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FINANCING AND INCENTIVES

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Page Updated:
June 3, 2023

• • Financing Puerto Rico’s Clean Energy Future

  Won't Be an Easy Task
  
  

  May 31, 2023 - Puerto Rico’s transition to a clean and renewable energy future by 2050 will necessitate a complete reconfiguration of its electrical grid and service paradigm. The U.S. territory will need to shift from the current centralized fossil fuel plant generation model with over 35,000 miles of distribution network infrastructure, to a mostly decentralized and distributed system of renewable generation and onsite storage.

  The portfolio will include rooftop installations, community solar, and utility-scale plants, along with interconnected region-wide microgrids that provide redundancy but can be islanded for resilience.

• • Germany Pushes for G-7 Reversal
  on Fossil Fuels in Climate Blow

  Walking Back Their Commitment
  
  

  June 25, 2022 -Germany is pushing for Group of Seven nations to walk back a commitment that would halt the financing of overseas fossil fuel projects by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter. That would be a major reversal on tackling climate change as Russia’s war in Ukraine upends access to energy supplies.

• • Shareholders are Pushing
  Big Banks for Climate Action

  Pressure from Activist
  Shareholders Isn’t Going Away
  
  

  May 4, 2022 -It’s hard to live without banks. But having an account often ties our money to the conveyor belt of global finance — and its effects on the climate.

  Take Citigroup, which owns Citibank, for example. The market research firm YouGov ranks Citibank among the most popular banks in the United States. It’s also the world’s second-largest financier of fossil fuels, according to a recent report by the Rainforest Action Network, an environmental group.

• New Solar JV Targets GW Growth

  VP Solar is Owned by Everwood Capital,
  Through its Fund V, and Prodiel Group
  
  

  June 14, 2021 (reNEWS.BIZ)-Investment management company Everwood Capital, through its Fund V, and renewable energy company Prodiel Group have teamed up to create DVP Solar focusing on developing large-scale photovoltaic projects.

  DVP Solar has projects in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Colombia and Peru and is currently managing 5GW in grid-connected photovoltaic energy and has a further 2GW in projects at the initial development stage.

  It expects to have an additional 3GW in growth in the next few years.

• The Mass Solar Loan Program

  Bringing Solar Ownership
  to Low-Income Homeowners
  
  

  Renewable Energy World, Aug. 11, 2020 -The Mass Solar Loan Program, launched by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) in 2015, combines incentives and partnerships with local banks and credit unions to increase access to solar PV financing, while creating a solar lending market. Most recently, its incentives have focused exclusively on supporting low-income homeowners who want to own solar PV systems, addressing challenges such as limited ability to utilize the federal tax credits and lower credit scores.

  To date, 77% of program funding awarded has been to income-qualified residents. Since December 2015, over 5,400 loans, totaling approximately $173 million, have been closed, activating 46 MW of residential solar PV in 342 of 351 Massachusetts municipalities. Loan requirements, such as fixed-rate terms, capped closing fees, and capped interest rates, ensure customers have a consumer-friendly option, while lenders gain greater experience with solar.

  Click now to read the full story.

• EU Bank Fossil-Fuel Financing? Not Anymore

  EU Bank Takes ‘Quantum
  Leap’ To End Fossil-Fuel Financing
  
  

  Nov. 15, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)-The European Investment Bank adopted an unprecedented strategy to end funding for fossil fuel energy projects, in a move expected to support Europe’s plans to become the first climate-neutral continent.

  The board of the Luxembourg-based lending arm of the European Union decided at a meeting on Thursday to approve a new energy policy that includes increased support for clean-energy projects. The bank will not consider new financing of unabated fossil fuels, including natural gas, from the end of 2021.

• Vietnamese Bank Backs Out of Coal

  Standard Chartered
  Just Dumped Coal!
  
  

  Sep. 28, 2018 -We have awesome news. Standard Chartered bank has just announced it will not fund any new coal-fired power plant projects, including expansions, in any location!

  Together with Market Forces and organizations from around the world we have been campaigning hard to convince Standard Chartered to rule out all new coal. Last month we took out a full page ad in the Asian Financial Times and tens of thousands of people have taken online action to call on the bank to do exactly what it just has!

  Click to read more from Go Fossil Free.

• Some Like it Hot - Not Japan

  ‘Cool Bank Award’: Keeping it
  ‘Cool’ in a hot Japan
  
  

  Sep. 24, 2018 -350 Japan team launched the 'Cool Bank Award' campaign, with the goal to acknowledge and support banks that do not have relationships with the fossil fuel or nuclear industry, thus doing their part to keep the earth 'cool'.

  This year has seen Japan struck by a number of unprecedented climate-related disasters including heat waves of over 40 degrees celsius and torrential rains causing flooding and landslides. The seriousness of the heat wave and loss of life it caused was acknowledged by the Minister of the Environment Mr. Masaharu Nakagawa, who made clear that risks of this severe weather phenomena would only worsen with continued climate change.

  Click to read more from 350.ORG.

• • Solar Rising for Bank Financing

  Banks Are Sweetening Their Terms
  for Solar as Confidence Rises
  
  

  Apr. 20, 2018 -Interest rates are rising, making debt much more expensive for capital-intensive industries across America. But there’s at least one exception: the solar business.

  While the cost of borrowing has been increasing since 2016, some banks are taking a smaller cut to win deals from solar developers. Loans of seven years or longer can be obtained for 137.5 basis points over the benchmark London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, down from as much as 200 basis points last year, said Keith Martin, a project-finance attorney at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP. Even the higher-rate loans for residential projects are getting cheaper.

  “Investor confidence has increased, causing debt costs to fall despite rising interest rates,” said Ed Fenster, executive chairman of Sunrun Inc., the largest U.S. residential-solar company. “Our spreads are coming down faster than the base rate is increasing.”

  Click now for more of the
  story from Renewable Energy World.

• • Africa: Green Investments Needed

  Let’s Help Africa Achieve Clean Tech

  Apr 16, 2017 -About 800 delegates from 59 countries gathered at Africa Climate Week in Nairobi, Kenya, last week to discuss challenges and responses to climate change for inclusion in the international climate negotiation process.

  Among the key messages from delegates at the talks was the importance of energy in the climate change discussion, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat (UN Climate Change).

  The talks emphasized the need for financial instruments to de-risk investment in energy infrastructure and enhance involvement in smaller and medium-sized enterprises.

  Click now to read the whole
  story from Renewable Energy World.

• • Help Fight Big Banks Dirty Energy

  Help Fight Big Banks Dirty Energy
  With a Sierra Club Credit Card

  The Sierra Club recently made a public commitment to divest its own organizational money from pipeline banks and, for the last four years, we've partnered with a bank that doesn't invest in dirty energy, has never earned a dime on fossil fuels, and would never consider funding a pipeline.

  The Sierra Club's Visa® Platinum credit card is offered through Beneficial State Bank, a do-no-harm community bank that is committed to transparent banking practices and providing fair wages.

  Click now for more information.

• • Clean Energy States Alliance

  Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA)

  CESA is a national, nonprofit coalition of public agencies and organizations working together to advance clean energy. CESA members—mostly state agencies— include many of the most innovative, successful, and influential public funders of clean energy initiatives in the country.

• • Sunpower Solar Loan Programs

  Sunpower Solar Loan Programs

  Sunpower is offering several loan options.

  Click now to see if any of them suit you.

• • Alliance for Renewable Energy

  What Others Are Doing

  Since 1991, over 40 other nations, states, and provinces, have pioneered legislation that have proven to promote the fastest, cheapest, and widest growth of renewable energy. In many of these countries these policies are called "Feed-In Tariffs" (FITs), also known as "Renewable Energy Payments." Producers of renewable energy are paid a premium rate or "tariff" for each kilowatt of energy they "feed into" the grid. The name has changed but the fundamental principles of these policies stay the same.

• • DSIRE™ -State Incentives for R.E and Efficiency

  If Green is What You Desire

  It's the most comprehensive source of information on incentives and policies that support renewables and energy efficiency in the United States. Established in 1995, DSIRE is currently operated by the N.C. Solar Center at N.C. State University, with support from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. DSIRE is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy

• • Financing Wind Projects

  Finance Blows In the Wind

  Publicly financed funds, such as those managed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the California Energy Commission, the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, and other clean energy funds, are primarily looking for the most cost-effective ways of leveraging private funding to maximize benefits to taxpayers.

• • Florida State Solar Power Incentives

  Florida - Act As If You
  Really Are the Sunshine State?

  With all those miles of sandy beaches and groves of orange trees, who could argue with naming Florida the Sunshine State? From Tallahassee to Miami, and at all points in between, Florida has an amazing outdoor environment warmed by the sun. Is there a more perfect location for using solar energy resources? Click now to find out what the Florida legislature is doing to promote clean energy and protect the environment.