We’re in the middle of a boom in utility mergers and acquisitions. The biggest power companies in the world are scrambling to buy up new startups in order to stay at the forefront of the distributed energy transition — and they’re spending billions of dollars in the process.
Total annual investments in distributed energy companies by European and North American utilities more than tripled between 2010 and 2016, according to data compiled by GTM Research.
In total, utilities invested $2.9 billion in 130 individual distributed energy companies since 2009 — $1 billion of which was invested in 2016 alone. The trend has continued this year, with nearly half of global industry deals involving renewable energy during the second quarter, according to a report from Ernst & Young.
