Reporters Notebook

Renewables project finance enthusiasts flocked to REFF Wall Street 2021 last week for two days of non-stop networking and panel discussions, after being deprived of conferences for over a year-and-a-half due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Renewables project finance enthusiasts flocked to a secluded conference center in midtown Manhattan earlier this week for REFF Wall Street 2021, after being deprived of events to attend over the last year-and-a-half. PFR editor Taryana Odayar and reporter Alfie Crooks were on site to catch the goings-on.

While some debt investors have grown increasingly comfortable financing merchant solar assets over the last few years, many market watchers at REFF Wall Street 2021 remain unconvinced that the attractive yields to be gained by taking on merchant exposure outweigh the associated risks.

Conference goers at REFF Wall Street 2021 in New York this week applauded the tremendous volume of investments in the renewables space over the last year-and-a-half, despite the disruption wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, but some warned that there could be "surprises down the road" as a result of the rapid buildout of the asset class.

Wind sponsors look poised to favor a "more equitable" direct-pay structure following the approval of a portion of the Democrats’ proposed $3.5 trillion spending package by the US House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, which could alter the tax equity landscape, say insiders at REFF Wall Street 2021.

Renewable energy retailers have traditionally found ways to sway Texan customers to choose them, typically through competitive rates, but Octopus Energy has devised a new offering – Amazon Prime memberships.

El Salvador's president has revealed plans to power Bitcoin mining operations in the country using geothermal energy produced by volcanoes, shortly after El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

NordLB's Sondra Martinez, CohnReznick Capital's Conor McKenna, Convergent Energy + Power's Frank Genova and Kirkland & Ellis's Brian Greene discuss the latest developments in the energy storage market.

Colombia has set the dates for the country’s second renewable auction, which it first announced in November.

A bladeless wind generator designed by a Madrid-based start-up has been dubbed the "Skybrator" due to its suggestive shape and the way it oscillates back-and-forth in a stiff breeze.

Several renowned Scotch whisky makers, including Glenmorangie, are working out a spirited plan to power their Highland distilleries with green hydrogen produced using generation from nearby offshore and onshore wind farms.

Securitization exists in the public consciousness primarily as a shadowy corner of the capital markets in which out-of-control financial engineering causes global economic meltdowns. Could it be due a reappraisal?

Recently, it seems that every day brings blank check company news, whether it’s an initial public offering or a merger. But could a privately held renewable energy project developer go public this way by the end of the year?

The years-long stampede of international capital into the US renewable energy sector has continued unabated in the first few weeks of 2021, as latecomers from around the world have finally got in on the action.

As we heave a collective sigh of relief at finally putting 2020 behind us, let’s take a moment to reflect on the past 12 months through the lens of Power Finance & Risk’s most read stories of the year.

Safety this holiday season is a top priority for IntelStor, which says it is providing Santa Claus with wind turbine geo-location mapping, to make sure that his sleigh ride round the globe goes off without a hitch.

#PowerTweets is an occasional feature tracking trends in power finance and investment in the Americas on Twitter.

Recent announcements show that major institutions are taking more of an interest in the world of community solar.

NRG Energy has brought the US capital markets a step forward with its inaugural sustainability-linked bond, introducing a new flavor of greens for its debt investors to chew on. But as usual, European corporations led the way.

The apparently unstoppable trend of ever-tightening project finance margins finally hit the buffers in March 2020. But now, even as the pandemic continues to rage, the race to the bottom is back with a vengeance.

When Engie and EDP Renováveis christened their offshore wind joint venture Ocean Winds, you could be forgiven for assuming that it had taken about 10 seconds to come up with the name. But in the branding world, nothing is that simple.

Enterprising energy innovators never tire of coming up with unlikely new locations for power generation – on highways, in roof tiles, at the end of a kite string – with mixed results. Now there’s a start-up producing electrons from municipal water pipes.

In the world of project finance, power purchase agreements are usually considered from the point of view of the project owner or lender. But in the last few years, more attention has started to be paid to the other end of the contract.

Take-or-pay busbar power purchase agreements with electric utilities are all well and good, but they’re starting to look a bit old-fashioned. Bitcoin batteries and green hydrogen are where it’s at these days.

IJGlobal’s famed Latin America conference took place virtually on September 15 and 16 this year, after the event originally scheduled for March in Miami had to be canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As developers phase out their coal-fired assets in Chile and replace them with renewable projects, sponsors' market shares could change, say attendees at IJLatam 2020, IJGlobal's Latin America energy and infrastructure conference.

Despite Mexico's regulatory changes in the power market in the past few months, industry insiders claim that the market may have slowed down but is not closed.

The US International Development Finance Corporation is considering deploying equity in Latin America, as it has done previously in other regions such as Southeast Asia.

Power purchase contracts with non-utility corporate offtakers are growing in popularity in Latin America but remain an exception to the norm in project finance, said industry insiders at IJLatam 2020, IJGlobal's Latin America energy and infrastructure conference.

As power market and policy experts quarrel over the reasons for California's first rolling blackouts in 19 years, renewable energy project developers and financiers spy opportunities.

Whenever a Department of Energy loan goes bad – as it did in the case of the Crescent Dunes concentrated solar project in Nevada – questions are raised about the program. But how bad is the US government at picking winners, really?

A recent development testifies to solar's lasting appeal, albeit with a controversial twist. Afghan opium poppy growers are among those that have caught on to the increasingly affordable technology, though presumably not with ESG criteria in mind.

Developers of gas-fired and wind projects were united in their fury and dismay last year when Ohio’s House of Representatives passed House Bill 6 – the state’s nuclear and coal bail-out bill. The recent bribery allegations only add fuel to the sense of righteous indignation.

Several renewable energy and thermal power project developers made use of federal Paycheck Protection Program funding earlier this year, according to data released by the US Department of the Treasury on July 6.

After sifting through more than 100 nominations, Power Finance & Risk is pleased to announce the short lists for its 17th Annual Deal of the Year Awards.

Since the novel coronavirus crashed into the US economy in March, the project finance market seems, for now at least, to have settled into a new groove. But while loan margins have widened versus the exuberant pre-pandemic days, some officials still suspect that the market—especially for renewable energy—may be overheated.

Last week, we published a case study on the uncertain fate of Engie and Tokyo Gas’s Golden Eagle renewable energy portfolio in Mexico in the context of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s controversial energy policy (PFR, 6/25). But political risk is not confined to Latin America, and project finance bankers may do well to consider the risks in the US, too.

As Pacific Gas & Electric’s bankruptcy proceedings appear to roll inexorably toward resolution, owners of power and renewable energy projects tied to the utility through power purchase agreements are beginning to indulge in pleasant thoughts of a return to normal for their project finance arrangements.

The anti-racism protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis have led, among other things, to increased recognition of Juneteenth, the anniversary of the emancipation of the last enslaved African Americans in the US.

One of the first pieces of advice a retail stock investor receives after opening their first brokerage account or downloading the Robinhood app is not to try to “time the market.” But in corporate finance – especially during weak markets – timing is everything. If a window of opportunity opens after a period of volatility, you go for it.

Eleven weeks after bankers and fund managers left Midtown Manhattan for coronavirus lockdown at home, the pace of activity in power and renewable energy finance in the US seems as hectic as ever. Indeed, disruption to the capital markets has created more work for some borrowers and unique opportunities for lenders.

It has been credited with producing Western Europe's mild climate, blamed for intensifying Atlantic cyclones, and used for centuries by sailors to speed their passage across the ocean, but could the Gulf Stream soon become a source of plentiful renewable energy? A recent demonstration project has brought the idea a step closer.

The Covid-19 panic that has sent markets spiraling has also upended the working conditions and lifestyles of project finance officials, with cancelled conferences, enforced remote working, handshake bans and even the prospect of "virtual closing dinners," however that is supposed to work.

The annual Siemens Energy Financial Services Oktoberfest bash in New York settled into a new venue this year at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, a recently repurposed former movie theater in Midtown Manhattan.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends and news in power and energy on Twitter. For more news and coverage, follow @PowerFinRisk on Twitter, as well as editor @richmetcalf and reporters @Shravanbhat, @Taryana_Odayar and @ArroyoNieto.

China has set a Guinness World Record for the largest solar panel image, which takes the pattern of a galloping horse and is equivalent in size to 195 football pitches.

Power Finance & Risk brought together a panel of experts to talk through the changing dynamics of California’s sun-soaked power market and the impact for project financiers. Leaders from Strata Solar, CleanCapital, Capstone Headwaters and Solar Frontier Americas talked through PG&E’s restructuring, pricing of battery storage debt and much more.

With single-digit reserve margin forecasts drawing solar, battery and peaker developers to Texas in droves, PFR reporter Shravan Bhat visited Houston last week to catch up with the Ercot community and assess the market for power price hedges.

Early-stage renewable energy projects exceeding 1 GW were auctioned off at a novel event on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange last Monday, hosted by Akin Gump, Novogradac, DNV GL and FTI Capital Advisors.

Back to back panels early on Day 1 of the REFF Wall Street 2019 conference at the Intercontinental Barclay in New York highlighted that despite the phase downs in federal renewables tax credits, the tax equity majors still the keys in the capital stack.

With graduation festivities in full swing across the Golden State, PG&E has begun warning customers about the dangers of helium-filled metallic balloons, using the slogan, ‘Look Up and Live!’

As the first step-down in the investment tax credit for solar looms, developers have begun to sound out banks for loans for panels and inverters that would safe harbor the equipment for the full incentives.

Despite rumblings about overbuild in PJM Interconnection, developers are pushing ahead with new build gas-fired projects there, and lenders stand ready to finance them. The only thing missing, it seems, is equity.

A panel of project finance professionals set about imagining the post-tax credit future of renewables financing at the S&P Global Platts Global Power Markets conference in Las Vegas this week, conjuring up a landscape of high yield debt and mezzanine capital supported by merchant wind and solar cashflows.

Gusts of up to 46 mph in Las Vegas this week did not dampen the spirits of attendees of the S&P Global Platts 34th Annual Global Power Conference, but did put paid to plans for open air cigar parties. PFR editor Richard Metcalf and reporter Taryana Odayar were on hand to chronicle the action, inside and outside the conference hall.

As representatives of developers, banks, investment firms and service providers descend on Las Vegas for S&P Global Platts’ 34th Annual Global Power Markets Conference, PFR takes a look at what to expect.

Known for undertaking ambitious infrastructure projects such as the world’s largest hydro project, the Three Gorges Dam, China has now embarked on a mission to develop the first utility-scale solar project in space by 2040.

An internal memo at Goldman Sachs regarding a new “firm wide flexible dress code” was widely reported this week, but don’t expect the firm’s investment bankers to turn up in sneakers and sweatpants any time soon.

So you've left your job at an established financial institution, project developer or energy retailer and decided to set up your own energy investment firm. There are a lot of decisions to make, but first of all, you need a logo. Where do you go?

On the morning of Feb. 2, sleeping residents of the Rhode Island towns of Cranston and Johnston were rudely awakened by a booming roar.

Budweiser’s 2019 Super Bowl ad features all of its classic motifs: Its beloved Clydesdales, a Dalmation mascot, fields of wheat, and—in an unusual twist—wind turbines spinning to the sultry sounds of Bob Dylan.

A transformer explosion at a ConEdison facility in Astoria, Queens, which took place two days after Christmas, set the New York city skyline ablaze with a dazzling blue glow. The blast caused power outages across the borough, including at LaGuardia airport, and sent social media users into a frenzy about the possibility of an alien invasion.

In October, PFR teamed up with Fitch Ratings and Orrick to host a candid discussion on the challenges and opportunities for financing America’s nascent offshore wind industry. Experts covered everything from debt pricing to offtake structures and the full report is in this week’s issue.

Paraguay, home to Jesuit ruins, rainforests and the world’s largest dam, will also soon be home to what is being touted as the world’s largest cryptocurrency mining center and exchange, which will be powered by the massive, state-owned Itaipú hydroelectric project under a 15-year contract.

As market participants prepare for the U.S. offshore wind industry to take off, PFR is publishing a special report on the topic, featuring a roundtable discussion sponsored by Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Fitch Ratings.

Con Edison Solutions has installed solar arrays at five Catholic parishes on Staten Island and in Yonkers, N.Y., after signing 20-year power purchase agreements.

Project finance veterans pushed back against the notion that free-flowing capital was producing riskier deals at the S&P Global Platts Financing US Power Conference on Oct. 23.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends and news in power and energy on Twitter.

A Oregon solar project operated by Pine Gate Renewables is abuzz with a sweet collaboration involving bees and brews.

Amid a squeeze on returns on tax equity, developers are reporting a reversal in market dynamics, with investors coming to them looking for deals.

NRG Energy’s sale of its wind and solar development business has freed the company to procure renewables from third-party developers as it remodels itself as an energy retailer.

Just as one robin (or, depending on your geographic location, swallow) doesn’t make a spring, two project finance CLOs (PF CLOs)—Bayfront Infrastructure and RIN—may not confidently mark the re-emergence of PF CLOs. They are, nevertheless, a positive and potentially significant development, writes Paul Forrester, Chicago-based partner at Mayer Brown.

As President Donald Trump's grand infrastructure plan hit the buffers earlier this year, his former attorney, Michael Cohen, was allegedly doing his own bit for the cause by seeking government funds for a mothballed nuclear project in Alabama, according to an Aug. 2 report in the Wall Street Journal.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter. For more news and coverage.

British bureaucrats have drawn up radical contingency plans to keep the lights on in Northern Ireland—which relies on a shared energy market with the Irish republic—in the case of a “no-deal Brexit”, the Financial Times reported last week.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the superman-shaped drone that environmental group Greenpeace flew into a wall of EDF's 3,580 MW Bugey nuclear facility on July 3.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter. For more news and coverage, follow @PowerFinRisk on Twitter, as well as editor @richmetcalf and reporters @FotiosEuromoney and @Shravanbhat.

A 2.6 GW hydro project built in the Soviet Union in the 1950s is partly to blame for the decline of sturgeon that has devastated the Russian caviar industry, according to a British wildlife conservation researcher.

In this week’s Industry Current, John J. Marciano III, partner, and Ramin Mohammad, associate, at Akin Gump in Washington, D.C., outline the implications of the Internal Revenue Service’s latest guidance in relation to the solar investment tax credit.

Celebrity spotting, a Danish debut and the usual high quality food and drink marked REFF Wall Street this year, which was attended by PFR editor Richard Metcalf and reporters Fotios Tsarouhis and Shravan Bhat

Capital Dynamics has sealed its purchase of 8point3 Energy Partners, sparking conversations about the future of the yield company business model during a busy week of summer conferences.

Using renewable energy to mine cryptocurrency is not a new idea—PFR first reported on it in December, at which point miners in Europe and Iceland were already using hydro and geothermal—but a recent intervention by Star Trek legend William Shatner has thrust the concept squarely into the limelight.

The results of the recent PJM Interconnection capacity auction have excited many in the industry but should prompt a thoughtful pause, writes Louise Pesce, managing director at MUFG in Los Angeles, in this week’s Industry Current.

As the dust settled after a surprisingly strong PJM Interconnection capacity auction result last month, uncertainty around complex market design reforms made for a more sober assessment of the situation at the S&P Global Platts Northeast Power & Gas Markets Conference in New York.

PFR has pored over the results of this year’s JP Morgan Corporate Challenge race in New York’s Central Park to find out which power sector financiers crossed the finish line first.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

As the GenOn Energy asset sale spawns several power holding companies with “Kestrel” in the name, an electric utility in California has been busy finding names for a trio of peregrine falcons.

Kirk Edelman, global head of energy finance at Siemens Financial Services, makes the case for gas-fired generation to complement renewables and for investment from technology and equipment suppliers as a key step in attracting capital from banks and institutional investors, in this week’s Industry Current.

Calendar clashes, avocado implements and steak—a few notes and observations from the sidelines of the Platts Global Power Markets conference in Las Vegas.

Pioneering corporate renewables offtaker Microsoft Corp. is focusing its U.S. procurement efforts on wind as the U.S. imposes tariffs on imported solar products, according to the company’s director of renewable energy.

While margins on U.S. project finance loans continue to be squeezed, lenders are still looking to enter or return to the market, given a lack of alternatives elsewhere, deal watchers told PFR on the sidelines of the Platts Global Power Markets conference in Las Vegas this week.

Delegates at the Euromoney Seminars 12th Annual Latin American Energy & Infrastructure Finance Forum in Miami Beach are keeping at least one eye on Latin America’s colorful political landscape, as a year of national elections and unfolding corruption probes promises to have a bearing on project financings and M&A deals.

The recent reform of the U.S. tax regime has ushered in several provisions that, taken together, could make sale-leaseback financing transactions attractive, whether to refinance solar projects or fund the acquisitions of gas-fired facilities. John Eliason and David Weisblat attorneys at Foley & Lardner, address the possibilities in this week’s Industry Current.

Development banks say they will continue to play an important role in Latin American project finance, even as the region's larger economies ease their reliance on them as they court private investment.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

As capital floods into renewable energy, investors must think strategically about merchant tails and asset performance management, which means digging into power market and operational data analysis, write Ryan Hardy, Ethan Paterno and Barbara Sands, energy and utilities experts at PA Consulting Group, in this week’s Industry Current.

PFR caught up with the great and the good of power project finance as they milled around with wine, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres laid on by Latham & Watkins at New York’s American Museum of Natural History on March 1.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter. For more news and coverage, follow @@PowerFinRisk on Twitter, as well as editor @richmetcalf and reporters @FotiosEuromoney and @Shravanbhat.

Tesla’s rooftop solar panels and its rechargeable Powerwall battery will soon be available at The Home Depot.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

Participants in solar project finance are beginning to digest the long-awaited announcement that the U.S. will impose a tariff, initially of 30%, on imported solar cells and modules.

Delegates traveling to Louisiana from frigid northern cities had their hopes of a respite from the cold dashed as temperatures in New Orleans hovered around freezing point for the duration of the conference this year.

Loan pricing is grinding ever tighter amid tough competition and an unrelenting influx of lenders to the U.S. project finance market, said deal watchers at the Infocast Projects and Money conference in New Orleans this week.

These were not the optics Germany wanted in 2018. The St. Lambertus Catholic church in Immerath, west of Cologne, has been bulldozed to make way for an open-pit lignite mine.

Power Finance & Risk is accepting pitches for Deal of 2017 as part of its 15th Annual Deals and Firms of the Year Awards, recognizing excellence in power asset M&A and project finance across the Americas.

The final version of the Republicans’ signature tax reform bill puts to rest many of the fears expressed by the renewable industry, but leaves unclear how the broader tax equity market will adapt to the new rules, writes Eli Katz, partner at Latham & Watkins in New York.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

Whether or not one believes bitcoin is the decentralized future of money or a pyramid scheme masquerading as currency, the reality is that mining bitcoins consumes enormous amounts of energy.

House Republicans took aim at some of the key tax subsidies used by the wind industry in a sweeping tax reform bill unveiled on Nov. 2, writes Eli Katz, partner at Latham & Watkins in New York, in this week's Industry Current.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

Abandoned coal-fired plants may not seem glamorous, but one such structure in New Orleans has developed a secondary career in recent years as a setting on the silver screen and TV.

M&Ms, Harvey Weinstein and millennials all somehow made it into the reporter’s notebook at this year’s Platts Financing U.S. Power Conference in New York.

Cheap debt and the ticking clock strapped to federal tax credits could well bolster wind project development over the next year, said financiers at the American Wind Energy Association’s Wind Energy Finance & Investment Conference 2017 on Oct. 25 and 26.

M&A, refinancing activity and even new-build financings could be on the cards in Texas in the wake of recently announced coal-fired plant retirements, according to speakers at the 19th Annual Platts Financing U.S. Power Conference in New York.

Some of the power finance world’s fresher faces gathered at CohnReznick Capital’s offices in New York’s Credit Lyonnais Building on Oct. 12 for Juniors in Energy Finance's inaugural “30 Under 30” presentation event.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

Discussions on solar-plus-storage outshone talk on other emerging technologies at the 12th Annual North American Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forums in New York, but lenders are at various stages on the road to financing such projects.

An influx of foreign capital from South Korea has flooded the generation space as lenders chase yield in the U.S.

As cash pours into project finance, non-bank lenders are trying hard to differentiate themselves from banks and each other.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

Temperatures may have exceeded 90 degrees in Las Vegas at Solar Power International, but a cloud in the shape of the Suniva trade case loomed over delegates and dominated discussion.

The competition between lenders and tax equity providers has heated up as new entities look to invest in the solar sector and the number of projects available for financing lesson.

Goldman Sachs has hired an former senior staffer at SunEdison and TerraForm Power.

NRG Energy has received first-round bids for its renewable businesses, conventional assets and yield company, PFR has learned.

As the generation industry eyes developing pockets of demand for the electrons it produces, a report from Barclays highlights a growing source of demand for millions of megawatts: Cannabis farming.

As astronomy enthusiasts headed for the path of totality on Aug. 21 to witness the first coast-to-coast total eclipse in the U.S. for nearly a century, grid operators from California to the Carolinas braced for a dip in solar generation.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

Total solar eclipses occur as a result of a peculiar, cosmic coincidence—the sun and moon, because of their relative sizes and distances from our planet, appear the same size in the sky.

Al Gore's sequel to his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which opened in U.S. movie theaters on Friday, has so far garnered mixed reviews.

A new class of tax equity investor is ready to enter the market, said speakers at the 14th annual REFF Wall Street conference in New York.

An abundance of capital has run up against a lack of major wind and solar projects to finance, forcing banks and investors to broaden their horizons, said panelists at the 14th annual REFF Wall Street conference in New York.

There were many lessons to be learned at the 14th annual REFF Wall Street conference, such as: Not everyone's mother works for a hedge fund.

Bankers have shot down plans reportedly floated by President Donald Trump to festoon his controversial Mexican border wall with solar panels, but not everyone is so skeptical.

Mandates and potential structural issues arising from the two recent power auctions in Mexico were discussed at a half-day conference hosted by Morrison & Foerster in its New York office on June 14.

Of the many power sector financiers at commercial and investment banks that ran in this year’s JP Morgan Corporate Challenge race in Central Park, who was the fleetest?

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

Continued low gas prices and depressed demand lower megawatt-per-day payments and change the game for all parties involved, writes Louise Pesce, m.d., project finance, at MUFG, in this week’s Industry Current.

Power Finance & Risk announced the winners of its 14th Annual Deals and Firms of the Year Awards at a drinks reception at the Bryant Park Hotel in New York on May 24.

The impact of nuclear subsidies on gas-fired generation and the difficulty of approving natural gas pipelines in New York state were hot topics at Platts Northeast Power & Gas Markets Conference, which was held at the New York Marriott Downtown on May 22 and 23.

Renewable project sponsors and tax equity investors are beginning to come to terms despite uncertainty over tax reform, allowing financings to trickle through.

France’s Akuo Energy has tapped a trendy source of capital, raising €200,000 for an operational 28 MW wind project through its own crowdfunding platform.

The U.S. President has selected two prospective Republican commissioners to sit on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the White House announced on Monday.

EDF EN Canada’s investment in a 23 MW (DC) solar project in Ontario has begun to pay a tasty dividend, in the form of honey.

A sponsor has assigned a lead arranger for a gas-fired project in PJM Interconnection, where project financing activity is paused in the run up to the upcoming capacity auction, attendees at the Platts Global Power Markets conference in Las Vegas told PFR.

Solar and Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) experts at the IMN Green Investing Conference on Thursday noted that both markets will see more participation as issuance accelerates and the sectors become more sophisticated.

The 32nd annual Platts Global Power Markets Conference from April 24 to April 26 at the Wynn Las Vegas. PFR managing editor Olivia Feld and reporter Fotios Tsarouhis were in attendance.

Apex Clean Energy has mandated a financial adviser to find a strategic investor for the renewable sponsor.

A partner who worked at Panda Power Funds and its predecessors for over 17 years has left the private equity firm, soon after one of its power plants filed for bankruptcy.

A Japanese bank is establishing a mergers and acquisitions advisory team with a focus on generation assets in its New York office, sources tell PFR on the sidelines of Platts Global Power Markets 2017.

Opinions on the impact—or lack of impact—of shifts in government policy on coal-fired and renewable generation converged during the opening panel discussion of Platts Global Power Markets 2017.

A New York-based head of energy finance has left a European bank.

The online poll for PFR’s Deals and Firms of the Year Awards has closed, after market participants voted for the banks, sponsors, investors and deals they thought were most impressive in 2016. The survey received roughly double the number of votes cast last year.

When PFR asked financiers and sponsors backing gas-fired projects in PJM Interconnection how President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle his predecessor’s Clean Power Plan might affect development in the region, conversation quickly turned to other topics.

A lack of sunshine failed to dampen the mood at the Infocast Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit, which attracted approximately 1,000 attendees to the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego, where the prospect of tax reform was mentioned on nearly every panel.

Despite their companies taking a beating in the stock market, representatives of some of the leading publicly traded residential solar companies attending the Infocast Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit were keen to stress that they still have access to the capital markets.

New entrants to the market and a lack of power purchase agreement is creating a more competitive environment for project finance lenders and is prompting more commercial banks to look to finance distributed generation portfolios.

A big winner in the first Mexican power auction is expected by some to eschew project finance in favor of balance sheet funding, but PFR readers know differently.

As banks gear up for the first financings for renewable projects that were awarded contracts in Mexico’s inaugural post-reform power auctions, attendees at the Euromoney Seminars 11th Annual Latin America Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum in Miami discussed a range of structures that could be deployed in the region.

Bankers are blaming a slow start to the year in U.S. renewables project finance on uncertainty around corporate tax reform, but activity could pick up once developers get their heads around the risks.

There is plenty of room for growth in commercial solar securitization, SFIG Vegas attendees heard on Tuesday, and lenders need capital markets access to fund it. But the lack of scale in the market is a key hurdle, creating a ‘catch 22’ situation.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

It’s the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” or—as brewery historian Doug Hoverson has called it—the “Land of Amber Waters”. Now, over a century and a half after Anthony Yoerg, a Bavarian immigrant to the U.S., started Minnesota's first commercial brewery, the state is getting its first sunshine-fueled brew-house.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

State renewable portfolio standards are a key driver of renewables development in the U.S., but now a group of lawmakers in Wyoming has introduced a bill that would have the opposite effect.

The most frequently asked questions regarding nominations for our Deal of the Year Awards.

Alberta was high on the agenda at the Euromoney Seminars 8th Annual Canadian Power Finance Conference in Toronto last week, as market participants contemplated a shake-up of the province’s power market as part of its plan to phase out coal by 2030.

A key fixture in the power finance calendar, Infocast's annual Projects & Money conference at Harrah's New Orleans drew the great and the good of the industry. Managing editor Olivia Feld attended.

Developers and financiers are searching for solutions to problems caused by looming changes to the tax code. This week’s Industry Current, written by Eli Katz and Julie Marion, partners at Latham & Watkins, examines the impact of potential tax reforms under the new Trump administration.

Uncertainty around the tax reform agenda of President Trump and the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress is causing stagnation in renewable project deal flow, say attendees at the Infocast Projects & Money conference in New Orleans.

The deadline for nominations for Power Finance & Risk's Deal of the Year 2016 awards is coming up quickly. Make sure your deal of the year doesn't miss out on the short list by sending in a nomination by Jan. 31.

Three companies have each bid more than $25.5 million for an offshore lease for a wind project off the coast of New York in an auction that was still in progress at press time.

The recently completed 648 MW Kamuthi Solar project in Tamil Nadu, India, has set a new record as the largest solar project in the world.

This week’s Industry Current, written by Jim Heidell, Ethan Paterno and Mark Repsher, consultants at PA Consulting Group, focuses on Mexico's emergent capacity markets, unraveling the complexities and the opportunities they represent.

Power Finance & Risk is now accepting submissions for its Deal of the Year 2016 Awards, recognizing excellence in power asset M&A and project finance across the Americas.

A show and tell story, a slip of the tongue and an odd metaphor for battery storage leaped out from the pages of the PFR reporter’s notebook following recent conferences in Mexico City and Los Angeles.

Three different kinds of lenders outlined their debt offerings for distributed solar in a panel discussion at the Infocast Distributed Solar Summit in Los Angeles on Nov. 17.

Assuming President-elect Trump does not prematurely revoke the investment tax credit (ITC), residential, commercial and industrial scale solar installations in the U.S. could reach 7.2 GW a year—resulting in 50 GW of installed capacity—by 2022, according to a Navigant analyst.

Speakers and attendees at the 20th Annual Platts Mexican Energy Conference on Nov. 14 expressed surprise at the speed and success of reforms to the energy market, but warned that some of the renewables projects that won contracts in the country’s first two power auctions may not materialize.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

In this week’s Industry Current, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan’s Ram Sunkara and Joshua Belcher discuss the evolution of corporate renewable generation procurement in recent years, highlighting some of the risks that must be navigated by project owners and offtakers.

A biomass project in Copenhagen that aims to entice tourists to stroll amid a forest of hanging tree trunks won an international architecture award this month.

Asset divestitures were the talk of the Platts 18th Annual Financing U.S. Power Conference both on and off panel discussions. The conference took place on Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 at the Crowne Plaza Times Square in New York.

Four arrangers have launched a close-to-$1 billion dual-tranche debt financing for the 1.5 GW Invenergy Lackwanna combined-cycle gas-fired project in Jessup, Pa.

Scientists have accidentally discovered a chemical catalyst that could open the door to industrial-scale energy storage.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

As the leaves turn red, gold and brown this fall, many New Englanders will be sipping on seasonal, solar-powered cider.

The wind industry is a close-knit group and the AWEA Wind Energy Finance & Investment Conference is generally a friendly affair, so there were plenty of lighter moments amid the serious discussions and dealmaking at the Westin New York at Times Square.

Power purchase agreement prices for renewable projects are plummeting across the Americas, and it’s changing the way deals are done.

Despite an slowdown immediately following the production tax credit extension, this year has so far been a busy one for wind project financing at a number of the leading banks in the space.

Panelists discussed the increasing ownership of wind projects directly by utility companies at the AWEA Wind Energy Finance and Investment Conference at the Westin New York at Times Square on Oct. 5.

Tax equity investors are paying close attention to a growing risk for wind projects with non-traditional offtake agreements. At issue is the difference between the price of power at the point of injection and the price where the offtake contract is settled.

Euromoney Seminars’ 11th Annual North American Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum took place at the Westin New York at Times Square from Sept. 22 to 23. PFR managing editor Olivia Feld and reporter Fotios Tsarouhis attended the conference.

Euromoney Seminars’ North American Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum adjourned on Thursday, but not before attendees discussed a myriad of issues ranging from competition between project finance lenders, the impact of the upcoming U.S. election and the implications of a potential hike in interest rates.

The solar financing market is evolving as residential solar providers shift to ownership, rather than leasing solar assets, said panelists at ABS East at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach on Sept 19.

Conference participants at the first day of Euromoney Seminars’ 11th Annual North American Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum gathered at the Westin New York at Times Square on Sept. 21 to discuss new constraints and opportunities in project lending.

Despite a tumultuous year, turnout was undamped at Solar Power International in Las Vegas. Over 17,000 solar industry professionals gathered at the Las Vegas Convention Center from Sept. 12 to Sept. 15 for the largest solar trade show in North America.

Solar Power International kicked off on Monday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Managing editor Olivia Feld attended the conference.

A former vice president in structured finance at SolarCity, who was most recently working on international expansion, has left the company to found a solar financing company.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter. For more news and coverage, follow @PowerFinRisk on Twitter, as well as editor @MetcalfReports, managing editor @OliviaFeld and reporter @FotiosEuromoney.

In this week’s Industry Current, Bernays ‘Buz’ Barclay, managing partner at Rimon P.C. and senior adviser to Marathon Capital, calls on the power industry to engage with blockchain technology.

The Chicago Cubs have shaken up their power supply roster with a new signing at the end of summer.

Hydro projects have long lifespans and a number of assets which are changing hands today were financed more than a century ago, when project finance transactions were a little different.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

In this week’s Industry Current, Salem Esber, a Denver-based energy markets expert at London-headquartered PA Consulting Group, considers whether the publicly-traded model is right for U.S. independent power producers.

Solar powered mosquito traps can cut the mosquito population by as much as 70%, according to a new study.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

Apple has officially entered the power generation business. The technology company was granted market based authority to sell generation they own or control by U.S. Federal Energy Regulation Commission on Aug. 4.

In this Industry Current Elias Hinckley, partner and leader of the energy group at Sullivan & Worcester in its Washington, D.C., office, argues that a swath of new investors in the tax equity market could herald a period of unprecedented growth in renewable project development.

Improvements in wind turbine technology in recent years have made it possible to construct ever taller towers and wider blade diameters, but the future of power may be smaller—much smaller—according to recent research.

SunEdison is continuing what many deal watchers are describing as a "fire sale" of its assets, in an auction run by adviser Rothschild.

Financiers at commercial and multilateral banks discussed how debt financings might be structured for projects that have obtained aggressively priced power purchase agreements in auctions under Mexico’s new market rules at the Infocast Mexico Power Finance & Investment Summit in New York on June 30.

As global financial markets reeled in the wake of the U.K.’s historic vote to leave the European Union, it was business as usual for much of the American project finance community.

Some of the renewables projects that won offtake contracts in a Mexico power auction in March face a lengthy development period and may even end up not being built at all, said panelists at the Infocast Mexico Power Finance & Investment Summit in New York on June 29.

PwC recently carried out a survey of U.S.-headquartered companies regarding their approach to procuring energy, and George Favaloro, an m.d. at the accountancy, tax and advisory firm, was on hand at the REFF Wall Street conference in New York to share the results.

Advances in technology and efficiency, intense competition for power purchase agreements and subsidization through tax credits in the U.S. have pushed the cost of renewable generation ever lower. That’s great news for offtakers, but it also makes financing more difficult.

The #PowerTweets feature tracks trends in power project finance and M&A in the Americas on Twitter.

A selection of snippets gleaned on the sidelines of the 13th annual REFF Wall Street conference in New York. A regional U.S. bank seeks to break into renewables financing, and a developer gives his frank take on the Mexico power auction results.

A group of lenders assembled onstage at the culmination of REFF Wall Street this year to talk about financing trends for renewables projects, including how to deal with the merchant aspects of projects with non-utility offtake contracts.

Market participants discussed the role of public equity markets and yield companies in financing renewables projects on the second and final day of the REFF Wall Street conference in New York.

Non-utility offtakers signed contracts for about 3.4 GW of renewables last year, but long tenors are still putting some off and regulated markets still present challenges, said panelists at the REFF Wall Street conference in New York on June 21.

Renewables tax credits may have been extended at the end of last year, but tax equity investors are having to adapt to an evolving market, including ever lower-cost wind generation. Some of the major players discussed the changes at on the first day of the REFF Wall Street conference, which took place at the Grand Hyatt New York on June 21 and 22.

The rise of smaller-scale generation, including distributed solar and commercial and industrial-scale renewables, its disruptive effect on the market and its ability to attract financing were recurring topics on the first day of REFF Wall Street at the Grand Hyatt New York.

In the second part of this Industry Current, three attorneys at Orrick discuss portfolio risk, state utilities laws, and other topics that must be considered in relation to renewables projects backed by U.S. Department of Defense power purchase agreements.

In the first part of this Industry Current, Orrick attorneys discuss the evolution of the U.S. Department of Defense’s power procurement process and the implications for sponsors seeking DoD power purchase agreements.

Commuters making their way from Santiago's outer barrios to the city center and tourists making their way around the Chilean capital will soon be travelling on a sun- and wind-powered metro system.

In this week’s Industry Current, Randy Male, managing director at Bostonia Partners in Boston, explores the latest innovations in renewables financing in the wake of a challenging 12 months for the yield company sector.

In this week’s Industry Current, David Burton of Mayer Brown and Richard Page of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld discuss the latest tax incentives for solar generation in Idaho, which could encourage additional solar developments in the state.

A solar powered airplane that could become the first aircraft to fly around the world without fuel has begun crossing the U.S.

The votes are in, and Power Finance & Risk can now reveal the nominees for the Deals and Firms of the Year Awards.

Solar financiers converged on the New York Marriott Downtown Thursday for the Information Management Network's 4th Annual Sunshine Backed Bonds Conference.

Panelists discussed the reemergence of the term loan B market and inflows of foreign capital at the Platts Global Power Markets conference in Las Vegas on April 20.

Executives representing independent power producers attacked subsidies for renewable generation at the Platts Global Power Markets conference in Las Vegas on April 19.

Power Finance & Risk’s Deals & Firms of the Year Awards poll has been extended until April 16, giving you an additional week to tell us which banks, sponsors and law firms best navigated the markets in 2015.

Investors and bankers discussed the possibility that money divested from fossil fuels by institutional investors could find its way into green investments at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit in New York on April 5.

PFR’s Deals & Firms of the Year Awards poll is closing this week. Tell us who you think should win in our power finance and asset M&A categories.

Former NRG Energy ceo David Crane offered his view on the outlook for independent power producers and a lot more in an entertaining interview at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit 2016 on April 5 in New York.

This week’s Industry Current is written by David Burton, partner, and Richard Page, associate, in Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s New York office.

A panel of senior industry executives discussed the potential impact large transmission projects could have on U.S. renewables as they looked forward to a further decline in the cost of solar at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance summit in New York on April 4.

Financiers discussed innovative opportunities to invest in solar projects on the sidelines at the Infocast Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit in San Bernardo, Calif.

Panelists debated the year ahead for the solar industry after the three year extension of the 30% investment tax credit and the turbulence in the equity markets at the Infocast Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit in The Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego, Calif., on March 23.

Attendees at Euromoney Seminars’ 10th Annual Latin American Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum looked into the potential for accessing large regional markets through their smaller neighbors on Tuesday at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach in Miami.

Bankers at the Euromoney Seminars 10th Annual Latin American Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum in Miami are thinking about how projects that win contracts in the first ever Mexican power auction will be financed.

Sponsors that have won contracts for projects into Brazilian generation auctions are struggling to find financing, according to panelists at Euromoney Seminars’ 10th Anniversary Latin American Energy Finance Forum in Miami.

A panel of bankers discussed the changing dynamic between local and international banks in Latin America, and how it could affect the availability and cost of capital at the Euromoney Seminars 10th Anniversary Latin American Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum in Miami.

In the third and final instalment, Chadbourne & Parke's Keith Martin talks with Jean-Pierre Boudrias, managing director and head of project finance at Goldman Sachs, about the term loan B market, and Jerry Hanrahan, m.d. and head of power and infrastructure at John Hancock, about the project bond market.

Power Finance & Risk’s Deals & Firms of the Year Awards are back, recognizing excellence in power finance and asset M&A across the Americas.

This week’s Industry Current is a transcript of the second part of a conference call hosted by Keith Martin, partner at Chadbourne & Parke, in which he discusses the cost of capital in the bank market with Rabobank's Thomas Emmons.

This week’s Industry Current is a transcript of the first part of a conference call hosted by Keith Martin, partner at Chadbourne & Parke, in which he discusses the cost of capital in the tax equity market with two industry veterans.

The term loan B market has effectively shut down, according to panelists at Infocast’s 8th Annual Projects & Money conference in New Orleans on Jan. 21.

In his role as chairman of 'Projects & Money Interactive', Buz Barclay presided over the inaugural live poll of conference goers at the annual event, asking attendees to make predictions on various key issues facing the market.

Panda Power Funds' Hummel project could have had a much racier name, if Robert Simmons had got his way.

A lack of availability of power hedges was hot topic at the Infocast 8th Annual Projects & Money conference in New Orleans on Jan. 20.

The extension of renewables tax credits at the end of last year will one of the key issues shaping the project finance market in 2016, according to speakers at Infocast's 8th Annual Projects & Money conference in New Orleans on Jan. 20.

What once could be thought of as mythological parable, a mighty sun god harnessing the energy of the sky and distributing it to humanity, could become a technological reality.

Until now, Sweden’s ICEHOTEL has remained closed in the summer months. That was understandable, because it melts every spring. But the team behind the project now has plans for a solar powered wing to be open all year round.

Non-utility corporate offtakers have continued to snap up power purchase agreements for the output of renewables projects in the last months, and it’s not all for data centers, although there were a couple of those.

Bats are observed more frequently at wind turbines on moonlit nights, looping, diving, hovering and chasing each other. They also visit wind farms more often in low wind speed conditions, according to the latest scientific research.

An influx of deals in PJM, ongoing market dislocation and the upcoming 2016 presidential election were all up for discussion at the Platts 17th Annual Financing U.S. Power conference at the New York Marriot Marquis in Times Square.

The causes and consequences of the recent yield company turmoil, the impact of the Clean Power Plan and hopes to resurrect the production tax credit were all topics of conversation at the American Wind Energy Association Wind Energy Finance and Investment Seminar in at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York.

Trevor D’Ollier Lees, a director at Standard & Poor’s, began one of the first sessions of the day at Solar Capital Markets 2015 by introducing a new analogy to illustrate how the solar securitization market had developed since last year’s summit.

Developers, lawyers and senior rating agency analysts discussed challenges tax equity structures pose to solar securitizations at Infocast’s Solar Capital Markets summit in New York on Oct. 15.

SunRun has sealed a sponsorship deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the next two seasons, continuing the residential solar shop’s marketing push with baseball teams.

After months of stock volatility, SunEdison has announced that it is putting asset drop-downs to TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global on hold, just as shares in the yield companies begin to recover some of the ground lost.

As technology allows engineers to build wind turbines ever taller and with ever wider diameters, a team of inventors in Iceland is heading in the opposite direction.

As the leaves begin to change color and chestnuts appear on the sidewalks here in New York, the project finance and generation asset markets are heating up, especially in PJM.

The project finance market, which slowed down in August, has been hastily awoken after Labor Day.

On Sept. 17 at the PJM Market Summit on the outskirts of Philadelphia, a diverse panel discussed the risks and opportunities presented by the latest market developments in terms of project finance and investment in new generation.

On Sept. 16, PJM market participants and industry observers from further afield gathered for the PJM Market Summit to discuss the introduction of new capacity performance rules and the evolution of demand response products.

As part of Emera’s acquisition of TECO Energy, the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based energy company will take ownership of some unusual, mammalian assets.

The impending expiration of tax credits for renewable projects, stock market volatility and sustained low oil prices were all hot topics at Euromoney Seminars’ 10th Anniversary North American Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum on Sept. 9 and 10 in New York.

The Netherlands’ rail system will run entirely on wind power by 2018.

This Industry Comment is written by Paul Forrester, a partner in the Chicago office of Mayer Brown. Here, he examines the swap reporting requirements that result from the recent rise of non-utility renewables offtakers.

In the second instalment of this feature, Benjamin Israel, a partner at Kaplan, Kirsch & Rockwell, explores the political and market implications of the U.S. Court of Appeals' decision in the case of the Energy & Environment Legal Institute v. Joshua Epel et al.

Benjamin L. Israel, a Kaplan, Kirsch & Rockwell partner discusses renewable energy mandates in the context of the EELI v. Epel case--in his capacity as a representative of the Interwest Energy Alliance, an intervening party in the case.

The LEGO Group has entered the renewables market by building a 310 MW wind farm off the northwest coast of Germany. Unfortunately, it is not made of the colorful plastic bricks.

This week, SunEdison has driven a barrage of M&A and project finance activity involving more than 1.1 GW of wind assets across the U.S., Canada and Latin America.

This Industry Current is written by John Thomas, executive vice president and cfo at Tennessee Valley Authority in Knoxville, Tenn. Thomas discusses the scope for distributed generation in the context of electric utilities.

A snapshot of lighter moments at the 2015 REFF Wall Street conference in New York replete with snippets of conversation and banter across panels, luncheons and cocktails.

This Industry Current is written by Keith Martin, a Washington, D.C.-based partner at Chadbourne & Parke. Martin’s narrative analyzes the IRS’ guidelines for partnership flip transactions in the context of benefits to solar developers and tax equity players.

Even as strategic investors are increasingly becoming involved in financing renewables projects, developers are tackling a fresh set of risks and challenges in developing their generation portfolios.

The U.S. offshoot of Spain's Iberdrola is planning to launch a partial IPO once it completes its merger with Orange, Conn.-based United Illuminating Holding Co.

While the renewabels market is seeing high levels of liquidity, yieldcos are capitalizing on declining costs of capital for shovel-ready and operating projects, according to panelists at the 12th Renewable Energy Finance Forum Wall Street conference in New York today.

San Diego Gas & Electric has become the first utility to receive the Federal Aviation Administration’s permission to use drones.

Walt Disney World Resort is gearing up to unveil its own solar facility, which will assume the form of legendary mascot, Mickey Mouse and be built by Duke Energy Florida.

This week's Industry Current is written by Benjamin L. Israel, a Washington, D.C.-based partner at Kaplan, Kirsch & Rockwell. This feature provides context for what the Tesla Powerwall means for retail consumers and wholesale generation, transmission and distribution.

Two on-site wind turbines have been installed at the Eiffel Tower, as part of the first major renovations at the Parisian landmark in 30 years.

David Burton, partner, and Richard Page, associate, at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York, survey the renewables landscape in North Carolina, which has put a decrease in renewable energy tax credits on ice and could freeze the proportion of renewables that state-controlled utilities are required to buy.

Keith Martin, partner at Chadbourne & Parke expounds the framework laid out by the IRS for companies aiming to operate as master limited partnerships.

SolarCity is at the nucleus of asset class growth activity even as a trio of M&A deals have made their way into the market.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Chadbourne & Parke attorneys David Jiménez Romaro and Javier Félix Muñoz from Mexico City, and Raquel Bierzwinsky from New York. The authors examine the evolving regulatory framework for geothermal exploration and production in Mexico.

Developers and financiers are actively planning securitizations for portfolios of solar installations, according to panelists at the Information Management Network’s 3rd Annual Sunshine Backed Bonds conference in New York on April 30 and May 1.

A peregrine falcon dubbed Houdini may be the answer to the perennial bird-versus-wind turbine controversy.

With about 800 MW of wind trades grabbing the spotlight this week, this week has seen a spate of M&A activities in the wind space.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Jake Seligman, associate at Chadbourne & Parke in Washington, D.C. Seligman evaluates the opportunities for municipalities to tap into tax-exempt lease purchases for financing the purchase of U.S. distributed solar projects.

Vivid snapshots of the Platts 30th Annual Global Power Markets conference from our reporter's desk.

Scores of project financiers, investors and sponsors descended on The Wynn Las Vegas for one of the largest events in the power industry calendar: the Platts’ 30th Annual Global Power Market Conference.

Project financiers at Platts’ 30th Annual Global Power Markets are competing for business as lenders continue to surge into power and energy deals in the Americas.

Transactions backing solar storage could become mainstream in the coming years, according to panelists at Platts' 30th Annual Global Power Markets conference in Las Vegas on April 13.

Rockland Capital is selling a 71 MW portfolio of contracted wind and solar projects in Minnesota and Massachusetts.

LNG export facilities in the U.S. and gas pipeline projects in Mexico will help balance a growing surplus of natural gas in North America, Bentek Energy presenters noted at Platts' 30th Annual Global Power Markets conference in Las Vegas on April 13.

This week’s Industry Current is written by David Burton, partner, and Richard Page, associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York. Burton and Page examine the effects of the New York State budget on solar tax incentives.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Mona Dajani, partner, and Michael Reed, associate of the North America energy, banking & finance group at Baker & McKenzie. The feature provides insights into Mississippi's Court ruling mandating Mississippi Power Co. to refund $281 million to ratepayers.

Renewable and thermal assets on both sides of the equator are making headlines this week. sPower is the latest player to join a steady stream of distributed generation transactions.

Utilities and operators of U.S. coal-fired generation are planning to shutter hundreds of assets against the backdrop of stringent emissions regulations and heavy plant maintenance costs.

Google is unveiling airborne wind turbines based on the designs of an avid kite-surfing engineer. The turbines will take flight next month.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Randy Male, managing director at boutique investment banking firm Bostonia Partners in Boston. Male discusses the growing appetite for yield companies and evolving trends in renewables financing.

Larry Kellerman, former ceo of Houston-based Quantum Utility Generation, has moved on to his next venture.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Jake Seligman, associate at Chadbourne & Parke in Washington, D.C. Seligman evaluates investor attraction to community solar projects and offers insights into key opportunities, risks and challenges.

This week’s Industry Current is written by David Burton, partner, and Richard Page, associate, at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York.

This week’s Industry Current is written by David Burton, partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York. Burton, who focuses on tax matters with an emphasis on project finance and energy transactions, examines the now delayed Sol-Wind IPO and compares it to traditional yield companies and master limited partnerships.

Developers are increasingly seeking financing for community solar projects.

Lenders and tax equity investors are increasingly looking to participate in financings backing distributed generation portfolios.

Financings backing merchant and hedged projects continue to hit the sweet spot for lenders. Debt pricing also surfaced in several panels at Euromoney Seminars’ 10th Annual U.S. Power & Renewables conference held in New York this week.

Mona Dajani, partner at Baker & McKenzie, explains how a recent U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission policy statement could, if adopted, have a significant impact on valuations of large regulated utility mergers and swaps of generation asset portfolios.

Project finance and M&A activities continue to swirl in and around PJM.

Denver-based Southwest Generation recently wrapped a refinancing and an asset sale that ultimately put it on its current path to growth. “The new objective, as agreed with our shareholders, is to create a diversified, sustainable, self-funding power generation platform in North America,” John Foster, president and ceo, tells PFR in an exclusive interview.

Sponsors and their lead bankers are making the rounds this month to potential lenders. SunEdison’s yield company TerraForm Power is in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco on a road show for an $800 million bond offering.

After a hectic, albeit happy, end to 2014, attendees at Infocast’s 7th Annual Projects & Money conference were optimistic for this year’s deal and development pipeline. Financiers are looking at backing more gas-fired projects as coal and nuclear retirements step-up.

Project finance lenders are increasingly looking to expand into solar distributed generation, as the cost continues to decline and deals gain traction in the market, said panelists at Infocast’s 7th Annual Projects & Money in New Orleans.

Financiers, investors and developers are considering a bevy of changes in the power industry at a time when capital continues to flow into the sector. Yield companies, emissions regulations, natural gas supply, distributed generation and adjustments in capacity markets are among the catalysts that are shifting the power project finance and M&A landscape.

Institutional investors are increasingly looking to make direct investments in generation and gas-related infrastructure, according to panelists at Infocast’s 7th Annual Projects & Money conference in New Orleans.

Sponsors, investors and financiers are looking for the next slate of opportunities in gas-fired projects and gas-related infrastructure.

The proliferation of distributed generation, energy efficiency measures and technologies that enable demand conservation, are putting significant pressure on the traditional utility business model.

Cape Wind offtakers National Grid and NStar have cancelled their power purchase agreements with the 468 MW project this week, leaving bankers and industry officials more uncertain than ever of the project’s future.

This Industry Current is written by Eli Katz and Michael Masri, partner and associate, respectively, at Chadbourne & Parke in New York.

This week’s Industry Current is a summary of state tax developments in 2014 relating to energy tax credits. The piece is written by David Burton, partner, and Richard Page, associate, at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York.

The final installment of this Industry Current is an edited transcript of a discussion hosted by Chadbourne & Parke focusing on the benefits and disadvantages of the yield company structure.

The second installment of this Industry Current is an edited transcript of a discussion hosted by Chadbourne & Parke focusing on the benefits and disadvantages of the yield company structure.

Deals and projects are lighting up several spots in Latin America this month, with U.S., Asian and Canadian entities making plays in the region.

In this week’s Industry Current David Burton, partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, dispels misinformation about the investment tax credit step-down at the end of 2016 and explores how it impacts the solar industry by answering frequently asked questions.

The second installment of this Industry Current on tidal range power is written by Ted Verrill, president and ceo of Halcyon Tidal Power in Southport, Conn.

EDP Renewables North America is looking to expand its wind development footprint in Mexico in the coming two years, CEO Gabriel Alonso told the audience at the American Wind Energy Association’s Wind Energy Finance and Investment Seminar in New York.

There is about 13.6 GW of wind projects under construction in the U.S. but lenders and tax equity investors are uncertain about how many will be online to qualify for the production tax credit, according to speakers at American Wind Energy Association’s Wind Energy Finance and Investment Seminar in New York.

This week’s Industry Current is the second installment of a transcript of a discussion between developers on practical lessons learned in Latin America at Chadbourne & Parke’s 25 Annual Global Energy and Finance conference in Washington D.C.

This week’s Industry Current is the transcript of a discussion between developer from AES Corp. and SunPower as well as geothermal and wind shops on practical lessons learned in Latin America at Chadbourne & Parke’s 25 Annual Global Energy and Finance conference in Washington D.C. The discussion is moderated by Todd Alexander, partner at Chadbourne.

The step down in the investment tax credits in 2016 have solar developers and financiers at the drawing board to create financing structures that will work for a pipeline of projects, according to speakers at Solar Media's Next Generation Solar PV Finance conference in New York.

This week’s Industry Current is the transcript of a discussion between a group of seasoned investment bankers that focused on new financing trends, including the term loan B market, green bonds, state green banks, yield companies, financing for merchant plants and other topics.

Wind developers are interested in putting back leverage onto wind projects while arranging construction financing and tax equity investments, according to financiers.

Some European lenders that have been on the bench for the last couple of years are returning to project finance, according to panelists at IJGlobal’s North America Energy & Infrastructure Financing Forum in New York today.

This Industry Current is written by David Burton, partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York

NASA is working on a solar array that will make connoisseurs of origami paper cranes swoon.

The summer doldrums are winding down and the market is revving for the post-Labor Day comeback once decision makers return to their desks.

Prairie Plant Systems, a biotechnology company out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has bought a 40 MW gas-fired facility in Michigan from Traxys Group, a commodity trading and lending firm.

The second installment of this Industry Current is written by Anne Hampson, project manager, and Jessica Rackley, senior associate at ICF International in Washington D.C. For the first installment, click here.

Power Finance & Risk and Varagon Capital Partners Invite You To An Evening of Cocktails & Conversation

This week’s Industry Current is written by Anne Hampson, project manager, and Jessica Rackley, senior associate at ICF International in Washington D.C.

Tenaska has retained Whitehall Capital Markets to advise on strategic evaluation of ways to raise capital to fund a 950 MW gas-fired project near Pittsburgh, Pa.

SunShare, a community solar developer out of Denver, Colo., has moved into the second round of a process to find an equity partner in its portfolio of distributed solar projects around Denver.

Competitive Power Ventures, Marubeni Corp. and Toyota Tsusho have sealed the financing for the $775 million, 725 MW St. Charles combined cycle project in Waldorf, Md.

Northland Power is hunting for early stage development projects in Chile, Mexico and Europe.

Pattern Development has acquired a 200 MW wind project in Texas from Pioneer Green Energy that is expected to qualify for the production tax credit.

NextEra Energy Resources has bought a wind project in Garfield County, Okla., from TradeWind Energy.

Macquarie Infrastructure Co. has bought an $11.5 million stake in a portfolio of 11 wind farms totaling 183 MW from Exergy Development Group.

Duke Energy is on track to find a buyer for its 6.1 GW of unregulated coal- and gas-fired assets in PJM by the end of the year.

GE Energy Financial Services has agreed to make a cash equity stake in the Osage wind project in Oklahoma from Enel Green Power North America.

Entegra Power Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Delaware.

SunEdison and Firelight Infrastructure Partners have closed a C$113.5 million ($104.03 million) financing package from NordLB to back an 18 MW solar project in Ontario.

Energy Capital Partners has agreed to buy Wheelabrator, a landfill waste-to-energy company, from Waste Management for $1.94 billion. Barclays and Centerview Partners advised Waste Management.

SunPower Corp. has a financing agreement with Hannon Armstrong Capital for up to $44.5 million to finance its growth in its residential solar lease program.

Entegra Power Partners, Luminus Management and Wayzata Investment Partners are proposing a restructuring agreement that has Luminus and Wayzata leading a third lien creditor takeover of the power company.

A private equity shop founded by Michael Richter, a former goalie for the New York Rangers who was thrice a National Hockey League All Star, has closed its first fund to invest in distributed solar and energy efficiency assets.

Samsung Renewable Energy is in the market to arrange about $500 million to finance its 100 MW Sol-Luce Kingston solar project in Ontario.

Denver-based solar company Conergy Americas has inked a $60 million financing agreement to fund development of up to 400 MW of solar projects.

The City of Palo Alto Utilities in Palo Alto, Calif., has issued a request for proposals as it looks to establish a community solar program that allows utility customers to invest directly in solar generation.

Boralex has closed C$206 million ($192.9 million) to finance the Témiscouata I and II wind projects totaling 75 MW in Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, Quebec.

Companies interested in establishing operations in Mexico as the country paves the way for energy reform will have a variety of risks to overcome, panelists said at Euromoney Energy Events' Renewable Energy Finance Forum Wall Street.

Bankers and lawyers on Thursday’s “Navigating the Debt Markets” panel were asked by moderator Kenneth Locklin, managing director at Impax Asset Management, to gaze into their crystal balls to forecast what they will be saying on the same panel in 2015.

A collection of sights and sounds from around Euromoney Energy Events' Renewable Energy Finance Forum Wall Street.

With the oldest yieldco, NRG Yield, preparing to celebrate its first birthday on July 17, panelists at Euromoney Energy Events’ Renewable Energy Finance Forum Wall Street examined issues facing the young class of power companies as they grow.

There is no debating—you have got to be careful not to run out of battery.

Solar and wind developers are looking to decrease project development costs in the face of expiring subsidies and dwindling renewable portfolio standards.

Many wind and solar developers with smaller projects are having difficulty locking in debt and equity, despite a widely acknowledged increase in the amount of capital available to the power sector.

Developers and financiers have bid a bounty of different technologies and project sizes into New York Green Bank’s request for proposals.

Jon Mostel, partner in Stroock’s energy and project finance practice in New York, talks about how regulation will impact growth of micro-grids, which is the modern name for the old idea of decentralized power.

Dino Barajas, partner specializing in project finance and Latin America transactions at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Los Angeles, writes an overview of how recent reforms could shape the energy sector.

A record number of entities participated in voting for Power Finance & Risk’s awards, recognizing excellence and innovation in the power project finance industry in 2013.

Please join Power Finance & Risk and Orrick for an evening of discussion and casual cocktails on June 11 in New York.

A compilation of the sights and sounds at Green Power Conferences’ Mexican International Renewable Energy Congress in Mexico City.

Renewable project development in Mexico is slowing down as players await the outcome of follow-up legislation in June, according to bankers, attorneys and developers at Green Power Conferences’ Mexican International Renewable Energy Congress in Mexico City.

Commercial and residential solar sponsors from the U.S. and Canada are circling Mexico for growth and expansion.

Marubeni Corp. affiliate Oak Creek is looking to finance the first 148 MW portion of its roughly 400 MW Tres Mesas wind project in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

The $250 million financing backing Sempra U.S. Gas & Power’s 156 MW Energia Sierra Juarez wind project in Baja California, Mexico, is set to close in the next two weeks.

John Marciano, partner at Chadbourne & Parke, examines how, and whether recent regulation proposals released from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service open the door for real estate investment trusts being able to invest in solar assets.

This week’s Industry Current on pricing, environmental impacts and new opportunities for generation and storage development is written by Laura Norin, senior project manager, Julia Getchell, associate, and Heather Mehta, principal, with power and energy consultancy MRW & Associates in Oakland, Calif.

This Industry Current looks at how near-term surpluses of renewable energy, a sharper focus on costs and heightened concerns over environmental impacts are the new realities in the California market for utility scale renewable power.

A round-up of renewable tax law developments from David Burton, partner, and David Snyder, associate, at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York.

Project finance bankers at Platts’ 29th Annual Global Power Markets are seeing strong deal flow and a growing pool of lenders and financing options in the power sector this year.

The impact of distributed solar generation on the market is challenging the traditional utility-centric model and piquing financier interest, according to panelists at Platts’ 29th Annual Global Power Markets conference at the Wynn Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nev., April 8.

The much-discussed reforms to the Mexican energy sector will provide opportunities for foreign investment in renewables projects, according to panelists at Euromoney’s 8th Annual Latin American Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami on March 11.

A maturing project finance market in Latin America is opening up opportunities for structures such as those with with term loan B or mezzanine tranches to play alongside traditional forms of debt, noted panelists at Euromoney’s 8th Annual Latin American Energy & Infrastructure Finance Forum at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami on March 12.

Working with local stakeholders and lenders in a constructive manner are critical factors in financing projects in Latin America, noted panelists at Euromoney’s 8th Annual Latin American Energy & Infrastructure Finance Forum at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami on March 11.

The proliferation of project bonds is set to continue in Latin America as financiers and sponsors work to optimize deal structures, according to panelists at Euromoney’s 8th Annual Latin American Energy & Infrastructure Finance Forum at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami on March 11.

The PPA Pulse is a guide to which sponsors and projects have recently garnered power purchase agreements in the Americas.

Someera Khokhar, the Americas regional section head for White & Case’s energy, infrastructure, project finance and asset finance group and José Ignacio Segura Alonso, White & Case local partner look at how a 2012 law will attract investors to the country.

Acciona is in the market with a 2.5 GW global wind and solar portfolio –the bulk of which is spinning wind assets in the U.S.

A rush to qualify projects for the production tax credit at the end of 2013 means that thousands of megawatts of projects will be looking for financing this year.

The growth and availability of term loan Bs are set to continue, driven largely by activity in the mergers and acquisitions market, according to panelists at Euromoney’s 9th annual U.S. Power and Renewable Finance conference at the Westin New York at Times Square on Thursday.

The exceptional capacity in bank, institutional and tax equity markets has financiers and sponsors rethinking deal structures, according to panelists speaking today at Euromoney’s 9th annual U.S. Power and Renewable Finance conference at the Westin New York at Times Square.

Utilities and independent power producers are not immune from the wave of activist shareholders campaigns that have emerged as a driving force of U.S. M&A deals, bankers cautioned at the 27th Annual Exnet Power and Gas M&A Symposium conference in New York.

Dialogue is needed between developers and financiers on renewable projects that involve communities and First Nation groups, according to speakers at the 5th Annual Canadian Power Finance Conference in Toronto Jan. 29.

The number of assets coming up for sale in Canada is not as high as it was a couple of years ago, despite an uptick in the number of institutional investors looking to play in the space, according to panelists at the 5th Annual Canadian Power Finance Conference in Toronto Jan. 28.

Sponsors and lenders are zeroing in on the burgeoning liquefied natural gas space in British Columbia, according to participants at the 5th Annual Canadian Power Finance Conference in Toronto on Jan. 29.

Competitive transmission projects are a key area of growth for utility holding companies looking to augment the regulated subsidiaries.

Merchant project financings with financial hedges and private deals with corporate offtakers are tipped for growth in the Canadian power market due to the lack of power purchase agreements, noted panelists at the 5th Annual Canadian Power Finance Conference in Toronto Jan. 28.

Bank, bond and institutional markets are open for power project financings, according to panelists at the Canadian Power Finance Conference in Toronto Jan. 28.

Utilities are looking at rooftop solar programs and initiatives largely because of customer demand.

There was an overall tone of optimism this year at Infocast’s 6th annual Projects & Money conference at Harrah’s New Orleans.

Legal issues in PJM and a waning need for generation in ERCOT are impacting investments in new-build projects in those regions, according to panelists at Infocast’s 6th annual Projects & Money conference at Harrah’s New Orleans Jan. 15.

Mezzanine lending and project bonds are tipped for increasing activity by panelists at Infocast’s 6th annual Projects & Money conference at Harrah’s New Orleans Jan. 16.

Tax equity investment is growing, fueled largely by an increase in opportunities in the rooftop and distributed solar space, said panelists at Infocast’s 6th annual Projects & Money conference at Harrah’s New Orleans on Jan. 15.

The number of yieldcos is slated to increase this year, with existing yieldcos fueling a strong buyers market for generation assets, according to panelists at Infocast’s 6th annual Projects & Money conference at Harrah’s New Orleans on Jan. 14.

Lenders and financiers watching the rebirth of merchant and quasi-merchant project financing in the U.S. are still looking to find optimal structures for financing these assets, said panelists at Platts 15th Annual Financing U.S. Power Conference at the Marriott Marquis in New York on Oct. 28-29.

Lenders and financiers watching the rebirth of merchant and quasi-merchant project financing in the U.S. are still looking to find optimal structures for financing these assets, said panelists at Platts 15th Annual Financing U.S. Power Conference at the Marriott Marquis in New York on Oct. 28-29.

Boralex and development partners Gaz Métro Limited Partnership and Valener Inc. have closed a C$166.1 million ($159.05 million) non-recourse financing for the 68 MW phase II of the Seigneurie de Beaupré wind facility in La Jacques-Cartier, Québec.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Kerin Cantwell, partner at Dechert in Los Angeles.

The global term loan B market is set to have a record breaking year in 2013, beating the previous largest year of issuance in 2007.

Industry officials expect to see several developers to pursue yield company structures in the next year following the success of NRG Energy and Pattern Energy’s breakthrough deals.

Mergers and acquisition activity is slated for growth in the next year, as yieldcos look to acquire more assets to fuel growth and private equity companies look to exit investments, said panelists at Platts 15th Annual Financing U.S. Power conference at the Marriott Marquis in New York on Oct. 28-29.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Elias Hinckley, head of energy finance and David John Frenkil, an attorney in energy finance at Sullivan & Worcester in New York.

This week’s Industry Current is written David Burton, partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York.

Developers considering taking greenfield gas-fired projects down the term loan B path are expected to find volatility in pricing, panelists said at Project Finance’s 8th Annual North America Energy and Infrastructure Forum in New York.

Sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, pension funds, money managers and infrastructure funds are broadening their appetite as yields shrink and competition rises, investors from a range of companies said at Project Finance’s 8th Annual North America Energy and Infrastructure Forum in New York.

U.S. regional banks have emerged in the project finance as supporting cast members behind the scenes in a number of deals.

Queries regarding wind projects’ qualification for the production tax credit and the PTC’s potential extension are stymieing investments in the sector, according to panelists at the American Wind Energy Association’s wind energy finance and investment seminar at the Conrad Hotel in New York on Sept. 9-10.

The universe of tax equity investors in renewable projects is set to grow, with Coca Cola reportedly eyeing investments, according to panelists at the American Wind Energy Association’s wind energy finance and investment seminar at the Conrad Hotel in New York on Sept. 9-10.

Developers are increasingly looking to build wind facilities with merchant exposure and hedge arrangements, noted panelists at the American Wind Energy Association’s wind energy finance and investment seminar at the Conrad Hotel in New York on Sept. 9-10.

The New York State Green Bank will begin lending to renewables projects in the state in January next year.

Ten years ago this week, the eight states in the U.S. and parts of Ontario experienced the worst blackout in North American history.

Calling all sun lovers in Seattle! The abundance of sunshine is not a draw to the Pacific Northwest—Seattle gets precipitation about 152 days a year, not including cloudy but dry days while San Diego gets wet on 43.

Renewable project financing options beyond the expiration of the production and investment tax credits was the focus at Euromoney Energy Events Renewable Energy Finance Forum Wall Street at the Waldorf Astoria in New York this week.

Sponsors and bankers are working to develop renewable project bond structures to appeal to foreign and domestic institutional investors.

Gauss Energia, a Mexico City-based energy company, is looking to bring three new solar projects to market in the coming months, CEO and President Hector Olea told PFR on the sidelines of Euromoney’s Mexican Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum at the JW Marriott in Mexico City on June 26.

Peso financings are on the increase in Mexico, but there is still a chunk of the market U.S. dollar-denominated deals rule, said panelists at Euromoney’s Mexican Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum in Mexico City yesterday.

Capital will be needed to develop natural gas pipelines in Mexico, a move arising out of the country looking to import shale gas from the U.S., said panelists at Euromoney’s Mexican Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum at the JW Marriott in Mexico City on June 25.

Mexico is expected to detail energy infrastructure plans and if it does industry watchers are predicting a strong flow of power and energy projects, according to panelists at Euromoney’s Mexican Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum at the JW Marriott in Mexico City on June 25.

While most bankers may be aware of Energy Investors Funds' Pio Pico plant because of the financing opportunity, they’re probably missing its significance, though indirect, in endocrinological history.

The U.S. Department of Energy signaled that it would proceed cautiously before approving any more applications to export U.S.-produced liquefied natural gas after granting only the sec¬ond export license in May.

Financing the massive transition of the U.S. military to renewable energy resources presents a tremendous opportunity, coupled with significant challenges, to developers, lenders, and investors in renewable energy power projects serving the military.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Darin Lowder and Mary Grace Folwell, associates at Ballard Spahr in Washington, D.C.

The smaller size and relative inexperience of development companies in Latin America will pave the way for larger more experienced multinationals to buy up local companies, said panelists at Euromoney Seminars’ Renewable Energy Finance Forum Latin America and Caribbean in Miami on May 1.

French and Japanese banks are increasing their activity in Latin America, as the renewable energy sector in the region becomes a more stable and attractive proposition, said panelists at Euromoney Seminars’ Renewable Energy Finance Forum Latin America and Caribbean in Miami.

French and Japanese banks are increasing their activity in Latin America, as the renewable energy sector in the region becomes a more stable and attractive proposition, said panelists at Euromoney Seminars’ Renewable Energy Finance Forum Latin America and Caribbean in Miami.

Hybrid bank/bond structures are being floated for renewable energy projects in Latin America, said panelists at Euromoney Seminars’ Renewable Energy Finance Forum Latin America and Caribbean in Miami.

José María Figueres, former President of Costa Rica and ceo of sustainable development consultant Carbon War Room, told PI in an interview that he is “very bullish” on renewable energy in Latin America.

Solar projects in Mexico will need more equity investments to push them forward, said panelists at Euromoney Seminars’ Renewable Energy Finance Forum-Latin America and Caribbean at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami on Monday.

Pan-American Hydro Corp., which is led by Jose Ordoñez, former head of the Latin America power group at Citigroup, is seeking $223 million in debt and equity to develop a pipeline of small-scale hydro projects in Guatemala and Mexico.

Renewable energy projects traditionally attract financing only after securing a long-term contract to sell the electricity to a creditworthy offtaker at a relatively fixed price. The project development is hard enough, but in today’s market, finding a power contract is becoming exceedingly difficult.

The geothermal energy players are aiming to get more private equity funding and bank lending to back early stage development, according to panelists at the Geothermal Energy Association’s International Geothermal Energy Finance Forum at the Marriot Marquis in New Marquis in New York last week.

The arrival of plentiful and cheap natural gas in the U.S. has changed the game in the power sector and the ramifications were a constant topic throughout Platts Global Power Markets Conference in Las Vegas last week.

The unseasonably chilly Las Vegas weather put a dampener on golf rounds ahead of the formal start of the conference.

Boston-based First Wind will likely finalize an agreement to sell a wind project to an undisclosed investor before month-end, according to a deal watcher on the sidelines of Platts Global Power Markets Conference in Las Vegas.

Bankers and developers are increasingly turning to emerging markets to grow their businesses.

Marathon Capital has tapped Bryan Fennell, former v.p. of NextEra Energy Resources, and David Kirkpatrick, former v.p. of new business development at NRG Energy, as directors.

Bankers and power company executives are seeing an abundance of capital available for project financing and asset-based M&A.

Opportunities abound in the Mexican energy market as investors rediscover one of Latin America’s breakout markets.

The second installment of this week’s Industry Current is written by Kerin Cantwell and Miles Killingsworth, partner and associate, respectively, in Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s global project finance practice in Los Angeles and George “Chip” Cannon, Jr., partner in the firm’s energy regulatory practice in Washington D.C. For the first installment, visit the features page at www.powerfinancerisk.com.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Kerin Cantwell and Miles Killingsworth, partner and associate, respectively, at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s global project finance practice in Los Angeles and George “Chip” Cannon, Jr., partner at the firm’s energy regulatory practice in Washington D.C.

Local banks are increasingly active in project finance in Latin America.

Mining development in northern Chile and southern Peru is creating a need for dedicated infrastructure, including generation capacity.

Energy and infrastructure finance advisory shop Astris Finance is looking for players to participate in a new solar offtake arrangement in northern Mexico.

This week’s Industry Current is the final installment of a transcript of a panel of industry officials focused on the U.S. Army’s solicitation for renewable projects.

The use of project bonds never reached the level expected in 2012, but there is still optimism this year, panelists said at Euromoney’s 8th Annual U.S. Power & Renewable Finance Conference at the Westin Hotel in New York on Wednesday.

Large solar projects over 150 MW are going out of vogue, according to bankers and executives at Euromoney Seminar’s U.S. Power & Renewable Conference in New York.

Now is the time to bring merchant facilities to market, according to panelists at Euromoney Seminar’s 8th Annual U.S. Power & Renewable Finance Conference in New York today.

Officials from Panda Power Funds are talking to banks in New York tomorrow to push ahead with financing efforts in earnest for the second phase of its approximately 750 MW natural gas-fired facility in Temple, Texas.

This week’s Industry Current is the transcript of a panel of industry officials focused on the U.S. Army’s solicitation for renewable projects.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Paul Kaufman, partner in corporate and project finance at Chadbourne & Parke in Los Angeles.

Private equity funds and pension trusts that are unable to use the large tax subsidies on U.S. wind farms may have an opportu¬nity shortly to acquire operating projects.

Investors interested in buying power assets in Canada are increasingly looking at development assets due to stiff competition for operating facilities and a surplus of capital to put to work.

Canadian lenders and developers are questioning whether the country’s project finance market is deep enough to fund the pipeline of power projects.

The risk that generation will be forced to reduce output is throwing a wrench in project finance and M&A deals in Ontario.

NextEra Energy Resources is planning on issuing more bonds backing renewables projects in Canada.

Northland Power is talking to lenders to fund development of 30 MW of solar projects in Ontario this quarter.

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Order 1000 from October will be a game changer will open up the ability of generation facilities to sell power into new markets, potentially increasing their value, attendees heard at a presentation at Infocast’s 5th annual Projects & Money conference in New Orleans.

Biomass facilities are set for a growth spurt as technology improves and the fuel type becomes a baseload hedge against natural gas-fired facilities, according to officials on the sidelines.

The power and energy industry is looking to Washington for guidance more than ever, with policy negotiations and regulatory rumblings buffeting the industry, according to panelists at Infocast’s 5th annual Projects & Money conference in New Orleans.

More natural gas-fired, nuclear and biomass generation opportunities could result from increased coal-fired retirements in the U.S., according to panelists at Infocast’s 5th Annual Projects & Money conference executive briefing in New Orleans.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Steve Loeshelle and Mike Fitzpatrick, partners, and Adam O’Brian, an associate, at Hunton & Williams in New York.

Coal-fired plant shutdowns and resistance to nuclear-fired generation, against a backdrop of cheap natural gas, is pushing the industry toward a gas-heavy generation mix.

Music evoking the soundtrack behind an epic good guy versus bad guy fight in a thriller played in the background as people piled into the general session named “Game Changers” on Monday at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge & Spa.

A round-up of news from company presentations and panels from around EEI's 47th Financial Conference.

The automotive and power industries need to collaborate on how electric vehicles, or EVs, will integrate into the power grid because the future of the cars is central to both industries, Bill Ford Jr., executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., told a packed room during the keynote on Monday.

Crisis management is becoming a higher priority for utilities in the wake of events like the 2010 BP offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and storms like Sandy.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings will look to Wall Street to raise north of $1 billion in 2013, primarily in the bond market, for utility units and projects including the Topaz solar project and transmission development in Texas, Patrick Goodman, executive v.p. and cfo, said at EEI Financial Conference in Phoenix, Ariz.

Emera is planning a series of transmission projects totaling $7.4 billion that will link the island of Newfoundland to the Canadian mainland in Labrador and Nova Scotia in a three-part transmission project that will ultimately connect to existing lines in Maine.

Puget Energy is talking with lenders about lining up two new credit facilities.

Iberdrola will try to reduce debt and sell off non-core assets as it retrenches to deal with a credit downgrade and persistent uncertainty about the Spain’s economy.

Utilities are expected to continue to cash in on low—in many cases, record low—rates in the bond market.

Bankers were not allowed into the open company visits at the EEI Financial Conference in Phoenix, Ariz.

Investors are looking to invest in merchant facilities to take advantage of shrinking reserve margins and increasing power demand and prices, according to participants at the Platts Financing U.S. Power conference in New York on Oct. 18 and 19.

European banks are taking steps again in North American project financing, attendees heard at the Platts Financing U.S. Power conference in New York on Oct. 18 and 19.

Natural gas prices are pushing coal plants into early retirement, said attendees at the Platts Financing U.S. Power conference in New York on Oct. 18 and 19.

Demand for what financiers are calling riskier capital is on the increase.

In this week’s Industry Current the authors take a look at President Barack Obama’s order requiring a Chinese company to sell its stakes in four wind projects in Oregon and its potential implications for other projects.

In the second installment of this Industry Current, four veterans in the project finance market talked about private equity and merchant risk in regards to the cost of capital at an event hosted by Chadbourne & Parke.

In this week’s Industry Current, four veterans in the project finance market talked about the cost of capital at an event hosted by Chadbourne & Parke. Eli Katz, partner in New York, moderated the panel.

Trina Solar, a photovoltaic solar panel manufacturer, is looking to expand operations into Latin America.

A round-up of the candid moments at Renewable Energy Finance Forum-West at the Four Seasons in San Francisco.

Borealis Infrastructure fund has agreed to buy Midland Cogeneration from EQT Infrastructure and Fortistar.

Renewable developers waiting to make a move toward an initial public offering should begin preparing even when the markets are not ideal, bankers said at Euromoney’s Renewable Energy Financing Forum-West in San Francisco.

Solar developers are beginning to plan for how to incorporate tax equity financings into projects once the U.S. Department of Treasury Sect. 1603 cash grant program ends.

John Cavalier, co-managing partner at Hudson Clean Energy Partners, has returned to Credit Suisse.

The U.S. Army is preparing to take applications from developers vying to be on a list of preferred venders under an initiative to bring 1 GW of renewables online by 2025.

A slowing market in the U.S. has sent developers scurrying into Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Puerto Rico, among other locations.

A slowing market in the U.S. has sent developers scurrying into Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Puerto Rico, among other locations. In the first installment of this Industry Current, investors and developers share experiences in Latin America and discuss the economics, potential and challenges of the market.

While several wind industry players say production tax credits will be extended for another year, many are looking at other financing options.

Financiers say that a bond deal backing a gas-fired project will likely happen before year-end.

Municipal utilities and co-ops are hunting 30-40 MW stakes in wind projects as they look to balance for generation portfolios.

The White House is planning to host another meeting to educate and entice potential tax equity investors in renewable energy deals in the beginning of winter.

Relationships between developers and lenders are becoming paramount in project finance assponsors look to club deals to get transactions through a constrained bank market.

Financiers are forecasting more merchant power deals in project finance, citing the appeal of markets such as ERCOT and PJM, low gas prices and the resurgence of term B loans to support the deals.

Traditional private placements and 144a deals are being targeted by sponsors as the bank loan market continues to strain under financial troubles in Europe.

This week’s Industry Current is written by Ben Davidson and Christopher Gladbach, managing associates of energy infrastructure for Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in Washington, D.C.

This week’s Industry Current is written by David Burton, partner focusing on tax and global project finance at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York.

The convergence of hundreds of the world’s most elite athletes and 20,000 media professionals may be keeping London humming, but it’s the Energy Centre in Olympic Park that’s keeping the lights on for Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and the “Fab Five.”

In this week’s Industry Current, several solar company executives shared lessons learned from closing recent financings in a roundtable organized and moderated by Keith Martin partner at Chadbourne & Parke in Washington, D.C.

The hunt is on for the next generation of project financing options, including master limited partnerships, real estate investment trusts, project bonds and securitizations, according to executive and financiers at the 9th annual REFF-Wall Street conference in New York last week.

About $2 billion in tax equity investments are making their way through the market.

Asian and U.S. lenders are stepping up project finance activity as European players scale back their efforts or step out of the market.

Institutional investors in the capital markets are showing an increasing appetite for bonds backing project finance deals, financiers told attendees at 9th annual REFF-Wall Street conference in New York.

The political uncertainty on Capitol Hill and the uncertainty over expiring renewable tax credits has some players questioning whether production tax credits are a good thing for the industry.

M&A activity in the renewable energy sector has continued to grow through the first quarter of 2012, after collapsing in 2008 as capital markets dried up in the wake of the economic recession.

Sponsors of a $1.5 billion, 450 MW solar photovoltaic project near Tecate, Mexico, expect to begin talking to financiers next year about cobbling together $500 million in debt over several years for the plant.

Sponsors of a $1.5 billion, 450 MW solar photovoltaic project near Tecate, Mexico, expect to begin talking to financiers next year about cobbling together $500 million in debt over several years for the plant.

Salvador Escobedo, founding partner of Latin American solar management firm SOLAM, on the need for strong, transparent competition in the region: “The conquest of Latin America happened 500 years ago.”

Development and local banks are filling gaps in the Latin American renewables market as the landscape shifts from a corporate and equity financings to project level debt, said panelists at Euromoney Energy Events’ Renewable Energy Finance Forum – Latin America and Caribbean in Miami.

Inkia Energy is close to sealing commitments from 12 lenders participating in a roughly $600 million financing backing its $900 million, 500 MW hydro project in Peru, Pablo Eguiluz, project finance manager, said on the sidelines of Euromoney Energy Events’ Renewable Finance Forum – Latin America and Caribbean.

A coterie of overseas sponsors and manufacturers are targeting project pipelines in Latin America, driven in part by renewable portfolio standards and new auctions for power purchase agreements, said attendees at Euromoney Energy Events’ Renewable Energy Finance Forum – Latin America & Caribbean in Miami.

Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social will remain the dominant renewables investor in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2012, boosted by local content rules and a pipeline of wind projects being developed from a 2009 tender.

Renewables sponsor Green Valley Energy of Bonita Springs, Fla., is targeting a roughly $65 million financing backing it maiden project, a $100 million, 35 MW biomass project in Santa Barbara, Honduras.

Vizcaya, Spain-based Solarpack is talking to European and Japanese lenders about securing roughly $120 million in debt to back two solar photovoltaic projects in Peru.

Legislative players anticipate that the production tax credit—a key subsidy that drives wind investment—will be extended past its year-end expiry.

U.S. wind developers are looking at building project pipelines abroad as uncertainty over the extension of production tax credits puts a stranglehold on development stateside.

Financing structures mixing bank debt and bonds loom in future wind deals, said Thomas Emmons, Rabobank managing director in New York, at the American Wind Energy Association’s Wind Finance & Investment Seminar.

Solar financings—not wind deals—are driving growth in the tax equity market, said John Eber, JPMorgan managing director of energy investments, at the American Wind Energy Association’s Wind Finance & Investment Seminar.

M&A players are re-calibrating their approach to wind projects as the uncertainty over whether the production tax credits will be extended rattles the industry.

Wind Capital Group has pushed back the financing of its 150 MW wind project in Osage County, Okla.

Dozens of bankers and investors jammed a theater in the basement of the Crosby Street Hotel in New York’s SoHo district on Wednesday for a screening of “Cape Spin,” the documentary that chronicles the plight of the proposed 468 MW Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound.

The expiration of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s production tax credit for wind projects is halting project development beyond this year, according to industry officials at the American Wind Energy Association’s Finance & Investment Seminar in New York on Thursday.

The mergers and acquisitions market has turned tepid as renewables, thermal and coal-fired assets are bogged down by uncertainty about federal energy policy, emission regulations and the grid as baseload plants go offline.

A round-up of notable outtakes from Platts 27th Global Power Markets conference April 1-3 in Las Vegas.

The domestic reserves of natural gas should reduce the commodity’s price volatility and propel it into being more than just a renewable bridge fuel for decades to come, proponents of the natural gas told attendees at Platts 27th Global Power Markets conference.

First Solar and Exelon are in the last stages of finalizing documentation with the U.S. Department of Energy for a loan guarantee for the 230 MW solar project, Frank De Rosa, senior v.p. of First Solar, told PI on the sidelines of the Platts 27th Global Power Markets conference.

Industry officials at Platts 27th Global Power Markets conference appeared guardedly optimistic that the production tax credits for wind would be extended at some point, although the 2013 wind market could still suffer if the extension comes late in the year.

Essential Power, the U.S. power platform company of Industry Funds Management, has an eye on buying contracted assets to grow its generation platform—although it’s in no rush to buy facilities that don't fit its model.

Energy Capital Partners and Exelon are looking for opportunities to invest in, or buy, transmission projects, officials told attendees at Platts 27th Global Power Markets conference in Las Vegas.

Power companies should look for ways to drive consumers toward a cleaner, more diverse generation mix given the absence of a federal long-term energy blueprint, according to speakers at Platts 27th Global Power Markets conference in Las Vegas.

After years of controversy and planning, 2012 marks the commencement of a carbon cap-and-trade market in California, an event that will be closely watched by the rest of the country and the world. California’s cap-and-trade program is the cornerstone of AB 32 (The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006), the law mandating that California reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020—a 15% reduction from today’s levels.

Multilateral financial institutions are looking at taking bigger tickets in project financings and considering modifications to traditional deal structures.

GCL Solar Energy is seeking up to $1.5 billion in construction debt this year to support 450 MW of photovoltaic projects in California and Puerto Rico.

Sponsors and financiers weighed the potential opportunities of developing generation in Peru for export to neighboring Ecuador, Chile and Brazil.

Brazilian developer MPX Energia is looking to put together long-term financing backing its $670 million, 517 MW natural gas-fired Parnaiba II plant in Maranhão, Brazil.

Uncertainty over U.S. energy policies will endure through at least election day as presidential aspirants and their backers continue to position about the government’s role in subsidizing renewables—and solar in particular, said attendees of Infocast’s Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit 2012 in San Diego.

Solar distributed generation sponsors must achieve scale in financings to ensure financial efficiencies if the rapidly growing market is to mature, said panelists at Infocast’s Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit 2012.

Scatec Solar North America, an arm of Oslo developer Scatec Solar, is talking to lenders about financings backing almost $165 million of solar projects in the U.S. this year.

Solar sponsors short-listed in 2011 request for offers in California have bid $73-78 per MWh before applying time-of-day factors, said attendees at Infocast’s Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit 2012 in San Diego.

At least two lenders are capable of offering 18-year tenors in this contracted bank market, said Elizabeth Waters, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ director of project finance, at Infocast’s Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit in San Diego, pointing to BTMU and Mizuho Corporate Bank.

Project finance bonds are facing many hurdles despite their favor among developers and financiers, according to attendees of the 6th Annual Latin America Energy and Infrastructure Finance Forum in Miami.