The poll showed that onshore wind is the most favoured technology, followed by offshore wind and energy from waste in third place.

Adrian Scholtz, Energy Director at KPMG, says: “77% of respondents are planning to invest in renewable energy in the next year. Private equity houses are clearly attracted to the large returns that renewable energy projects can deliver and indeed opportunities are available with development projects available at low valuations.

“There is no such thing as easy money of course and private equity houses weighing up investments in the sector need to get comfortable with the large amount of capital required up front to fund renewable projects. Renewable assets which are already operational do not come with a heavy cash burden but they do not deliver the kind of returns private equity demands.”

Wind power

Scholtz adds: “Wind power is one of the most mature technologies and continues to attract the most investment. The UK remains a highly attractive market boasting potentially the largest wind resources in Europe, with attractive revenue streams generated through the UK Renewables Obligation and recently implemented feed-in tariffs for smaller projects, and a project finance market that understands the project risk environment.”

The poll was conducted among 180 delegates at the ‘Funding Renewables: Bringing Finance and Projects Together’ conference which took place in London in early June, representing private equity houses and key players in the renewable energy market. The participants were surveyed on their plans to invest and which technologies they favoured.