Renewables bring nearly a quarter of power & utilities deal value in 2017

Deals in the renewable energy industry globally have jumped in value by 57% to about USD 42.8 billion (EUR 34.7bn) in 2017, according to a newly-released report by EY.

Renewables-related deals have also increased in terms of volume, by 28% from 2016. This helped register a 10% rise in the overall volume of 2017 global power and utilities transactions, which hit an eight-year peak in both value and volume, with USD 200.2 billion across 516 deals.

“2017 was a formative year in power and utilities transactional activity. Investments in the conventional energy sector were dominated by the changing generation mix, as renewable energy continued to account for an increasing proportion of the system, and low interest rates again drove yield capital toward regulated networks,” comments Matt Rennie, EY Global Power & Utilities Transactions Leader.

In Europe, deals involving renewables reached USD 15.1 billion, thus contributing 30% of the total deal value on the continent, which, at USD 50.3 billion, was similar to that in 2016. Renewables made their contribution through 120 European deals, including two one-billion-dollar-plus transactions. For comparison, in 2016 there were 93 renewables-related deals with a combined value of USD 12.2 billion.

The Americas ranked second when it comes to the value of local renewable energy deals, which surged by 71% year-on-year to USD 14.2 billion. The total deal value in the region amounted to USD 102.2 billion, surpassing the USD-100-billion mark for the first time in eight years. Rennie noted that in the Americas, renewable energy investment activity continued to be strong thanks in part to ongoing support at state level.

As per the Asia-Pacific region, the total value of renewable energy deals climbed 72% to USD 13.5 billion, with 74 deals. EY attributes the rise in value to favourable policies across the region. Overall, total deal value in Asia-Pacific went up by 14% to USD 46.7 billion and while renewables made a solid contribution, conventional generation did not experience growth.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.813)

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