Member Article

More clarity needed to ensure Renewable energy investment

If the UK is to profit from future investment in the renewable energy sector, government regulation and legislation needs more clarity and consistency, according to research.

KPMG have released the results of their ‘Green Power: 2011’ survey, which found that 75 percent of all respondents would have invested more over the past three years if they had been given more freedom by the government policy.

This news is especially disappointing as the UK strives to become a world leader in renewable energy, and especially for the North East, which is home to Narec, the national centre for renewable energy.

Jon Hurford, Corporate Financer at KPMG’s Energy and Natural Resources team believes that with the right mechanisms and structures proposed in the Electricity Market reform white paper, the UK could be the recipient of high levels of investment.

He commented: “This region has a strong commercial interest in the UK’s appeal to global investors, given its potential to lead in renewable energy development, on the back of our capacity to provide a home for wind and tidal power and to resource the accompanying manufacturing supply chain.

“if the white paper is successful, there is no doubt that the North East will be an increasingly attractive destination for investment, especially due to global trends that I expect to make positive ripples here on our doorstep.”

The survey also indicated that incentive regimes were highly valued by investors, including cuts to feed-in tariffs for new projects, temporary boosts in deal activity and acquisition multiples in Europe. It is now vitally important that mergers and acquisitions in the sector are maintained in order to keep up current levels of activity in renewable energy.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .