Institutional and private client investors wanting to support renewable power, diversify from standard alternative investments, or offset Federal tax obligations are considering renewable power project investments.

Developers are structuring their projects to attract institutional investor capital. Public and community-sponsored projects present additional equity and debt investment opportunities via clean renewable energy bonds (CREBs) and public-private partnerships.

Renewable power projects benefit from Federal and state government financial and regulatory incentives. These include income tax credits, ARRA-based tax grants currently available in lieu of the tax credits, accelerated depreciation of project assets, cash grants or rebates, guaranteed loans, and off-take agreement support, and renewable energy credit (REC) obligations. Incentives can improve investor returns, but only if well-structured.

Institutional investors and their advisory firms may lack the internal experience or personnel to review such project detail. To reduce risks, institutional investors engage advisors, invest indirectly through project funds, and partner with project developers.

Birch Tree Capital can help institutional investors and fund managers to:

• Craft investment strategies for institutional investors and fund managers to target suitable renewable power market segments, partners, and projects.
• Evaluate suitability of prospective project fund managers.
• Be the subject matter expert for fund managers entering the renewable sector.
• Identify specific equity and debt investment prospects.
• Conduct initial "fatal-flaw" reviews of investment prospects.
• Negotiate equity letters of intent and definitive documentation.
• Facilitate and/or oversee detailed due diligence project reviews.
• Assess financeability of proposed Federal and state incentives.
• Identify and coordinate other transaction advisors, e.g., legal counsel, independent engineers, insurance experts, tax valuators.
• Review purchase agreements, other project contracts, and construction and term debt financing commitments to ensure consistency with investor risk profile and investor strategy.