As the world recovers from the massive disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the solar industry is once again adding to its financial strength with global corporate funding during H1/2021 reported by Mercom Capital Group as having increased 193% on annual basis to $13.5 billion. Since H1/2017, it is the highest amount of funding for the first 6 months of any year, according to the analysts.
In comparison, during H1/2020 the total global corporate funding was reported to be $4.5 billion, which now Mercom said added up to $4.6 billion (see $4.5 Billion Total Corporate Solar Funding In H1/2020).
In the 1H and Q2 2021 Solar Funding and M&A Report, Mercom analysts said compared to Q1/2021 when the global corporate funding was $8.1 billion, the proceeds declined 33% QoQ to $5.4 billion in Q2/2021 (see $8.1 Billion Global Corp. Funding For Solar In Q1/2021).
Solar venture capital (VC) funding during H1/2021 went up 680% annually to $1.6 billion in the form of 26 deals, with the largest VC deal reaching $800 million raised by Loanpal (see US Residential Solar Financier Raises Over $800 Million).
On the other hand, public market financing increased 386% YoY with 13 deals raising $3.7 billion, out of which $894 million were raised in Q2/2021, down from $2.8 billion raised in Q1/2021.
Debt financing in H1/2021 was 125% higher than last year, with Q2/2021 adding $3.9 billion in announced deals, declining 9% QoQ.
There was a larger interest seen in merger and acquisition (M&A) space with 54 reported solar transactions in H1/2021, compared to 25 a year back. According to the report, there were 53 large-scale solar project acquisitions in Q2 2021 compared to 82 in Q1 2021. Over 24 GW of solar projects were acquired in Q2 2021 compared to 14.6 GW in Q1 2021.
Most of the acquisitions were done by project developers, and independent power producers (IPP), followed by oil and gas companies and then investment firms with 1.3 GW.
"The transition from fossil fuels to renewables and environmental, social, and governance investing trends made an impact on financing as well as M&A activity," said Mercom Capital Group's CEO Raj Prabhu.
The report can be purchased on Mercom Capital Group's website with prices starting from $299.