Goldman Sachs in June 2020 forecast that renewable generation will be the largest area of energy spending in 2021, surpassing oil and gas for the first time in history. And solar and wind producer NextEra Energy recently topped ExxonMobil as the most valuable U.S. energy company.

Yet the renewable energy financing opportunity is only just gathering speed. Goldman Sachs estimates the move to renewables will have attracted $16 trillion by 2030. Given the size of this opportunity, in this virtual roundtable we assessed the current clean energy financing models and, in particular, the role played by tax equity.

In conjunction with Financing Wind Inside Investment 2020, the event aimed to address these key points:

• What role can private equity play in the renewable energy sector and the energy transition in general?
• What is the optimal point in the development/investment cycle for private capital to enter the renewables markets and what are the associated challenges and opportunities?
• How does the investment horizon and rate of returns in the renewables sector compare to other sectors, such as oil and gas and conventional power?
• What could and should the incoming administration do regarding infrastructure in general, the energy transition and tax credits for renewables?
• To what extent are tax credits still needed or can be replaced by alternative instruments?
• With the solar industry alone requiring up to $8 billions of tax capacity from external investors in 2020, what can be done to address the intense competition for available equity?
• How can the industry accelerate some of the new green technologies on the horizon such as energy storage, hydrogen, carbon capture and electric vehicle infrastructure?

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Participants:

• Brandon Sack, Managing Director,Clean Energy Development, Evergy
• Eli Katz, Partner and Co-Chair to Energy & Infrastructure Group, Latham & Watkins
• Frank Getman, President & CEO, Great Bay Renewables
• João Metelo, CEO, Principle Power
• Justin DeAngelis, Partner, Denham Capital
• Justin Stolte, Partner and Co-Chair to Energy & Infrastructure Group, Latham & Watkins
• Lars Thaaning Pedersen, Co-CEO,Copenhagen Offshore Partners
• Michael Rucker, CEO, Scout Clean Energy
• Ravina Advani, Head of Energy Natural Resources & Renewables, BNP Paribas
• William Demas, Managing Director, Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners

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Click here to access the report.