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RENEWABLE ENERGY DEAL OF THE YEAR First Solar acquisition of Optisolar's development portfolio
01 July 2009It is perhaps indicative of the past 12 months that this year's renewable energy deal of the year saw no cash change hands – but it did mark, in the words of one analyst, a "watershed for the sector". On 2 March, industry-leading US solar photovoltaic (PV) module maker First Solar announced that it was to acquire for $400 million in stock the development pipeline of Optisolar, a California-based manufacturer and developer of solar PV systems, which had been struggling to find the finance to develop its projects.
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CARBON FINANCE TRANSACTION OF THE YEAR Camco, Standard Bank structured CER auction
01 July 2009The events of the past year have shown that innovation in financial markets is not always a good thing. But where it can pay dividends is in applying proven financing techniques from other markets into esoteric new ones. It is for this reason that last summer's certified emission reduction (CER) sale by Camco and Standard Bank stands out, where a tried and tested structure was imported into the carbon market and adapted to suit the demands of this new commodity class – while securing €15 million ($21 million) up front, with no conditions attached, for the project developer.
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CATASTROPHE RISK MANAGEMENT DEAL OF THE YEAR Atlas V catastrophe bond
01 July 2009New catastrophe (cat) bond issuance came to a grinding halt following the demise of Lehman Brothers in September last year, as investors realised the collateral guaranteed by Lehman in four bonds was at risk - and some was beginning to go sour.
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WEATHER RISK DEAL OF THE YEAR Origin Energy/Marsh wind and power hedge
01 July 2009Wind farms are supplying an ever-growing proportion of the world's energy demand, but the feedstock – wind – is an unpredictable resource compared with fossil fuels and presents particular risk management issues for power suppliers, for whom not meeting delivery obligations could prove financially disastrous.
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Counting the carbon
01 July 2009The prospect of a federal cap-and-trade programme in the US and the imminent introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment in the UK means thousands more companies will soon need to measure and manage their GHG emissions. Elizabeth Jeffries looks at the response of software suppliers
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Making quality count?
01 July 2009With raw material costs plummeting and competition hotting up from low-cost Chinese producers, Q-Cells is hoping its customers will pay for quality. Greg Bousfield reports
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Feeding a warming world
01 July 2009The agricultural sector faces massive growth in demand for its products – in the teeth of significant impacts from climate change. However, the challenges present significant investment opportunities, say Bruce Kahn and David Zaks
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Keeping a lid on costs
01 July 2009The offset provisions of the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill provide a crucial means to lower its costs – but the Senate would do well to improve upon them, says Lisa Jacobson
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Time to take risk
01 July 2009Forget the recession – this is exactly the time that venture capitalists should be taking risks, especially in clean-tech, says sector exemplar Ira Ehrenpreis. He talks to Gloria Gonzalez
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UK government faces judicial review over sustainability at RBS
01 July 2009Three environmental NGOs have taken legal action against the UK government over its decision to bail out RBS without imposing environmental criteria on the bank's financing practices. This comes as a European investor coalition put forward proposals for governments to become more active shareholders in the banks they took stakes in as the financial crisis hit last year.