How Investors Can Make More Impact in ‘Impact Investing’ in the Renewable Energy Sector

Investor’s reluctance to take an early interest and provide development capital to ‘ready’ projects for construction has resulted in a shortage of much needed renewable energy projects. It has become a serious roadblock towards achieving fossil generation displacement. This claim is made by David Riester at Lacuna Sustainable Investments. A disproportionate allocation of capital towards either clean technologies (cleantech) or mature operating assets has created an empty space in the renewable energy supply chain. Not only has this left important stages of the supply chain underserved and ripe for opportunities, but more importantly investors are missing the mark in impacting, hence paving the way for a quicker energy transition. High profile investors say renewable infrastructure assets look ‘pricey’, but they have so far been unwilling to participate in addressing the project supply bottlenecks. See excellent blog post “The Unglamorous Approach to Impact Investing in Energy” by David Riester.