Alan McMahon

The route to market determines a renewable project's economics more than almost anything else within the developer's control. How the megawatt hours are sold sets the revenue line for two decades, and with it the gearing, covenants, discount rate, and the price a buyer pays for the equity. Key Takeaways • Merchant revenue is sold at the prevailing wholesale price. Contracted revenue is sold at a price fixed or bounded by agreement. • RESS is a two way contract for difference, settled...

A letter arrives, or a man in a quarter-zip knocks on the door. He represents a solar developer, likes the look of your fields, and would like to talk about a lease. Every landowner asks the same question: what is it worth? Nobody can tell you from the road. Two farms five kilometres apart can be offered rents differing by a factor of two, and the reason rarely has anything to do with soil. It has to do with a substation. We advise developers and investors on Irish solar, so what follows...