This report looks specifically at the full array of public policies promoting investment in the renewable energy sector, and discusses their impact on plant entry into the market, with the support of case studies focusing on Germany, the U.S.A. and Australia. It examines differing risk/return expectations across stages of the investment continuum (from R&D through to mergers and acquisitions) and the financial structures that are employed at each stage. Although transparency, predictability and longevity of government programmes are necessary if investors are to initiate a project in clean energy, predictability should not be mistaken for permanence. In the case where policies target investment in physical capital, it is important to ‘sunset’ many of the policies discussed in this report. It is the nature of entrepreneurship that not all investments in new activities will pay off and not all promotion efforts will be successful. Against such a backdrop, public investment policy will also frequently meet with failure. Combining continuous assessment with policy predictability is a delicate balancing act. Clear criteria for policy evaluation are required, and ideally the criteria for success should depend on productivity.
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