Financial Fallout: Why renewable energy has the blues
Wall Street Journal|Keith Johnson|October 21, 2008
Renewable energy's gone in the space of a few months from market darling to whipping boy. Shares in solar- and wind-power companies have suffered even more than the market at large. The outlook for new projects is growing increasingly cloudy. But that's not because renewable energy suddenly got uglier. It's because of the fallout from financial-market turmoil ..."Natural gas at $6 makes wind look like a questionable idea and solar power unfathomably expensive," said Kevin Book, a senior vice president at FBR Capital Markets.
Renewable energy's gone in the space of a few months from market darling to whipping boy. Shares in solar- and wind-power companies have suffered even more than the market at large. The outlook for new projects is growing increasingly cloudy. But that's not because renewable energy suddenly got uglier. It's because of the fallout from financial-market turmoil ..."Natural gas at $6 makes wind look like a questionable idea and solar power unfathomably expensive," said Kevin Book, a senior vice president at FBR Capital Markets.
Renewable energy's gone in the space of a few months from market darling to whipping boy. Shares in solar- and wind-power companies have suffered even more than the market at large. The outlook for new projects is growing increasingly cloudy.
But that's not because renewable energy suddenly got uglier. It's because of the fallout from financial-market turmoil, says Andy Katell, head of communications at GE Financial Services, who took umbrage at yesterday's post. Mr. Katell says "GE has been-and will remain-a significant investor in renewable energy," with $1.4 billion investment slated for this year. So why is clean tech in apparent retreat? Mr. Katell says:
These problems are centered around the financial markets, not the strong …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]Renewable energy's gone in the space of a few months from market darling to whipping boy. Shares in solar- and wind-power companies have suffered even more than the market at large. The outlook for new projects is growing increasingly cloudy.
But that's not because renewable energy suddenly got uglier. It's because of the fallout from financial-market turmoil, says Andy Katell, head of communications at GE Financial Services, who took umbrage at yesterday's post. Mr. Katell says "GE has been-and will remain-a significant investor in renewable energy," with $1.4 billion investment slated for this year. So why is clean tech in apparent retreat? Mr. Katell says:
These problems are centered around the financial markets, not the strong fundamentals of renewable energy or of GE itself. The core issue is the industry-wide difficulty of committing to new investments in a period of high uncertainty about borrowing costs. Such transactions usually involve staged funding, and the market volatility makes forward committing to fundings expensive to developers and ultimately to consumers of renewable energy.
But in recent months, market somersaults have undoubtedly changed the outlook for renewable energy. When fossil fuel prices were soaring, things like offshore wind farms suddenly looked appealing, and guaranteed electricity prices from wind farms looked like a bargain. But with fossil fuel prices headed south and capital getting more expensive, renewables are losing some of their glow. As the NYT notes today:
"Natural gas at $6 makes wind look like a questionable idea and solar power unfathomably expensive," said Kevin Book, a senior vice president at FBR Capital Markets.
Renewable energy is especially vulnerable to the credit crunch, because most of the cost of wind farms and the like comes from upfront capital costs; the fuel is free. When capital costs are huge, the cost of capital becomes doubly important.