‘Scaling private capital for a Just Energy Transition’
23 April 2024 | 08:45 - 11:15
Overview of this event
In this election year, all major political parties acknowledge the limited availability of public finances for
the much-needed improvement to public services, and even less to invest for strategic challenges such as
decarbonisation, an ageing population and long-term low productivity. Attracting private capital alongside
public sector finances has long been an important objective, but it has never been more urgent - or as
widely acknowledged.
Private finance has historically cherry picked better returning projects such as renewable energy, and to
an extent heat network provision, underpinned by offtake contracts and attractive ROIs. This will not solve
the real problem; we need commercial models that effectively combine public sector and private capital
for projects that would otherwise have negative ROIs, and we need to scale them quickly.
The good news is that there is already growing momentum in this space. Local governments are leading
on several place-based initiatives designed to attract private capital, and with some success - but we need
to move at pace from pilot projects with public sector ‘seed’, to commercial models that unlock private
capital at scale.
Contact us for insights from this event or to register your interest in future roundtable discussions.
