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.
In this article, experts from FTI Consulting’s Power, Renewables & Energy Transition (“PRET”) practice draw upon their experience in climate risk-related bankruptcy, dispute advisory, restructuring and resource strategies to summarize the regulatory, operational and financial impacts of recent extreme weather events on electric utilities. This article will discuss the implications of strengthening physical and financial asset performance in a rapidly evolving electric grid.
The announcement by President Gabriel Boric on April 20, 2023, that private companies will need to partner with the state to extract lithium is the latest sign that the Chilean government is attempting to increasingly control Chile’s mining industry.
Why should utilities prepare for three different policy futures? Climate policy in the United States has been volatile and unpredictable for the past decade. Nowhere is turbulent climate
policy more evident than in the utility sector. The authors will examine three distinct possible climate policy scenarios that may occur through 2030.
Over the past couple of decades, electric utility investments were driven primarily in response to an aging infrastructure and increasing customer expectations for reliability. Recently, the increased frequency of storm-driven outages coupled with the need for operational uptime and work-from-home practices have only served to sharpen this focus, with regulators and utilities developing new approaches to meet this need.
With ongoing supply chain issues, legislative challenges in Washington and a rising interest rate environment, many renewable energy investors prepared for a cooler start to 2022. As we move through 2023, we expect deal flow to remain strong as developers look to monetize opportunities and benefits driven by the IRA.
With new ESG (environmental, social, and governance) regulations from both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Union under consideration, the CFO and the finance function will play an increasingly important role in unlocking value across organizations.
This is the first piece in a three-part series exploring key due diligence considerations for proven renewable energy and adjacent technologies representing the majority of M&A activity, as well as for emerging technologies poised for investment growth in the coming years.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and sustainability has evolved from a niche “trend” into a seismic culture shift embraced by the global business community as a defining metric of success.
