Investment firms fund clean energy

By OLIVER SMIDDYAugust 7, 2008

The clean-energy sector has received a surge in investment from venture-capital and private-equity firms this year.
The sector attracted $2.6 billion in investments from buyout groups and venture capital firms in the first quarter, and $5.8 billion in the second, according to data from specialist clean-energy research group New Energy Finance.
The combined global total of $8.4 billion in the first half this year is a 17% increase from the $7.2 billion invested in the sector a year earlier and a 65% increase from the equivalent period in 2006.
The increase was driven by $2.5 billion of investment from private-equity groups. First Reserve Corp., an energy sector-focused buyout firm, was particularly active, sealing four deals in the second quarter. It bought Spanish solar energy group Gamesa Solar for €261 million, and Italian solar group Ener3. It also invested $300 million in Osage Bio Energy LLC, a U.S.-based producer of barley-derived ethanol.
U.K.-based Doughty Hanson & Co. was also active in the sector, acquiring Svendborg Brakes for €460 million. Svendborg Brakes makes braking systems for the wind-energy industry.
• From Financial News at www.efinancialnews.com.