The wind shifts for renewable energy

THE prospects of renewable-energy companies soared with oil prices, but the global credit crunch and the easing of energy costs have brought them back to earth with a thud.

Stronger players, such as Iberdrola of Spain, are buying wind farms from cash-strapped rivals.

With banks reluctant to lend and their stock prices tumbling, many green-energy concerns are struggling to find the long-term funding they need to expand in a capital-intensive industry.

In the past three months, global renewable-energy stocks tracked by New Energy Finance, a London-based consultancy, have dropped about 45 per cent, compared with a 23 per cent decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the same period.