The Solar Paradox: Why Clean Energy Is Booming, yet Renewable Companies Are Failing

The paradox of 2024: more solar capacity came online last year than in any previous year. Global energy demand rose significantly for the first time in a while. And yet, we are watching renewable energy developers struggle or collapse across several markets. BeGreen, acquired by Equinor in 2023, recently closed its operations in Germany and wrote down €228 million in investments across Denmark and Poland according to EnergyWatch citing financial strain in its 2024 annual report. Meanwhile, the UK has cancelled its ambitious partnership with Morocco to build the world's longest subsea cable for solar power transmission - an initiative that could have supplied up to 8% of the UK's electricity. Before this U-turn, over €100 million had been spent by the company behind it, Xlinks, on developing the idea. Towards the end of 2024 Better Energy in Denmark went through huge layoffs and declared bankruptcy earlier in 2025. In an era of booming renewable installed capacity, why are big projects and the companies behind them having such a tough time?

The Root Causes

At a glance, the reasons are not hard to identify: The business of renewable energy development is risky, especially when the projects are huge and debt-financed. Delays can be fatal. The timelines between project inception to operation are notoriously long, particularly in Europe, add delays to this, then missed payments, spooked investors and problems can snowball. We have very short memories. Not long ago, oil hit $120 a barrel. It's almost as if it never happened. Governments change, policies change, politicians renege. Policy deadlines get pushed further out, so do goals, and sometimes they change all together. Large-scale projects come with structural fragility. Delays on two or three projects in similar early phases can put an entire developer in jeopardy. For companies relying on high leverage with aggressive growth objectives, that's a dangerous game. At the same time, the geo-political landscape can shift beneath ones feet, with planning timelines taking years, big projects and those behind them are exposed to multiple extraneous geopolitical variables.

The Alternative Approach

Rather than concentrate risk in giant projects, we should be building a multitude of small and mid-size developments that are more flexible, more predictable, and more grounded in the communities they serve. The planning process should include a much higher use of the technology available to us, including AI, and it should be embraced by governments and not just the communities doing the hard work. And of course, policy should be much more ambitious. I would just caution on relying on this. Policy direction can and does change with the wind (as Xlinks just unfortunately experienced) so build within the parameters of what makes economic sense rather than what makes political sense, and energy pioneers will succeed far more often than they fail.

The Energy Community Solution

This is where energy communities come in. At Orklys, we help residents, municipalities, and local cooperatives launch distributed solar and wind projects, without the need for eye-watering loans or 10-year development pipelines. These community-led projects deliver financial value locally, offer more control to stakeholders, and are inherently more resilient. If we could make sure these communities have access to the tools and non-debt capital they need, the drive to meet the new growth in energy demand would have a much better risk profile.

The future of clean energy isn't only about scale. It's about resilience, adaptability, and local ownership. If we start here, then the scale will come.