Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the investment climate in various renewable energy sectors appears to be outperforming the pre-Covid levels of last year. Corporate funding for battery storage, smart grids, and energy efficiency has risen a whopping 75% this year.
Mercom Capital Group LLC, a clean energy communications and consulting firm, has analyzed cash flows in those market segments and observed a substantial increase in funding despite the global health crisis.
Investment this year to the end of September totaled $4.7 billion in corporate funding for battery storage, smart grid, and energy efficiency companies. The same period of last year brought $2.7 billion. The Covid-related uncertainty in the first quarter was perhaps reflected by the fact some $3.2 billion of that $4.7 billion was invested in the last quarter, a rise of 165% on the investment seen in Q2.
The impressive third-quarter figure appears to show investors moving into storage, smart grid and efficiency companies, as the first six months of the year brought only minimal backing in the segment. The July-to-September return was up 777% on the same period of last year, which attracted $365 million.
Venture capital funding, including private equity and corporate venture capital, rose 78% from the second quarter to Q3 with $1.1 billion spread across 22 deals in July-to-September, compared to $605 million in 26 deals in the previous three-month window. In year-on-year terms, the third-quarter VC figure was up 249% from the $309 million raised in 17 deals in July-to-September last year.
Venture capital funds of $1.9 billion have flowed into energy storage in the first nine months of the year, down from the $2.1 billion seen in the same period of 2019.
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