Rafael Castillo-Triana, CEO of The Alta Group’s Latin American Region, will discuss the growing demand for renewable energy financing at the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s (ELFA) 2025 Legal Forum taking place May 4-6 in Charlotte, N.C.

Castillo-Triana will quantify the growth in this market segment, driven in large part by the unprecedented growth in electricity demand projected for the U.S. and global markets, as artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency mining, manufacturing and the electrification of the economy all place huge demands on the power grid.

“There is a big gap between the projected demand and supply of energy,” Castillo-Triana said. “Non-renewables alone will not solve this problem. This is why there will be continued demand for financing solutions for renewables.”

In his presentation, Castillo-Triana will discuss the main areas where the equipment financing industry is already active in financing renewable energy equipment and has potential for growth. These include solar, wind, battery storage systems, electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, geothermal, HVAC, LED lighting and more.

He will also address the areas in which equipment finance firms may need to rethink the status quo in order to capitalize on this opportunity. This could mean viewing legal and risk-management challenges in new ways, such as reexamining the “hell or high water” clause, or finding new ways to understand collateral.

Castillo-Triana emphasizes that the opportunity in renewable energy equipment exists independently of the political direction of any one country. It is based on solid evidence of an exponentially increasing demand for energy, and the fact that non-renewable resources alone will not be able to meet that demand.

“This is a chance to learn about a new field where lessors can make good returns while playing a role in providing resources that are critical to supporting the global economy,” he said.

The Alta Group has been a leader in educating the equipment finance industry on the market-entry opportunity associated with renewable energy and climate equipment finance, and last spring produced the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation research report, “Climate Finance: A Massive Commercial Opportunity for Equipment Finance.”

Castillo-Triana’s presentation will take place in a panel discussion on Energy Finance at 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday, May 6. Learn more about the ELFA Legal Forum here.