Strategic investors invest at various stages in the development of renewable power projects. They need to understand the risks and rewards of investing at each stage and which stage best meets their goals and return requirements.

Renewable power projects tap diverse federal and state government incentives. These include investment and production tax credits, tax grants, accelerated depreciation, and guaranteed loans. They also include regulatory mandates imposing power and renewable energy credit (REC) purchase obligations on utilities. Incentives can improve investor returns, but only if used properly.

Project investment opportunities have proliferated. They vary in their size, type of technology, location, cost, off-takers, financial structures, developer, and risk. To be efficient, investors need to create coherent investment strategies and know how to translate their strategies into specific types of projects.

Birch Tree Capital can help strategic investors sort through the opportunities:

• Devise investment plans to identify suitable clean power market segments.
• Find developer partners and individual project investment opportunities.
• Conduct initial "fatal-flaw" reviews of possible investments.
• Construct financial models and conduct sensitivity & uncertainty analyses.
• Oversee detailed due diligence reviews.
• Coordinate specialized legal, tax, insurance, permitting, and contract analyses.
• Negotiate equity letters of intent and definitive agreements.
• Structure equity or debt financing to finish the project financial plan.