Published: May 14, 2010
Countries as well as sponsors compete for funding now, says energy group director.
Sponsors of renewable enegy projects face the increasing challenge of working with governmental organisations that struggle to deal efficiently with financiers despite growing competition for funding, says a director at renewable energy group AES Wind Generation.
Speaking on a panel at the annual EBRD meetings in Croatia, Teodor Bobochikov, general manager of AES Wind Generation's Bulgarian subsidiary, said that "it's not very hard" for sponsors to convince banks of the viability of their peojects. The difficulty, he added, is that sponsors are more frequently partnering with local governments, which often "don't know how to deal with the banks" and can struggle to push through their parts of the negotations.
That will need to change. Bobochikov pointed out that as countries race to reduce their carbon emissions in the coming years, local and national governments will come under greater pressure to secure funding quickly for renewable projects. "Countries are competing for financing now, not just sponsors," he said.
Earlier this year AES expanded its emerging European presence by buying a 51% stake in a wind portfolio from 3E, a Polish wind developer.