The Energy Collective Group
This group brings together the best thinkers on energy and climate. Join us for smart, insightful posts and conversations about where the energy industry is and where it is going.
Post
An alarming turn of events is occurring in two markets key to climate change
An alarming turn of events is occurring in two markets key to climate change.
Solar remains hot among investors, but all other sectors saw funding slow in Q1 2023. That’s according to data from the Mercom Capital Group.
One sector of concern is storage. Storage is a game-changer for renewable energy because from a utility’s perspective, it transforms renewable generation from a liability to an asset.
But venture funding for energy storage was down 8% year-over-year and 35% since Q4 of 2022. I suspect this is in part due to a lack of tariff clarity which is critical to financial viability. Once states iron out how storage will be incentivized, the investment outlook should improve.
Investment in another key sector – smart grid technology - also saw a decline of 42% since the end of the last year. Here again, partially due to the utility sector’s culture and primary mandate to “keep the lights on”, there is a reticence to adopt innovative technological.
But if we want to achieve our climate goals, we need to figure out how to accelerate adoption in both these areas.
Discussions
No discussions yet. Start a discussion below.
Get Published - Build a Following
The Energy Central Power Industry Network® is based on one core idea - power industry professionals helping each other and advancing the industry by sharing and learning from each other.
If you have an experience or insight to share or have learned something from a conference or seminar, your peers and colleagues on Energy Central want to hear about it. It's also easy to share a link to an article you've liked or an industry resource that you think would be helpful.
Sign in to Participate