Energy majors put the squeeze on renewables specialists

Established energy utilities are gaining a stranglehold on the ownership and development of large solar plants. Only six renewable specialists now make the top twenty in Wiki-Solar’s latest league table of project developers. And only two appear in the top twenty utility-scale solar plant owners.

NextEra Energy now tops both lists. According to Wiki-Solar’s Philip Wolfe, this is “thanks especially to the recent Intense ‘solarisation’ of its subsidiary Florida Power & Light. Just six years ago NextEra was
down at #6, but it has moved up one place each year since then.”

Independent renewables developers are led by Canadian Solar and First Solar at #5&6, though the latter has now largely withdrawn from project development. India’s ACME Solar follows at #9, with US-
focused Cypress Creek at #14. Wiki-Solar counts Lightsource (#17) as a renewables company, though BP now has a major stake. Last of the six is the legacy of projects left by the now-defunct SunEdison.

Five other substantial renewables pure-plays make it into the top-30. China’s JinkoSolar, and Europe’s BayWa r.e, Neoen, FRV and X-Elio each have at least 2-GWac of cumulative capacity under their belts.

The owners list is dominated by established power companies. China’s State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) holds the #2 spot, with five other Chinese companies in the top 20. Europe is led by ENEL at #3, with EDF, Engie and Iberdrola all high on the list. India comes in with Adani at #4 and NTPC and Azure are also listed. Representing the USA alongside NextEra are utilities AES, Dominion and Duke Energy.

“Utility-scale solar projects are getting ever larger, with the biggest now measured in gigawatts”, says Wolfe. “Few but the major multinationals have the financial muscle to take on projects at that scale, so we expect their dominance to continue.”

The only renewables companies in the top twenty IPPs/owners are JinkoSolar and Lightsource BP. Three infrastructure investors also feature, led by Global Infrastructure Partners at #19, with D E Shaw
(DESRI) and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway lower down.

The table below contains the top 10 project developers on the list for utility-scale (4-MWac+) solar projects cumulative to Q2-2023.

The table below contains the top 10 plant owner / IPPs on the list for utility-scale (4-MWac+) solar projects cumulative to Q2-2023

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