Three New Green Bonds
by Sean Kidney The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is planning to issue $1bn Green Bonds per annum. Hawaii is setting up a bond-funded green bank Germany’s PNE Wind is planning a €100m corporate bond Trade Finance magazine reports that the IFC is planning to issue $1bn a year of Green Bonds. After talking with IFC folk in Washington DC last week I think I can say that the resounding success of last month’s first $1bn IFC Green Bond is making them think much more ambitiously than before. We think they should also...
Vornado Realty Green Bond Boosts US Market, But Lacks Ambition
By Bridget Boulle and Rozalia Walencik Last week BBB-rated Vornado Realty (NYSE:VNO) became the second US real estate investment trust to issue a corporate green bond, following the Regency Centres (NYSE:REG) bond late last month. The 5 year, $450 million bond was structured by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Pricing was in line with non-green bonds. Investors included asset managers, pension funds, insurance companies and governments, of which some were regular investors and others had a specific green interest. Some non-US investors also came in. According to the prospectus, the proceeds will be used to fund buildings and retrofits...
Why is Terraform Power Trading at a Premium to the Brookfield Renewable Merger Value?
Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA
A reader asked:
Read your recent article on Pattern Energy (PEGI). Great summary and thoughts.
Would like to ask your view on TERP potential takeover by BEP (via shares swap) and whether you reckon the recent run-up on TERP is too excessive?
It's a good question, and one that Robbert Manders on Seeking Alpha did a thorough analysis of here. For the details of the merger, I refer you to his work.
While his analysis is careful and complete, I disagree with his conclusion. TERP shares are not trading at a significant premium to the merger value. The reason is...
Roundtable Greenlights Effort on Renewable Energy Covered Bonds
by Sean Kidney “There is more liquidity than ever being put into the system, but funds are still not being allocated to renewable energy projects” “The bottleneck for renewable energy is not in construction financing but a year or two after construction .” “ is not an asset class where risk changes over time – it changes between pre-completion to post-completion stages… it is incorrect to think that offloading an asset post-completion dumps risk onto others because the riskier part of the project is past.” “Alignment of interest with investors is strong as the issuing bank...
How Much Could Another Yieldco Pay For 8point3?
by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
When SunPower (SPWR) and First Solar's (FSLR) YieldCo, 8point3 Energy Partners (CAFD), went public two years ago, I used the financial nerd joke in 8point3's ticker symbol as a launching point to explain what "cash available for distribution," or CAFD, means.
In that article, I cautioned against the risks of using a short-term cash flow measure for long-term investing decisions. That risk is becoming more and more real for investors in 8point3 because the YieldCo is using short-term, interest-only financing to fund its long-term investments.
All of 8point3's debt matures in 2020, and refinancing that debt will...
Buyer’s Guide To Community Solar in New York
by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
An updated version of this article is available here.
After a painfully long wait, community solar (also called shared solar) is finally coming to New York state. After years of regulatory uncertainty, the state Public Services Commission (PSC) has put enough of the enabling regulations in place for a number of developers to move forward.
What is Community Solar?
A community solar installation is a large scale (typically 1 to 3 MW, or the size of about 150 to 800 residential solar installations) in which subscribers can sign up to lease or purchase a share of the production...
Green swan, Black swan: No matter as long as it reduces stranded spending
by Prashant Vaze, The Climate bonds Initiative
In January, authors from several institutions under the aegis of BiS, published The Green Swan Central banking and financial stability in the age of climate change setting out their take on the epistemological foundations for, and obstacles against, central banks acting to mitigate climate change risk.
The book’s early chapters provide a cogent and up-to-date analysis of climate change’s profound and irreversible impacts on ecosystems and society. The authors are critical of overly simplistic solutions such as relying on just carbon taxes. They also recognize the all-too-evident deficits in global policy to respond to the threat.
In short, they accept the need for central banks to act.
The Two Arguments
The paper makes two powerful arguments setting out the challenges central banks face using their usual mode of working.
Firstly, climate change’s impact on financial systems is an unknowable unknown – a...
Is Suzlon’s $650m Wind Bond the First of Many?
India had been trying to get a corporate bond market going for 15 years – search “growing India corporate bonds” and you’ll find papers on the subject from the Reserve Bank of India, Bank of International Settlement and others scattered over past years. The latest Indian 5 year plan has this as a priority – and has green finance as a priority in a separate section. India has a particular need: a miniscule local corporate bond market means restricted financing options for business, including for renewable and energy efficient building developers – diversity with financing options helps drive down costs...
Should Pattern Energy Shareholders Vote Against the Merger?
by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
This morning, hedge fund Water Island Capital called on Pattern Energy (PEGI) Shareholders to vote against the merger with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
Water Island claims the merger is undervalued compared to the recently surging prices of other Yieldcos, and that PEGI would be trading at over $30 given current valuations. There are not a lot of other Yieldcos left, especially if we eliminate those with their own special circumstances. These are Terraform Power (TERP) which is subject to its own buyout agreement with Brookfield Renewable Energy (BEP), and Clearway (CWEN and CWEN/A) where...
Four Clean Green Dividends
by Debra Fiakas CFA The recent pullback in stock prices in the U.S. equity market has opened the door to some interesting dividend yields. Investors with a taste for environmentally-friendly businesses have some particularly interesting alternatives that can pump up the purse as well as protect Mother Earth. AES Corporation (AES: NYSE) is a world-class power generator from mixed portfolio of conventional and renewable power sources. About 28% of its 29,352 megawatts of generation capacity is from renewable fuel sources, including hydro, biomass, solar and wind, and another 33% from plants using natural gas. The balance of...
Fifteen Clean Energy Yield Cos: Company Structure
Tom Konrad CFA In the first article of this survey of yield cos, I looked at the possible reasons for the seemingly endless enthusiasm for US-listed clean energy yield cos. Here, I'll take a look at how these yield cos are constructed, and why investors should prefer one structure over another. Who's Your Daddy? Most yield cos have been created by clean energy project developers in order to create a ready, low-cost buyer for those projects. With the recent string of very successful IPOs, the capital available for such projects may prove...
Power REIT’s Preferred Stock Offering: A Hedge That Pays 7.75%
Power REIT's preferred stock offerning (NYSE:PW-PRA) is an excellent hedge for the legal risks borne by the holders of its common stock (NYSE:PW.)
Are YieldCos Overpaying for Their Assets?
Tom Konrad CFA YieldCos buy and own clean energy projects with the intent of using the resulting cash flows to pay a high dividend to their investors. Several such companies, often captive subsidiaries of listed project developers, have listed on U.S. markets since 2013. So far, YieldCos have been a win-win: The developers that list YieldCos have gained access to inexpensive capital, and income investors have gotten access to a new asset class paying stable and growing dividends. So far, they have also gained from significant stock price appreciation. The seven U.S.-listed YieldCos are up...
Yieldco Valuations Look Attractive
By Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
Despite a run-up in the fourth quarter of 2023, it has been a long time since valuations of clean energy stocks have been this cheap. Perhaps it is worries about hostility towards clean energy under a new Trump administration, or disappointment at the slow implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act. Whatever the cause, prices are low, and many clean energy stocks are likely to produce good returns even if the political climate turns further against them.
This is especially true for companies that are less dependent on favorable policy or subsidies. For instance, Yieldcos, high...
Has the Sell-off Created Value Stocks Among Clean Energy Conglomerates?
Tom Konrad CFA The silver lining of all market declines is the chance to buy stock in quality companies at attractive prices. That opportunity has been notably absent over the last two years, which is why my focus has shifted to smaller and smaller companies in search of reasonable valuations over that time. Although I still don't believe the market is cheap by any measure other than comparing it to a couple months ago, the volatility is starting to bring some individual bargains, especially on heavy selling days. For instance, I've started to acquire some of...
Green Bond Update: Wind Company Bonds
by Corporate Bonder Market Overview Data compiled by the Bank for International Settlements indicate that the total size of the global debt securities market (domestic and international) was $98.7 trillion as at September 2011, of which $89.9 trillion were notes and bonds. Governments accounted for $44.6 trillion of outstanding debt securities, financial organizations $41.9 trillion, corporations $11.2 trillion and international organizations $1.0 trillion. The focus of this report is on corporate borrowers. US corporations are the largest debt issuers, accounting for 46% of corporate debt globally, followed by the Eurozone with 20%, Japan 9%, China 6%, and...
