UK law firm TLT has published its ‘Clean Energy Investment Trends 2018’ report revealing annual trends and predictions for clean energy finance.

The main findings reflect a year of significant change for clean energy. The end of subsidies for onshore wind and solar meant that the market needed to adapt but it still remained buoyant. This was largely thanks to a highly active secondary M&A and project finance market.

Another major trend in 2017 was the diversification of portfolios, resulting in a 33% increase in the number of offshore wind deals and increased take-up of alternative clean energy technologies such as energy storage. This is likely to continue into 2018, particularly as the market looks towards multi-technology projects as a way of making subsidy free developments viable.

The continued move towards portfolio consolidation across the sector was particularly notable in solar PV with a 42% increase in the annual value of acquisitions and a 37% rise in project finance transaction values. The solar market is expected to continue to consolidate in 2018.

The full report, along with a summary of key findings, can be found here.

Maria Connolly, partner and head of energy and renewables at TLT, comments:

“With the end of onshore wind and solar subsidies, 2017 was a very significant year for clean energy technologies and this is reflected in the report’s findings. Despite the challenges, the clean energy market remained stable and began to adapt to the realities of the post-subsidies era.

“With the changes brought about by the end of these subsidies, new clean energy investment trends have emerged, which give a good indication of the future direction of travel for the market. 2017 was marked by strong secondary market activity, but also a diversification of portfolios with less mature technologies such as energy storage attracting significant interest.

“The Clean Energy Investments Trends 2018 report reflects on what was a key year for the clean energy sector and provides reasons for optimism going forward. Some of the key trends to look out for include the next wave of energy storage projects, including behind-the-meter and co-location, and electric vehicles and their associated charging infrastructure.”

For further information, please contact:

Alex Spurgeon, Etienne Bataille or Scott Addison, Infinite Global
Tel: 020 7269 1430
Email: TLT@infiniteglobal.com