Two of our team members, Christiana Katsoulos and Kinga Cichowska, attended the Valuation Masterclass at the end of October 2022 in Los Angeles, California. They were able to get a front row seat to hear from experts from Marshall & Stevens, one of the top tier valuation firms. It was a cozy group of about 30 people from within the renewable energy industry ranging from developers, to asset owners, tax equity investors, and more. The presentations included topics on:• An overview of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)• Project lifecycles• Reasons for independent appraisals• Project risks and factoring them in the valuation process• Cost and income approaches to valuation• Attorney led valuation caselaw overview• Valuations in the context of repowering• Non-project finance valuation[caption id="attachment_3225" align="aligncenter" width="768"]

Kinga and Christiana preparing for a fun and informative day. [/caption]Our very own Steve Cunningham had the opportunity to speak on a panel regarding perspectives on asset and enterprise valuation. “It was educating to hear Steve field questions from the audience on project finance and future tax equity appetite with the passing of the IRA,” recalled Christiana.The impact of the IRA passage on project valuation was a prevalent discussion throughout the event. With multiple Investment Tax Credit (ITC) adders introduced in the bill, the renewable energy industry is entering into an exciting period of opportunity, and members of the industry are looking to learn more about the implications of IRA for their business. This appetite for learning was especially seen in the Q&A following each masterclass session, which were largely dominated by questions about the impact of the IRA on the valuation process. “Overall, I was able to gain a more foundational understanding of how to read and understand appraisal and cost segregation reports after taking this Masterclass. Also, the way the Marshall & Stevens team was able to bring in real world examples into each presentation was incredibly useful,” said Christiana.“The Masterclass was a comprehensive crash-course on the start to finish valuation process for renewable energy projects. Specifically, the most informative sessions for me covered the cost segregation rules, and the process of reconciling the results of market, income and cost valuations. I am also new to the renewable energy industry, so I appreciated an opportunity to speak with many industry experts and learn from their experience,” said Kinga.It's always a great experience to further our education amongst our peers and partners and we're grateful for the opportunity to do so at this year's Infocast Renewable Energy Project Valuations Masterclass.