At a glance
- Client: An energy-transition finance advisory firm
- Sector: Renewable power / energy-transition advisory
- Region: United States (California, CAISO)
- Service: Strategy, market analysis and positioning
The challenge
The client wanted a go-to-market strategy for utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage in California's CAISO market, covering market trends, regulation, competition and where to build. It then asked for help positioning its own energy-transition finance advisory business: who its target clients are, what the market looks like, and how it should present itself.
What we did
- Analysed California power market trends, PPA price forecasts and levelised cost of electricity for PV plus storage and offshore wind, using public sources such as the California Energy Commission, CAISO, EIA, NREL and the Department of Energy.
- Reviewed CAISO market structure and supply and demand, including the Western Energy Imbalance Market and Extended Day-Ahead Market, and compared CAISO with other US grid operators.
- Mapped state and federal regulation (renewables portfolio standard, SB 100, resource adequacy, cap-and-trade, IRA tax credits, FERC orders) and interconnection and permitting rules.
- Profiled key power producers and utilities in CAISO and ran a SWOT analysis of the competitive landscape.
- Ran a site-selection assessment on resource quality, grid access and transmission plans, land availability and permits, and natural hazards, and shortlisted one solar-plus-storage area and one offshore wind area.
- Built target segmentation, value proposition, sales channels, key messaging, an 18-month implementation roadmap and a risk register.
- In the second phase, produced a market analysis for the client's advisory business covering competitors, target client segments, market trends, SWOT, regulation and recommendations, revised against the client's slide-by-slide comments.
- Produced a company profile deck setting out services, approach, sector focus and a case study.
What we delivered
A 49-slide go-to-market strategy deck, a market analysis deck for the advisory business revised against the client's slide-by-slide comments, and an 18-slide company profile.
Go-to-market strategy deck
Slide deck · 49 slides
- Executive summary
- Market trends: regulation, renewable adoption, sustainability, drivers and barriers
- PPA forecasts and levelised cost of electricity
- CAISO market analysis and comparison with other grid operators
- Competitive landscape and SWOT
- State and federal regulatory framework, interconnection and permitting
- Site selection analysis and shortlisted locations
- Go-to-market strategy: segmentation, value proposition, channels
- Marketing and communication plan
- Implementation roadmap, risk mitigation, conclusion and action plan
Market analysis deck for the advisory business
Slide deck (PDF draft with client comments)
- Services overview
- Competitive landscape
- Target market analysis
- Market trends analysis
- SWOT analysis
- Networking and primary research
- Regulatory and compliance landscape
- Recommendations and next steps
Company profile deck
Slide deck · 18 slides
- Executive summary and firm overview
- Core services and capabilities
- Approach to client challenges
- Sector focus: solar, storage, wind, data centres, EV charging, transmission
- Case study
- Competitive differentiation
- Appendix: market outlook
What we found
- State and federal policy (RPS, SB 100, the IRA and federal tax credits) creates favourable conditions for renewable investment in CAISO.
- Developers should locate near existing or planned transmission and engage CAISO and utilities early to manage grid congestion, with one inland county shortlisted for solar and storage and one offshore area for wind.
- Long permitting and interconnection queues mean environmental assessments and stakeholder engagement need to start early.
- Long-term PPAs with utilities and corporate offtakers, plus CAISO's resource adequacy programme, are the route to stable revenue.
- The go-to-market strategy targets utilities, commercial customers and the agricultural sector with tailored renewable and storage offers.
In numbers
- California's solar capacity is expected to grow by 23,650 MW by 2029.
- SB 100 and the renewables portfolio standard require 60% renewable electricity by 2030, with a 100% clean electricity goal for 2045.
- California targets 5 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045.
- Battery storage capacity is projected to reach 52,000 MW by 2045.
- In July 2024, CAISO peak demand reached 45,426 MW against 31,634 MW of installed renewable capacity (CAISO Key Statistics, August 2024).
- The CAISO-run Western Energy Imbalance Market and Extended Day-Ahead Market have delivered over US$3.4 billion in benefits since 2014.