Aviation has proven to be one of the most difficult subsectors for emissions abatement in the transportation industry. The lack of feasible substitutes for fuel-consuming turbine engines for long-distance travel places great dependence on sustainable aviation fuel (“SAF”) for the decarbonization of the sector.
As the data center (“DC”) industry grapples with transformation and unprecedented growth, most recently driven by the deployment of generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) at scale, it stands at an important inflection point. Given a rapid convergence of trends across the digital infrastructure, technology and energy sectors, the DC industry is rapidly evolving to secure remaining power in a constrained market to build the new, massive facilities needed to house AI workloads.
As we look forward to 2024, we anticipate various factors will drive increased M&A activity in the renewable energy sector. Relative to previous years, a higher cost of capital, influenced by both base rates and widening lender margins, will continue to put pressure on project viability and investor returns. Smaller developers, which are more affected by elevated rates and more susceptible to increased cost and delays, may be forced to sell projects, portfolios, or their entire platform as they seek liquidity or an outright exit.