inspiratia's top renewable energy news of 2021

Which news pieces drew the most attention in 2021? inspiratia reviews the top renewable energy stories from last year

There was a more bullish sentiment in the renewable energy markets in 2021 than in the previous year. With the pandemic resulting in asset devaluations and industry revenue drawdowns, 2021 showed solid consolidation as oil majors invested in renewable energy sources with gusto, especially solar, wind and hydrogen. 

The market dynamics are changing quickly, with industry experts calling for near real-time trading and a model closer to a merchant one. With this change came significant growth in major corporate PPA deals as developers deployed more subsidy-free renewable projects.

Hydrogen garnered attention at COP26, with oil majors pivoting to blue and green hydrogen and major financiers deploying alternative and novel funding instruments for hydrogen projects.

The UK government expressed their backing for battery storage as one of the solutions to facilitate renewable energy proliferation and energy security, especially in the wake of rising natural gas prices. This sentiment resulted in many investments from renewable energy funds looking to leverage the adage "the trend is your friend".

***

1. Largest ever hydrogen-infrastructure fund targets €1.5 billion

01 October: Major energy conglomerates TotalEnergies, Air Liquide and VINCI collaborate with other large international companies to finance the world's largest fund exclusively dedicated to clean hydrogen infrastructure solutions… read more

2. Gresham House acquires 425MW of battery projects and eyes further 427MW pipeline

02 July: Gresham House Energy Storage Fund (GRID) has acquired an additional 425MW of projects from Gresham House Devco, and expanded its exclusivity pipeline by 427MW… read more

3. John Laing, KKR agree to £2bn takeover deal

19 May: John Laing and KKR have come to a takeover agreement at 403p per share, valuing John Laing at around £2 billion (€2.3bn US$2.8bn), with Equitix buying half its portfolio… read more

4. Scatec completes US$1.1bn takeover of SN Power

1 February: Norwegian IPP Scatec has completed its acquisition of SN Power from Norfund for US$1.166 billion (£850m €965m)… read more

5. Five-year corporate PPA tenders on the horizon for 1.075GW Seagreen wind project

04 August: Seagreen Wind Energy, a joint venture between TotalEnergies and SSE-Renewables is launching short-term corporate PPAs (CPPAs), which it believes will "transform" the energy market. The new contracts will offer buyers an alternative to standard longer-term CPPAs… read more

6. CIP closes greenfield renewables fund at €7bn hard cap

20 April: Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has closed out its greenfield renewables fund after hitting its €7 billion (£6bn US$8.3bn) hard cap, and is planning the launch of a new fund series this quarter… read more

7. Acciona eyes valuation of €9.8bn as it prepares for energy IPO

21 June: Acciona is aiming for a valuation of €9.8 billion (£8.4bn $12bn) as preparations ramp up ahead of the IPO for its renewables division… read more

8. Orsted and BASF sign longest CPPA in offshore history

15 November: In Germany, Orsted has secured an offtaker for its planned 900MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 Offshore Wind project, signing a 25-year fixed-price corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) with German chemical producer BASF. Crucially, the transaction marks the longest CPPA for offshore wind ever announced… read more

9. US offshore giant, Vineyard, reaches financial close

17 September: Vineyard Wind 1, the 800MW offshore scheme planned for the coast of Massachusetts, has reached financial close. The project, which is being developed by Avangrid-Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), reached a US$2.3 billion (£1.6bn €1.9bn close) after the developers successfully raised the money from nine international and US banks… read more

10. bp acquires 9GW of US solar for US$220m

03 June: Energy giant bp acquired 9GW of solar in the US from independent US solar developer 7X Energy. Lightsource bp will develop the pipeline… read more