Country Focus: USA
In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy also announced $30 billion in federal loan guarantees and allocated $2.3 billion in investment tax credits to accelerate cleantech manufacturing — including solar, wind, advanced batteries, and numerous other technologies. In addition to government, private companies and venture capital firms invested billions in the U.S. cleantech market.
Opportunities:
To attract coveted green jobs, state and local governments offered manufacturers hundreds of millions in incentives — including tax breaks, grants, low-interest loans, and other subsidies. Finally, several other exogenous factors fueled growth of the U.S. clean-energy industry, including relatively lower wages when compared to abroad (also due to favorable exchange rates), rising commodities prices, and state policies for Renewable Energy Standards.
Fast forward. Clean energy is again poised for rapid expansion, and the United States is now racing to keep pace with Europe and Asia on related strategic growth initiatives. The next five years may determine which countries emerge as net importers vs. exporters of solar panels, wind turbine components, and other technologies. Billions of dollars in profit and millions of jobs are at stake. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the U.S. market for clean energy is estimated between $14 billion and $20 billion annually through 2030 (in 2008 dollars, not adjusted for inflation). This puts the industry on par with construction machinery, farm machinery, and household appliances.
In US investors should look at several opportunities – apart from the cleantech specific VCs/PEs, you should also look at VCs that invest in technology and life-science opportunities as they are making changing their mandates.
