New AIC & PitchBook Report: Private Equity Investment in Clean Technology Rose to Over $26 Billion in 2022, Hitting Record High
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In celebration of Earth Day, the American Investment Council and PitchBook released a new report today analyzing over a decade’s worth of private equity investment in renewable energy and clean technology.
Private equity investment in renewable energy and cleantech surged to over $26 billion in 2022, up from roughly $16 billion in 2021. Private equity firms have made more than 750 investments in cleantech companies since 2012, totaling more than $136 billion. Nearly 40 percent of those investments have been made in the last three years, totaling $65 billion.
Investments in cleantech include a range of renewable energy solutions, such as solar and wind, electric vehicles, supply chain sustainability and more.
“Today, private equity is at the forefront of America’s transition to clean energy, which is driving innovation, creating jobs, and making our air and water cleaner,”said Drew Maloney, President and CEO of the American Investment Council. “We are glad to see that private equity investment in the energy transition was distributed nationwide last year and can expect private equity dollars to continue to support this critical area.”
Key findings from AIC’s new report, “The Critical Role Private Equity Plays in America’s Energy Transition,” include:
- More capital to wind and solar: Private equity investment in wind and solar broke records in 2022. Over $16 billion was invested across 55 companies last year. PE firms have sponsored over 300 wind and solar companies since 2012, totaling $46 billion.
- Investments spread nationwide: Private equity investments in the energy sector, including clean technology investments, are distributed across every region across the country. The Mid-Atlantic, West Coast, Mountain, New England, and Southern regions all recorded at least 10 clean energy and renewable energy deals each last year.
- Efforts to decarbonize: A growing share of private equity’s $65 billion investment in the energy sector went to accelerating the U.S.’s transition to low carbon forms of energy. Riverstone, EnCap, Energy Impact Partners and others have invested billions of dollars in energy efficiency, storage and management along with new technologies to reduce carbon emissions.
- Creating new energy producers: Since 2012, private equity firms have created more than 200 new energy producers from scratch, building new energy producers with safety, decarbonization, and high-end innovation in mind from the start.
The new AIC report offers several examples of private equity firms’ recent investments in the energy sector, including renewable energy companies Summit Ridge Energy and TerraForm Power. The report also highlights the PE-backed Lackawanna Energy Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which achieved LEED Gold certification and helped the city transition to a cleaner energy grid.
The full report with additional data and case studies can be found here.
