European Bankers See Credit Crisis Hurting Clean Energy Sector. Gerard Wynn, Reuters, September 16, 2008. "The renewable energy sector will see a 21 billion euro ($29.43 billion) shortfall in debt finance by 2020, following the credit crisis and a brake on lending, a senior banker said on Monday. Investors at a renewable energy finance conference in London tried to digest the implications of the banking hiatus... The result has been 'the worst liquidity crisis in recent memory,' said Andrew Marsden, managing director for Europe at GE Capital, which has a $4 billion portfolio of renewable energy assets. However, Marsden added: 'Money is still there for renewables, (especially) private equity.' The sector will need to attract new sources of debt -- such as from pension funds, or re-allocated capital from other areas of bank finance... The offshore wind energy sector was showing 'sub-prime' symptoms, said Kevin McCullough, chief operating officer of REW's renewable energy business, comparing current prices of offshore wind projects to the high-risk U.S. real estate sector before the recent blow-out. Investors have been paying too much for undeveloped offshore sites that only have planning permission, failing to take into account the soaring cost of wind turbines and cables, he said."
2008-09-16
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