Tomas Hvamb

With a dearth of exit opportunities the M&A window has opened up slowly in 2024 with energy leading the way globally supported by capital investment, regulatory tail-winds, and geo-political climate.

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Modo's podcast should be right up with the biggest in energy/transition. Not just because mine is their top episode, but because it's incredibly insightful and well done :-)

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#KKR #ENI Alternative asset and private equity investor KKR announced the acquisition of a 25% stake in Enilive, the mobility transformation and biofuels-focused business of Italian energy company Eni, for €2.94 billion (USD$3.2 billion), valuing the unit at $12.8 billion. Eni launched the Enilive brand in 2023, with the goal of offering integrated services and products that are progressively decarbonized by 2050, converging the company’s mobility activities, including its biorefining and biomethane assets, and smart mobility solutions, as well as the distribution of mobility energy carriers through its more than 5,000 Enilive Stations in Europe. Eni has announced plans for Enilive to more than double its biorefining capacity from 2023 to 2026 to more than 3 million tons, and to reach more than 5 million tons per year by 2030. https://lnkd.in/dhE37shh

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#15bn #renewable_energy The world is rapidly shifting towards clean renewable energy solutions, driven by their immense potential to mitigate climate change and achieve global net zero targets. Surprisingly, private equity firms are at the forefront of this trend, investing heavily in solar, wind, biomass, and other renewables.  These firms are drawn not only by the social and humanitarian benefits but also by the economic advantages of renewables, which include low-cost power, reduced reliance on imported fuels, and a more secure, reliable energy supply. Private capital is experiencing a surge in acquiring renewable energy developers, increasingly favoring equity-based take-private deals for leveraged buyouts due to high interest rates and rising electricity demand. https://lnkd.in/d6CKycg4

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Putting a price on carbon creates an economic incentive to reduce emissions. While there are important issues that need to be worked out to create robust, transparent and trustworthy carbon markets, they will become an essential market mechanism to accelerate the transformation of business and industry towards a low-carbon future. My colleagues James Socas, Maxwell Hummel and I present an overview of the current landscape and the investment opportunities arising from this trend in our new piece released during the World Future Energy Summit last week.

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Canoe Perspectives ▶ https://lnkd.in/dNJH5sai Watch David Szybunka in conversation with energy experts from Peters & Co. as they highlight important investment considerations in an increasingly disciplined energy sector. For advisors only.

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Iron-Air technology and emerging alternatives are set to transform multi-day energy storage. On August 13, Form Energy announced the successful pilot of their iron-air battery system, a breakthrough in multi-day energy storage technology. The global energy storage market is facing a critical challenge: how to store renewable energy for extended periods at a low cost. Advancements in materials science and increased investment in research have paved the way for new technologies like iron-air batteries. Iron-air batteries and other electrochemical solutions may be about to ‘pull ahead’ competing technologies to become the go-to solution. Other novel technologies are likely to emerge on the the success of Form Energy's iron-air battery pilot - the news may catalyze a wave of new projects in the long-duration energy storage space. https://lnkd.in/eyETivB4

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Uplifting news for funding the energy transition! 🌍 The more capital available for the energy transition, the better, since a total of almost EUR 185 trillion is required to deliver Net Zero by 2050. This isn't about competition; it's about collaboration and collective progress. The substantial capital being poured into climate tech signifies a strong and unified push towards a sustainable future. 💶 In that light it's a strong sign that mega funds like just announced by Balderton Capital (> $1BN) are now also seeing traction in the climate space with Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures having successfully raised $839 million for its third fund. 🚀 On our end, we will soon have more exciting news to share on our own fundraising, so stay tuned ⚡️⚡️  #ClimateTech #Sustainability #BillGates

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Have cost declines for renewable energy sources stopped? Accordingly to Lazard's most recent Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) report, costs are leveling out. https://lnkd.in/eJaA7VgG Lazard mentions that their cost range estimates have tightened because the high-end estimates have decline, and more interestingly, the low-end estimates have increased for the FIRST TIME EVER because of cost pressures. Many renewable sources are still less expensive or on cost parity (per MWh) compared to conventional energy. But, the era of consistent cost declines for wind, solar, and geothermal might be over. Despite this, I am optimistic because of new technologies and FOAK projects that are coming online. Continued innovation will solve our climate crisis!

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While we're cheering for the rollout of renewable energy (!!), it does create more complexity on the grid. Increased renewables penetration on the grid + extreme energy demand events associated with climate change = energy market volatility. Against that landscape, we are thrilled to announce our investment in ElectronX, a next-generation exchange for trading electricity futures. By enabling both more granularity in trading electricity (smaller time & volume blocks) and direct market access, ElectronX aims to help energy developers and operators better manage risk. We anticipate that better risk management should drive better return profiles, more capital flowing into the renewable assets, and a cleaner grid. Magic! ⚡🔋✨ We're proud to partner with Sam Tegel, CFA, Evan Caron, Philip Krim, Tong Galaxy, and many more in building this much needed infrastructure and catalyst for the clean energy transition -- we couldn't imagine a better team. And excited to invest alongside Adam Rothenberg at BoxGroup, Ali Tamaseb at DCVC, and Sheel Tyle at Amplo. Read more about the market need, company, and what got us excited in our blog post! Josh Rapperport #energy #climatechange #climatetech #electrification

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Ara Partners Launches New Strategy to Decarbonize Conventional Energy Value Chain in Partnership with HF Capital - Ara Partners has launched a new strategy called Ara Energy Decarbonization to decarbonize conventional energy assets across North America. - This initiative is in partnership with HF Capital, which has committed up to 725 million dollars to support these strategies. - Ara will apply its proven decarbonization capabilities to reduce carbon emissions at facilities like ethanol plants and natural gas power plants. - Shameek Konar, former CEO of Pilot, will lead the new strategy alongside a team of energy and commodities experts. - The energy sector accounts for over 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, necessitating urgent decarbonization efforts. - Breaking the reliance on highly pollutive energy sources while transitioning to cleaner alternatives is essential for achieving climate goals. - Ara Partners aims to substantially impact the energy sector by applying its investment and operational expertise to drive emissions reductions. - Since 2017, Ara has focused on high-polluting areas and has achieved significant emissions reductions and waste elimination across its portfolio. - Ara emphasizes both greenhouse gas emissions reduction and waste management in its investment strategy. - The firm's portfolio companies have reported emissions reductions of 10.8 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2023. - Ara Partners operates with a significant capital expenditures reserve of up to 5 billion dollars, enabling asset optimization and retrofitting. - The company intends to build, scale, and optimize businesses indicative of major decarbonization potential. - Ara has operations in multiple locations, including Houston and Boston, and manages approximately 6.3 billion dollars in assets. - HF Capital is involved in various traditional and renewable energy investments, complementing its partnership with Ara. https://lnkd.in/gBRe5k8F

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⚡️ Electrifying news: Bohr Énergie secures €4M to make the energy markets accessible to every independent #power producers in France! 🤝 Together with Varsity and AFI Ventures, Founders Future is so proud to announce its new investment reshaping the #energy sector. 👨‍🔧 Founded by the experienced team Julien Haure, Julien Chollet, Luis Urday, and Jean-Pierre Mader (with of course also Dan Cabrol!), Bohr is committed to enhancing #renewable production competitiveness through an extensive product range (spot, forward, PPA, collective self-consumption), innovative models, combined with a simple, and transparent supervision app. 🤓📈 I firmly believe that with the grid becoming more green, more distributed and more intermittent, the long tail of independent and local producers (poorly addressed by large historical solution providers) will grow both in number and in size. 🙌🏻 #climatetech

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Challenger Energy Group Plc (AIM:CEG, OTC:BSHPF), the exploration group focused on the Atlantic margin, said a £1.5 million strategic investment from Charlestown Energy Partners allows the company to kick off technical work on licence AREA OFF-3 offshore Uruguay at the 'earliest opportunity'. This investment, initially structured as a loan, includes terms to convert into shares at a fixed price of 0.168 pence per share on the successful closure of the AREA OFF-1 farm-out agreement with Chevron.  This conversion rate represents a roughly 20% premium over the current share price, potentially resulting in Charlestown holding approximately 8.7% of Challenger's shares, making it one of the largest shareholders. More at #Proactive #ProactiveInvestors #challengerenergyplc #oilandgas #offshore http://ow.ly/RWAQ105pRpm

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Aurora Energy Research, a leading global power analytics provider, is launching its inaugural Aurora Energy Finance Conference in Paris, set to take place on October 9, 2024. Under the title, “Closing the Investment Gap: Accelerating Europe’s Path to Net Zero with Private Capital,” the conference aims to provide a platform for stakeholders to discuss and strategise on leveraging private capital to drive the energy transition and support Europe’s ambitious Net Zero targets. The conference will be attended by more than 250 participants from across the European energy finance industry including developers, utilities, Independent Power Producers (IPPs), project finance and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) advisors, fund managers, financing banks as well as government representatives. Attendees will learn how project sponsors and lenders can mitigate risks by integrating technologies such as battery storage, deploying new business models like Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), better anticipating challenges like grid curtailment, and utilising innovative financing structures that better allocate risks. In addition to Aurora’s expert speakers, the lineup involves a selection of sector specialists, including: + Thomas Östros, Vice-President, European Investment Bank (EIB) + Isabel Rodriguez de Rivera, Managing Director, Glennmont Partners from Nuveen + Toni Volpe, Chief Executive Officer, Nadara (Renantis, Ventient Energy) + Anissa El Khettar, Managing Director, BNP Paribas + Lisa McDermott, Managing Director, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. + Christian Schnell, PhD, Partner, Dentons Europe LLP + Bettina Voisin, Head of Project Finance, Neoen + Jérôme TRICOT, Markets Director, Mirova Pierre DENNERY, Head of France at Aurora Energy Research, commented on the significance of the summit:“The scale of investments to be deployed to achieve Europe’s Energy Transition targets can only be achieved with a massive participation of the private sector. Yet, the path to deployment of long-term capital is hindered by the emergence of new market risks. We are pleased to convene the European sponsors, investors and financiers at the forefront of tackling these risks to debate the best strategies to maximize capital flows to energy transition.” The conference will be a half-day event supported by Mirova, Dentons and Clean Energy Pipeline (media partner). Those interested in registering for the event can follow this link here: https://lnkd.in/gH-4ApTJ #cleanenergy

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📢 Some big news this week that marks another pivotal step in the evolution of carbon markets… The Biden administration, led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, will be unveiling the first broad US government guidelines on the use of carbon credits as part of decarbonization strategies. It’s a much needed step that will promote high-integrity carbon markets, and boost corporate confidence in using carbon credits. The Bloomberg article's sources suggest the upcoming framework will align with the government’s stance that: “voluntary carbon markets have a role in reaching net zero, as long as they promote high-integrity emissions reductions and channel meaningful amounts of capital into nature-based projects today as well as carbon-removal technologies in the future.” And that is the key. There is no silver bullet for the climate crisis. Whatever the critics may say about carbon credits, more transparency, clarity and official endorsement on their use will serve to unlock billions of much needed corporate dollars for carbon projects. Couple this news with recent initiatives by major tech companies like the Symbiosis Coalition of Google, Meta, Microsoft and Salesforce and we’re starting to stride in the right direction. Read more and sign up for the live stream: https://lnkd.in/ddDRA8yd #carbonmarkets #carboncredits #naturalcapital #climateaction #breakingnews

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