WASHINGTON, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- High oil prices and an array of
government incentives are leading to soaring rates of investment in renewable
energy, according to the United Nations' annual "Global Trends in Sustainable
Energy Investment" report.
The UN report calculates global investment capital flows into renewable
energy companies reached $100 billion for the first time in history last year.
More than $30 billion of the total was the result of mergers and acquisitions
led by investment banks such as JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.
"The finance community has been investing at levels that imply disruptive
change is now inevitable in the energy sector," says Eric Usher, Head of the
Energy Finance Unit at the UN. Usher said the UN's "report puts full stop to
the idea of renewable energy being a fringe interest of environmentalists. It
is now a mainstream commercial interest to investors and bankers alike."
The huge investment flows mean that IPO's, largely dormant since the heady
days of the technology boom nearly a decade ago, are now re-emerging. A trio
of solar companies went public with impressive returns in 2007, including JA
Solar (Nasdaq: JASO), Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) and Solarfun Power Holdings
(Nasdaq: SOLF).
In the wind power sector, regular CNBC guest analyst and IPO expert
Francis Gaskins was the first to cover Nacel Energy (OTC Bulletin Board: NCEN)
which has seen its stock soar more than 250% since IPO. Last month, Nacel
Energy unveiled a major 80-megawatt wind energy expansion, including two new
projects in Texas. Gaskins currently has $4 target on the company (Nacel
Energy closed Friday at $2.79).
A Before the Bell(TM) renewable energy update.
SOURCE Before the Bell