewable energy R&D at 59%.
Water Plays. Is there a point when water consumption comes in play for power players and gas drilling? If so, when and where is it most likely to create a regulatory barrier for market participants?
- New York Times: McKinsey & Company Is Again Accused of Misdeeds in Bankruptcy Case
- Greentech Media: Is the Utility-Scale Solar Industry in a Finance Bubble?
- PV-Tech: Cubico to buy 580MW portfolio from Cypress Creek Renewables
- Quartz: Americans – “We need a carbon tax, but keep the change”
- Axios: Water needed for hydraulic fracking has more than doubled
- Baltimore Sun: Community solar should not destroy farm land
- Post and Courier: Solar firm expands as Charleston tech accelerator moves out
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann