New York bourse hosts 1-GW auction for wind, solar

Investors have bid for over 1 GW of renewables capacity on the trading floor of the New York bourse, auction organiser FTI Consulting announced on Tuesday.

During the “innovative” event, wind and solar projects were offered up to indications of interest from the financial community and renewable energy investors. While no financial commitments were made, winners were granted an exclusivity period in which they can narrow the purchase and process terms. According to the press release, several agreements of “high strategic value” were confirmed.

The seven projects that secured exclusivity included four solar photovoltaic (PV) schemes eligible for the federal government’s Investment Tax Credit (ITC), having a combined capacity of 571 MW. The assets will are located in Michigan, Ohio, New Mexico and Texas. A community rooftop solar project in Washington DC and two wind projects of 459 MW in total were also among the winners. The wind parks, to be installed in Texas and California, will receive support under the Production Tax Credit (PTC) programme.

Overall, the auction gathered 150 senior leaders from the renewables sector, among which independent power producers and developers, project owners, sponsors, fund investors and lenders.

Chris LeWand, co-leader of FTI Consulting's Global Clean Energy Practice, noted that the North American mergers and acquisitions market is expanding but it still has to overcome some challenges, such as the gap between project developers, owners and “an increasingly diversified pool of financial and strategic investors."

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