banks should loosen purse strings for renewable energy schemes

19th May 2010

A leading Scottish banking lawyer in the Edinburgh office has called on venture capitalists and commercial lenders to recognise the merits of renewable energy schemes and loosen their purse strings to offer developers greater access to capital for the delivery of these projects.

Speaking at the opening of the All-Energy Conference, the UK’s largest renewable energy event, Tom Speirs, partner in the banking and finance team of HBJ Gateley Wareing, also welcomed the creation by the Co-operative Bank of a new Scottish-based team to finance renewable energy projects, pledging to lend £200m to the sector in 2010, the majority in Scotland.

Mr Speirs said that access to capital is one of the greatest challenges facing renewable energy firms and is potentially hindering the Scottish Government realising its target to deliver 50 per cent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.

However, given the growth of this sector, traditional investors are missing a trick in the potential returns that can be delivered, especially in the current economic environment.

Moves such as the continued delivery of feed-in-tariffs, where energy suppliers make regular payments to householders and communities who generate their own electricity from renewable or low carbon sources, are welcomed in opening up small scale developments. They make these renewable projects more bankable as they will be both less risky and capable of producing greater returns.

However, larger projects will require capital investors and banks working hand in glove to deliver them and Mr Speirs is also calling for investors to look at capabilities beyond wind, such as wave and tidal energy, and for the Scottish Government to increase investment in other technologies to make them more bankable, fuelling the next round in renewable growth.

A recent report, “Towards a Low Carbon Economy”, highlights the fact that 26,000 jobs will be created from the renewables sector alone by 2020 – including 20,000 from offshore wind and 2,600 from wave and tidal power.

It states that there are already an estimated 70,000 jobs in the low carbon sector – accounting for 3 per cent of employment in Scotland – meaning 130,000 people could be employed in green jobs by 2020.

It goes on to say that, within five years, the low-carbon goods and services sector will be worth about £12 billion to the Scottish economy.

Mr Speirs said: “There is so much potential for Scotland in delivering a low carbon economy and one only needs to consider the billions of pounds being invested in green energy to date.

“However, as a nation we are in danger of not being able to realise our full potential unless greater capital is made available to renewable energy firms.

“Traditional providers are failing to exploit the full potential returns on investment which can be delivered by renewable energy projects, including those non-wind related.”

Tom Speirs is a partner in the banking and finance team of HBJ Gateley Wareing.