admin, Author at News and Events

Renewable Projects: Round-up & 2016 Preview

5 November 2015 admin 0

"With so many renewable projects out there, you’ve got to apply some pretty strict criteria to separate out the best opportunities from the riskier ones. That’s our challenge..." This week I managed to pin down our busy Business Development Director, Bill Goldie to get a run down of the 350 projects we’re engaged with. In between trips to China, India and Mexico, he explained his number one priority for selecting a renewable energy projects: “Generally, the projects we work on are exceptionally high quality in terms of their development potential, and based in countries that are transitioning from developing to [...]

The UK Green Revolution is now over?

26 October 2015 admin 0

Thank heavens. The UK renewable boom was started by the pied piper of misguided climate economics (former energy secretary Ed Miliband) and it's now collapsed under its own weight. To misquote Winston Churchill, never in the field of reducing CO2 emissions has so much been wasted by so few. That's not to say the UK renewable sector hasn't had a good run, but from an environmental point of view it has been about as effective as paying people to run round in circles to reduce unemployment. Now there are going to be casualties. Potentially a lot of them, too. [...]

Greenfield site development: Location, location, location

16 October 2015 admin 0

One of the issues that we face when looking for power projects offering the best carbon reductions is selecting the right location for a project. This has always led us to look at the developing world, because that’s where emissions are rising, and rising fast. In effect, the world is no longer developed or developing, there are really about 5 grades from developed, transitioning, developing, under developed and least developed. There’s little carbon benefit from developing in Europe and it's very expensive because power prices are so low. The evidence for this is obvious; the installed capacity in EU and [...]

Structuring renewable energy projects: local development

5 October 2015 admin 0

There’s an inherent commercial tension within the way companies approach structuring renewable energy projects. In any new area, there’s naturally an element of trial and error that's characterised renewables for both technology providers, developers and investors (as technologies evolve, as legislative frameworks and policy develops and so on). It comes with the territory in emerging industries. However something that’s often overlooked is the way deal-structuring goes through the same kind of trial and error. In many respects, this area is more critical to the delivery of low-carbon solutions than even the technology itself. To explain the issue simply, [...]

You think African renewable energy needs solar? Think again.

15 September 2015 admin 0

Last week the 350 team were meeting government officials in Malawi and Zambia, and during the journey we saw just how important geographical concerns are for renewable development. In particular, as we explored the issues facing African renewable energy we confirmed a key element of our strategy to match the right renewable technology to the local ecosystem, economic needs and political climate for the region. Put simply, Sub-Saharan Africa doesn't need solar. It placed us in the unusual position of being invited to discuss expanding the Malawian renewable power supply from 350MW towards their long term goal of [...]

COP21: Are carbon prices finally getting a boost?

10 September 2015 admin 0

Here’s an interesting thought. As the global stock markets are sliding back in the wake of concerns over China’s stock market woes, investors are looking to diversify their holdings and hedge a bit with different kinds of asset. Which is predictable. At times like this, investors look for the chance to buy cheap, weather the volatility and enjoy a bit of upside when it all gets back to normal. And for the more risk inclined, carbon, specifically Certified Emissions Reductions or CERs, might finally be looking like a reasonable punt. Now, admittedly, for some years now CERs have looked like a [...]

Final pre-flight checks before we begin Atacama development

28 August 2015 admin 0

We’re delighted to announce we’re making the last few preparations to launch our first Deal Stream 2 project, planned to break ground mid-2016 in Chile’s South Atacama desert. The project is for a sub-50MW solar energy facility that meets all the requirements for delivering a high quality, profitable solar park with excellent long term revenue potential. The key to building high quality renewable energy assets that deliver both effective carbon reductions and offer long term value creation for investors is defining the right kind of project. This first Atacama solar development is an excellent example: Location: [...]

Why is climate change policy a leaky mess?

19 August 2015 admin 0

I’ve just read a carbon abatement report for a natural gas pipeline that runs across hundreds of miles of continental Eastern Europe. It’s leaking 2.4 millions of tons of methane (CH4) into the atmosphere every year. The equivalent of about 60 million tons of CO2 (going by the standard equivalency measure). And that’s just from one facility in one country. Multiply the issue across the natural gas systems of Europe alone, and the equivalent of billions of tons of CO2 is spewing out into the atmosphere for no reason other than faulty well valves and leaking low-medium pressure pipes. You [...]

An alternative explanation for the Chinese Stock Market crash

28 July 2015 admin 0

We have a theory about the Chinese stock market crash. And it’s just that, a theory because as anyone who studies the Chinese economy knows, there’s a certain lack of transparency in the data that makes it difficult to pinpoint the real reason why the market has been lurching downward in recent months. But one thing is pretty much certain, it's not a crash. In fact, it's doesn't look like a market correction either. China’s recent stock market slump has provoked a lot of speculation about the cause. Over the last few years, many commentators have suggested Chinese banks [...]

CMA energy market investigation: The UK needs a carbon tax?

10 July 2015 admin 0

On the surface, the latest CMA energy market investigation (Competition and Markets Authority) report appears to be criticising the big six consumer energy suppliers (CMA reports). Consumers have footed a bill between 2009-2013 (the report focus) that’s £1.2bn per year more than they should have paid in a competitive marketplace, the CMA concluded. It has led to rumours of a price cap whilst reforms are made to the energy market. The CMA chairman, Roger Whitcomb was quoted saying “There are millions of customers paying too much for their energy bills - but they don’t have to,” but [...]

Author: admin