Wind Farm. Credit: Enel Green Power.
The industry has also seen a growing number of developers bring in cash-equity investors (driven by a cash return, not tax credits and depreciation) to take a portion of the developer's remaining interest after tax equity is in place. Such cash-equity investments may acquire an interest in a single project or a portfolio of projects. For example, over the last few years Enel Green Power North America has completed several such transactions where subsidiaries of GE took a cash equity position in wind projects constructed by Enel. The benefits of this approach are similar to those for funds: investments are limited in scope, relieving the pressure for continued development in changing markets, and the number of investors is small and thus can provide greater ability to deal with changes and problems as they arise.
Another yieldco-like vehicle is an entity formed to acquire a particular developer's projects with a discrete number of institutional investors. This is effectively a "private" yieldco where no public stock offering is involved. It operates like a cash equity investment, but can be more open-ended in duration and investment commitment. It has the benefits noted above for funds and cash equity investments, but can be more flexible in terms of structure than your typical fund (which is structured to meet prevailing expectations of investors, rather than being tailored to the specifics of a developer's situation and project opportunities).
Over the next few years, expect to see further evolution of these capital raising techniques. While we may see residential solar developers gravitate toward securitization, developers of large-scale renewable energy projects will continue to look to other yieldco-like structures as a viable means of raising capital.
Gregory F. Jenner is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Stoel Rives and is co-chair of the firm's energy team. Edward D. Einowski is a partner in the Portland, OR office of Stoel Rives where he specializes in renewable energy project finance and development. Adam D. Schurle is a tax associate in the Minneapolis, MN office of Stoel Rives.