Renewable Energy

RWE has a way out of its valuation hole

14 Mar 2024

The $26 bln German power utility has lost 22% of its market value this year. Low gas prices, higher rates and a lingering presence in polluting lignite are reasons why. The first two ought not to persist as headaches, and the last is something RWE could do more about.

EIB backing would add spark to EU mini-nuclear bid

1 Mar 2024

Europe’s bid to develop smaller, cheaper nuclear reactors as part of its plan to cut carbon emissions needs cash and political support. European Investment Bank financing for next-generation projects would make a difference. Even so, green benefits may take years to materialise.

The green agenda’s best shot at a revival

13 Feb 2024

Economic distress prompted by globalisation undermines support for the energy transition, climate change economist Valentina Bosetti tells The Exchange podcast. That matters as key US and EU elections approach. Using proceeds from carbon taxes to address inequality is paramount.

BHP and Rio take competition out of going green

9 Feb 2024

The giant miners are teaming up to try and decarbonise steel production. Cutting the 8% of global emissions the current process belches out is key to saving the planet. The collaboration can help Australia keep up too. It makes this unusual setting aside of rivalry doubly smart.

Orsted revival requires more than belt-tightening

7 Feb 2024

The $23 bln Danish group cut its 2030 power capacity target and cancelled dividends after facing $4 bln of US impairments. For investors, it’s better than an equity raise. But an Orsted share-price recovery hinges on regaining their trust – and expected rate cuts materialising.

Financial fallout is hardwired into new nuclear

26 Jan 2024

France’s EDF wants help with the costs of its Hinkley Point C plant, which now exceed 30 bln pounds. Britain can say no, but needs the power. Globally nuclear capacity is supposed to treble by 2050, but future investor, state and customer spats on overruns look inevitable.

Time for EU to assist its solar panel industry

17 Jan 2024

Meyer Burger’s stock tanked 35% after it threatened to shut Europe’s biggest photovoltaic plant unless it gets German incentives. Stuck between US subsidies and cheap Chinese products, continental players are weak. Turning support for fossil fuels into green aid would help.

Green backlash will spread to European Parliament

3 Jan 2024

Pro-environment parties risk losing clout in June’s pan-EU vote. That will reinforce a strengthening bond between conservatives and far-right forces wary of the industrial and social cost of the clean transition. The EU’s ambitious Green Deal will get a paler hue.

Capital Calls: Eni’s green sale

22 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The Italian energy major’s 10 bln euro valuation for its retail-and-renewables arm Plenitude is more likely to be recreated or exceeded if it avoids a rushed listing.

Green investors will learn the art of stockpicking

21 Dec 2023

Wind and solar stocks had a torrid 2023, as stars like Orsted crashed. But renewables investment is strong, input cost inflation is abating and rates may have peaked. Investors able to pick developers in the right sector, or suppliers in the right regions, may find bargains.

BP and Equinor will find common ground

20 Dec 2023

The British oil major is undervalued against peers and is in a leadership vacuum. That makes it vulnerable to a takeover as US mega-mergers shake up the sector. Daring to tie up with Norwegian ally Equinor offers a powerful hedge and a springboard.

COP28 deal just about keeps net zero on the road

13 Dec 2023

Nations at the climate shindig agreed to start transitioning away from fossil fuels. The wording could have been tougher and clearer, and the world still faces harmful warming. But the Dubai meeting could have yielded a damaging standstill, rather than a baby step forward.

Global energy fissures are a risk for the West

12 Dec 2023

Falling oil prices despite recent cuts imply a weak OPEC+. Yet the producer group may increasingly align with other emerging market states on areas like Russia and climate change. In this Exchange podcast commodities expert Helima Croft says that’s an issue for Europe and the US.

Energy transition investing is caught in traps

8 Dec 2023

COP28 attendees pledged to triple renewables, but there’s still no plan to quit fossil fuel. Brookfield’s $13 bln joint bid for Aussie emitter Origin lined up a poster child deal for how companies can make the leap. Its failure has lessons for the world’s broader efforts.

Renewable will increasingly mean mostly solar

7 Dec 2023

Cheap green power is eating coal and gas, but solar's price is falling fast. It isn’t an exact wind substitute, so even costly offshore farms have a future. Texas shows the future, where solar now accounts for 7% of generation and has grown 5 times as fast as wind since 2019.

COP28 wrestles with the nuances of binning oil

7 Dec 2023

The global climate conference in Dubai has seen its fossil fuel-rich UAE host criticised for appearing to contest the need to phase out crude. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how the picture is a bit more complex.

Capital Calls: Roche, Brookfield/Origin

4 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The $224 bln Swiss drugmaker is splurging $2.7 bln on obesity drug developer Carmot; the Canadian investment firm’s joint $13 bln bid for Origin Energy has failed. The trick now is to show what lessons it’s learned from its 16-month-plus campaign.

Every country needs an Inflation Reduction Act

23 Nov 2023

The US's $370 bln in green subsidies left allies fearing they’d be at a disadvantage. Now they’re realising that adapting the blueprint can unlock private capital, boost economies and speed up the energy transition. Funding remains a challenge, but not an insurmountable one.

Britain solves half of its wind power problem

16 Nov 2023

After a humiliating failed auction, the UK is hiking green energy subsidies. That will draw bidders, and the resulting power should still be cheaper than gas. But to hit a target of 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030, PM Rishi Sunak will need to allot more cash in new bidding rounds.

Siemens Energy solves just one of its many issues

15 Nov 2023

CEO Christian Bruch got 12 bln euros of financial guarantees, including from the German state, which fixes the turbine maker’s urgent problem. But he now faces dividend and bonus restrictions. And reviving the struggling wind-power unit will involve racking up yet more losses.