2025 Agenda
If you are interested in speaking at the 12th edition of Solar & Storage Finance USA, get in touch with our dedicated team today.
As the U.S. solar and storage sectors approach the sunset of the ITC and PTC, stakeholders face a pivotal question: how do you build bankable, profitable projects in a market without federal incentives?
Europe already faced this cliff. Over the last decade, major markets such as Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK have transitioned away from generous feed-in tariffs and direct subsidies. This forced developers, financiers, and asset owners to reimagine their business models. This session dives into what they did next.
This session is a practical guide for U.S. stakeholders preparing for a post-subsidy era. Hear how European players stayed competitive through capital innovation, efficiency gains, and new revenue streams, and how these strategies can translate to the American market.
- Pivoting heavily into long-term PPAs, merchant risk pricing and capacity markets to remain bankable without guaranteed subsidies
- Positioning portfolios to tap into ancillary markets and non-traditional revenue streams by monetizing flexibility
- Optimising portfolios into lean operations to reduce LCOE in an unsubsidized environment
- Scaling sustainably through capital recycling measures and risk-tiered portfolios
- Are project sponsors willing to pay extra for domestically produced components?
- Has the cost premium of US-made components vs imports affected project bankability in the eyes of financiers?
- How are domestic content requirements affecting project costs and timelines?
- How are lenders viewing domestic content requirements in their underwriting?
Speaker
How is the state of New York adapting its energy transition strategy considering the current administration’s retreat from renewable energy support? This session delves into New York’s evolving energy strategy and upcoming tenders, as New York state targets 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and a zero-emission electric grid by 2040.
- What incentive programmes and roadmaps are being deployed to accelerate solar and storage deployment across the state ahead of 2030?
- What funding opportunities remain from the state’s approved $280 million for energy storage initiative, aiming to reach a total of 6 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030?
- What is expected to be in NYSERDA’s Request for Proposals for large-scale solar projects in 2026?
- How is New York ensuring the benefits of the energy transition reach disadvantaged communities? What opportunities does this provide for project sponsors?
Moderator
Speaker
If you are interested in sponsoring this networking break, please get in touch with the event’s sponsorship lead: Moreschi, Daniele
- Real-world examples of how AI-powered technologies are being deployed across solar and storage portfolios to secure added returns from operational assets.
- How are Independent Power Producers (IPPs) managing risks associated with the adoption of AI-powered technology and software?
- How are IPP’s rethinking their OPEX budgets to extract additional value from operational assets?
- How did IPPs and developers approach financing differently in 2025?
- How have project sponsors and investors priced in new risk factors?
- What additional risk-mitigation tools were employed?
- How did credit committees’ requirements change?
- What expectations do investors have for returns?
Stream One: Standalone Storage & Merchant Revenues
Stream Two: Capital Allocation for Solar & Storage
- Which regions are appearing as the most attractive for standalone storage deployment, and why are these markets offering the best opportunities for growth and profitability?
- How have investors priced risk in standalone storage versus solar + storage hybrid projects, and the financial implications of these differences.
- Which strategies have worked best for project sponsors (e.g., resource adequacy, tolling, merchant) to de-risk investments and ensure secure financing?
- Is it a buyer’s or a seller’s market right now?
- Which types of assets are moving fastest and how are valuations evolving across asset classes and regions?
- The impact of interest rates, and supply chain constraints on price expectations and deal timing?
- Are investors increasingly favoring operational assets over greenfield and RTB projects in 2025?
- What’s the appetite for different asset classes: utility-scale vs. C&I, solar-only vs. hybrid vs. storage-only?
Moderator
Speaker
This session uncovers the truth behind the headlines. Are investors as bullish on solar and storage as they say, or have they continued to be more cautious than expected?
- How is the current macroeconomic and political environment impacting capital allocation and deal flow for U.S. renewable energy?
- Which fund strategy for the U.S. renewable market is attracting the most investment right now (e.g., core, core+, value-add)?
- What new requirements are institutional investors bringing to the table this year that weren’t present in 2023 and 2024?
Speakers
- How is the explosive growth of data centers driving influencing the business case of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)?
- How are lenders and investors adjusting their underwriting criteria in response to rising merchant exposure, increasing volatility, and regulatory uncertainty?
- With increasing market volatility, how are revenue predictions and forward price curves evolving?
- How challenging has it been for developers and financiers relying on forward projections?
- How much risk is acceptable when financing merchant storage projects?
If you are interested in sponsoring this networking break, please get in touch with the event’s sponsorship lead: Moreschi, Daniele
This session kicks off with quick-fire presentations from capital providers, detailing the financing, investment, and acquisition opportunities they’re currently seeking in the U.S. market. A diverse range of capital providers will share their interests across different asset classes, transaction sizes, and power markets.
Following the presentations, capital providers will host roundtable discussions where delegates can engage directly with them, discuss potential business opportunities, and set up 1-2-1 meetings.
Whether you’re raising capital, seeking project finance, or looking to sell or acquire projects and portfolios, this session offers the perfect opportunity to network with active dealmakers in the U.S. solar and storage market.
Moderator
Speakers
As the day’s discussions end, unwind and indulge in an evening of relaxed networking at the 2025 Solar and Storage Finance Drinks Reception.
Whether you’re looking to deepen existing relationships or spark new collaborations, we invite you to mingle with peers, experts, and thought leaders in an informal and convivial environment in the heart of the Big Apple.
If you are interested in sponsoring the drinks reception, hosting an afterparty or a client dinner, please get in touch with the event’s sponsorship lead: Moreschi, Daniele (Daniele.Moreschi@informa.com)
Stream One: Maximizing Value & Resiliency
Stream Two: Credits, Transferability and Refinance
- What does a “resilient” supply chain look like in practice? Who’s getting it right?
- What role is domestic manufacturing projected to play in helping developers’ de-risk? What’s realistic in terms of timelines and capacity?
- What services and technologies such as real-time tracking platforms are appearing as must-haves for resilient project delivery?
- How are supply chain disruptions affecting contract structures, insurance coverage, and investor expectations?
- Perspective from capital providers and asset owners on the emerging opportunities in refinancing
- Real-world examples of refinancing that are drove significant savings and enhancing profitability.
- What are capital providers looking for from asset owners when considering refinancing opportunities?
Speaker
- How is artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and automated fault detection transforming asset performance management?
- Real-world case studies of asset managers managing performance risks through advanced software platforms, analytics, and data-driven decision-making.
- Strategies for asset managers to enhance performance and profitability through incremental operational improvements and technology integrations.
- With incentives for new builds shifting, how are asset managers optimizing the ongoing operations of existing assets to maintain competitiveness?
- How has the change in administration affected tax equity availability and pricing for solar and storage projects?
- Did transferable tax credits become the preferred route in 2025, as traditional tax equity slowed down in response to federal policy uncertainty? Will this continue into 2026?
- Is there sufficient tax equity supply to meet demand or are developers facing a squeeze as investor caution rises?
- What does the market look like for an ITC transfer on a high-grade solar asset in 2025? How are pricing trends evolving?
Speaker
If you are interested in sponsoring this networking break, please get in touch with the event’s sponsorship lead: Moreschi, Daniele
Stream One: Maximizing Value & Resiliency
Stream Two: Credits, Transferability and Refinance
- Which states and regions are taking the lead in driving solar & storage deployment and which states are hitting the brakes?
- Are we seeing a shift toward long-term state-level frameworks to incentivize further investment in solar & storage?
- How is grid planning evolving at the regional level to accommodate growing volumes of solar and storage and where are the chokepoints?
- What’s the latest on storage tenders at the state level and are any regions starting to get serious about long-duration energy storage (LDES)?
- How are state policies supporting (or stalling) community solar expansion and where’s the most traction happening?
- As of April 2024, the U.S. government has announced cuts to DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations which included $350 million in funding for six LDES projects across the country. How has this impacted investor confidence in LDES?
- What policies, market signals, or offtake structures are needed to unlock bankability at scale?
- What kinds of revenue models or use cases are starting to make long-duration projects pencil out?
Speaker
- How are asset managers quantifying the trade-offs between repowering costs and performance gains?
- What criteria are asset managers using to prioritize repowering opportunities across their asset portfolios?
- Are new financial structures emerging to support repowering initiatives, and how are these impacting deal economics?
- Real-world insights from early repowering initiatives, including best practices, common pitfalls, and performance outcomes.
Where the federal government is ramping back its focus on the energy transition, there is opportunity for fill the gap in leadership to incentives further deployment of projects, grid build-out and green investment at the state and regional level.
10 networking roundtables will take place at the same time, each covering one of the ten electric markets and the corresponding states contained within them. This includes:
- Northwest
- CAISO
- Southwest
- ERCOT
- SPP
- MISO
- Southeast
- PJM
- NYISO
- ISO-NE
These are designed for capital providers, developers/IPPs and utilities to network with a regional focus around the opportunity landscape for financing, investment and deployment opportunities across the various markets in the US.
Each roundtable will be hosted by a collection of regional leaders that will provide market intelligence on the direction of travel on regulation, electricity market design, grid build-out, state-level policy and incentives and local business cases for deployment.
If you are interested in sponsoring this networking break, please get in touch with the event’s sponsorship lead: Moreschi, Daniele
Tax credit structures in solar and storage financing continue to evolve rapidly, introducing complex considerations for lenders and investors underwriting these transactions. This panel explores how lenders and capital providers are adapting underwriting processes to manage risks and refine deal structures for both solar and standalone storage assets.
- Are lenders becoming more conservative in their underwriting assumptions? How is this affecting capital availability, debt sizing, and pricing?
- How prevalent are preferred equity or membership-interest-collateral structures becoming in back-leverage arrangements?
- How effective has insurance products proven to be being in mitigating tax and operational risks in solar and storage transactions?
- Are appraisers realistically accounting for the complexities of newer tax credit structures and storage assets?
- How are discrepancies between appraisal valuations and lender expectations being managed?
As U.S. tariffs on solar and storage components continue to evolve, the financial landscape for new projects is shifting. This session will explore the real-world impact of these tariffs on both capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operational expenditures (OPEX) for solar and storage projects in the U.S.
- To what extent has recent tariffs increased the cost of materials, equipment, and installation, and strategies to mitigate these cost increases?
- What is projected to be the long-term operational effects of tariffs, including maintenance and replacement costs?
- How are investors and project sponsors approaching financial planning under varying tariff conditions?
