Renewable Energy

Savvy US green investor merits White House backing

17 Dec 2024

Power provider PG&E is due a record $15 bln from a controversial Energy Department loan program for clean energy projects. Donald Trump mostly mothballed the office during his first term, but its returns are impressive. Elon Musk knows the value, too: Tesla was a big beneficiary.

Green energy will be a smart contrarian trade

17 Dec 2024

Donald Trump’s dislike of offshore wind and threats to axe subsidies imply the renewable sector is one to swerve in 2025. Yet the US president-elect is primarily focused on keeping energy costs low. If permitting gets sped up, Big Tech-driven demand could help green power too.

Adani charges highlight broader India solar risks

28 Nov 2024

US fraud allegations against the billionaire revolve around him trying to sell expensive power. That may have been the result of high costs, falling tariffs, competition and bureaucracy that hit all players. The industry has stabilised – for now – but returns have been falling.

COP29 steals defeat from jaws of abject failure

25 Nov 2024

The $300 bln-a-year financing target for poorer states adopted at the UN climate shindig is woefully inadequate. It also assumes the West will provide part of the cash from sources it's leery of, like carbon taxes. The saving grace is that diplomacy lives to fight another day.

Adani presents India with big financing ultimatum

25 Nov 2024

US criminal charges against Chair Gautam Adani pose broad risks for the conglomerate. Though it can service its $31 bln debt for a few years, global banks may recall loans and refuse hedging contracts. New Delhi can nudge local lenders to step up, but support will come at a cost.

Siemens Energy’s vicious circle becomes virtuous

13 Nov 2024

The $35 bln German group surged 20% after it revealed punchy 2028 targets. For years, troubles in its wind unit obscured Siemens Energy’s status as a green transition winner. While these aren’t all fixed, the company looks cheap if CEO Christian Bruch can hit his new goals.

Many roadblocks delay journey to zero carbon world

28 Oct 2024

While solar power and battery supply have grown massively, the same is not true of electricity grids, green hydrogen and carbon removal. Money is more expensive. This means demand for oil, gas and coal has not yet peaked. The setback will cost the planet dearly.

One valve would release pressure at Air Products

17 Oct 2024

A $15 bln commitment to clean hydrogen is weighing on the industrial gas producer. The weakness has attracted attention from pushy investors over governance and capital usage. Selling some of the unproven green energy would help 80-year-old boss Seifi Ghasemi deflate the tension.

Equinor’s Orsted bet is cheap route to green goals

7 Oct 2024

The Norwegian driller has bought about 10% of the $26 bln Danish green energy group. Oil groups are more bullish about crude, but still have renewable energy capacity targets. Orsted’s recent strife offers a cheaper way for Equinor to get there than building the kit itself.

Big Tech farms out AI power build, keeps the risk

3 Oct 2024

Microsoft’s 10.5 GW electricity deal with Brookfield typifies a trend towards mega supply pacts. Given the huge capex bill for data centres, third-party power makes sense. But if artificial intelligence flops, so-called hyperscalers may be left with a lot of electrons to flog.

Clouds gather over China’s needed solar mergers

4 Sep 2024

Earnings from $12 bln cell giant Tongwei underscore the industry's harmful overcapacity. Its deal to acquire a smaller rival may not provide relief, however. The target's local government investors may complicate any right-sizing. Offshore assets look like the real draw.

China’s ammo export curb is more a green defence

19 Aug 2024

Beijing is restricting overseas sales of antimony, a metalloid it dominates production of that's also a key ingredient for weapons. Realpolitik alone would explain it. But the People’s Republic also needs the supply-constrained element for its rapid production of solar panels.

Past storms are still blowing against Orsted

15 Aug 2024

The Danish renewable energy firm has gained nearly 60% in market value since surprise US impairments shook confidence last year. Upcoming rate cuts can help but wind farm delays and supply chain risks remain. CEO Mads Nipper will find it hard to get the stock out of the doldrums.

Power grids’ low-wattage resources may spark M&A

13 Aug 2024

European electric utilities have to invest big to meet rising demand. Yet balance sheets are laden with debt and raising equity is tough. Some will have to sell assets, or whole companies. Iberdrola’s $5 bln acquisition of a UK peer at a decent premium could be the first of many.

Airlines’ margins head to lower cruising altitude

2 Aug 2024

Carriers from $2 bln Air France-KLM to $7 bln Lufthansa reported healthy demand in the first half of 2024. But earnings are falling as expenses bite. With the switch to sustainable aviation fuel threatening to push costs ever higher, investors are bracing for smaller margins.

Green hydrogen fever gets needed doses of reality

1 Aug 2024

Over the past five years, supporters argued the low-carbon gas would be a big fossil fuel killer. Cost and science makes much of that fanciful. Fortescue nixing production goals and EU targets being dubbed too ambitious suggest the industry is getting more practical and smaller.

UK growth fix can start with pampered rich savers

19 Jul 2024

New Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants to unblock Britain’s dismal economy. One aid would be to raise revenue by cutting superfluous tax perks for wealthy savers. Another is to find a way to deploy UK savings in more growth-enhancing assets than is currently the case.

Solar giant illuminates China’s overcapacity bind

16 Jul 2024

The $15 bln Longi Green blamed a supply-demand mismatch for its profit warning. It's a repeat of an investment boom that caused an industry bust and a tariff war with the US and EU a decade ago. Beijing's desire to support new tech is leading it in the same direction again.

UK green fund has risky but valid investor carrots

10 Jul 2024

The new government’s ‘National Wealth Fund’ is really $9 bln of public cash with capped returns. The risk is private investors slated to provide treble that figure get too good a deal. But with the UK’s energy transition requiring $64 bln a year, a degree of largesse makes sense.

Copper’s green step change is an uphill struggle

9 Jul 2024

Supplies of the red metal have to motor if the world is to adequately decarbonise. In this Exchange podcast Tae-Yoon Kim, senior energy analyst at the International Energy Agency, lays out the challenges that need to be overcome if the private sector is going to make that happen.