With levelised cost of energy beginning to favour renewables-linked storage over traditional peakers in the US, utility-scale storage is dawning. Regulatory change, growing investor appetite and more efficient tech signal major project lending potential in the next two years – and the bankability of GIG’s recent VPP deal sets the template for turning that potential into project financed reality.

TXF joined the ICC Banking Commission in Beijing as it celebrates a century of the institution whose founders were dubbed the ‘merchants of peace’. Katharine Morton contemplates the role of peace merchants amid the ‘warriors’ of trade and how China fits into the mix.

Capital is spilling all over the balance sheet nowadays. What should investors in alternate assets, particularly trade, be looking at? Ann Rutledge, CEO of CreditSpectrum asks how investors should kick the tyres and define the new landscape. Banks still have a crucial role to play as transformers of risk.

A statement on March 28 by Japan’s Environment Minister signals a potential change in the government’s pro coal-fired power policy. But domestic energy security issues and valuable export markets for Japan's ‘clean-coal’ technology mean any real change will take decades rather than years.

Manu Taneja, director of regional cash & banking, APAC at GE Corporate Treasury in Singapore sees a role for traditional trade finance in Asia, but digitisation will be core to the future – as will the role of treasury itself.