Venture Capital

The $800 million of private backing secured by Californian residential solar finance business GoodLeap helped the sector achieve VC and private equity funding of $1.6 billion in the first six months of the year, up from just $210 million a year earlier.

The latest renewables investment report produced by analyst BloombergNEF has noted backing for solar projects continued to rise in the first half as wind power investment fell back.

An accelerated transition to renewables could go either way, regarding the United States’ unique geopolitical strength. According to Indra Overland – head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs – the U.S. could surrender a major advantage if it abandons fossil fuel. The nation could, however, remain dominant in the global energy sector if it continues to lead on innovation and clean energy tech-related intellectual property.

Mercom Capital Group’s Q1 2019 Solar Funding & M&A report has registered $2.8 billion in venture capital, public market and debt financing, up from $2.5 billion a year ago. Large scale project financing reached a record $5.58 billion across 43 deals and there were 18 solar corporate M&A transactions.

As RP Global starts work on 11 solar hybrid mini-grids on Lake Victoria that will supply electricity to 160,000 people, analyst Wood Mackenzie has released a report stating how increased capital flows in the sector may still fall short of securing universal electricity access by 2030. Nonetheless, off-grid solar is the cheapest and most viable solution for remote areas and attracts investment from fossil fuel majors and venture capital funds.

According to a report released by Mercom Capital, venture capital firms showered battery storage companies with money to the tune of US$714 million last year.

A total of $4.6 billion was raised in 97 deals in the first half of 2017, up from $4.5 billion in 79 deals in the respective period last year, shows information published by industry analysts Mercom Capital Group.

More than $1 billion raised in the first half of 2017 by battery storage, smart grid and energy efficiency companies – up from $807m in H1 2016, finds latest Mercom Capital Group report.

Dutch energy company Eneco Group announced its acquisition of a 34% stake in Next Kraftwerke, a German company operating one of Europe’s largest virtual power plant networks. The investment was announced at the Ecosummit cleantech event in Berlin today.

Total corporate funding across the global solar industry reached $3.2bn in the first quarter of the year, which is a 100% increase on Q4 2016. This rise is largely due to increased debt financing activity, said Mercom Capital Group CEO Raj Prabhu.