JPMorgan, Brookfield See Deals Revival for Clean Energy Assets

4]vu3wec{{}v8]wwhv1ka697_media_dl_3.png Bloomberg

Article content

(Bloomberg) — Clean energy projects are poised for a revival in mergers and acquisitions activity on the strengthening outlook for electricity demand and as expectations on asset valuations converge, according to some of the sector’s top dealmakers.

Article content

Executives at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Brookfield Asset Management and Nuveen Infrastructure see potential for a fresh wave of project-level transactions as data centers and other industries offer new support for renewable energy, and with less uncertainty on energy policy, tariffs and interest rates than a year ago.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Asset owners have struggled to complete project sales in the past year and are increasingly prepared to lower their price expectations, while buyers are becoming more willing to pay for clean energy generation capacity.

Article content

Article content

“Expect more mergers and acquisitions for renewable assets in 2026 as developers or sellers of projects and companies become more realistic in terms of valuation,” said Greg Zdun, JPMorgan’s Asia Pacific head of energy transition and natural resources.

Article content

The sector largely missed out on a banner year for global M&A in 2025, when the overall value of transactions topped $4.5 trillion and marked the second-best tally on record. 

Article content

Across solar, wind, and energy storage, completed acquisitions of individual assets or project portfolios totaled 55.3 gigawatts of generation capacity last year, the lowest total since 2017, according to data compiled by BloombergNEF. The value of completed company-level deals in renewable energy fell to the lowest since 2020, Bloomberg data shows.

Article content

When Nuveen Infrastructure began trying to exit some assets held by its 850 million euro European fund a couple of years ago, “people weren’t really engaging, not because our assets were bad, it’s just they were just keeping their powder dry a little,” said the investment manager’s Global Head of Clean Energy Joost Bergsma.

Article content

Article content

“Slowly we’re starting to see a little bit more confidence, and also the exit market starts to be a bit more fluid in the clean energy space,” Bergsma said. Nuveen is in talks over potential deals for wind assets in Europe, he said.

Article content

The pace of exits slowed for the broader private equity market last year on uncertainty and market volatility stoked by US President Donald Trump’s trade policies. At the same time, the average premium in deals involving companies producing renewable energy fell to about 12% in 2025, down from 46% a year earlier, according to Bloomberg data. 

Article content

The International Energy Agency forecasts renewable energy, particularly solar, to grow faster than any other major source of electricity generation through 2035. That’s being driven by an at least 40% increase in global demand spurred by adoption of data centers, electric vehicles and air conditioners. The S&P Global Clean Energy Transition Index has advanced almost 6% this year, extending gains following a 44% surge in 2025. 

Article content

As power demand, including for clean energy, “increases more than expected, we may find demand-supply tightening and a premium being paid for quality development assets,” said JPMorgan’s Zdun.