Intelligent design: How early choices by project developers can control risk

Here are some key takeaways from the report

• Despite the growing consensus behind independent ratings, the prospect of a third party evaluating project quality can be daunting for developers, especially for project types that are exposed to major risks.

• Ultimately, project quality - and therefore a project’s rating - is determined by project design choices, and not necessarily by factors such as location, project type, or even choice of methodology.

• BeZero’s analysis treats every rating as a distinct assessment, regardless of sector- or country-level trends in previously assigned ratings, and project-specific details such as buffer pool contributions, leakage deductions, and strategies for mitigating natural risk (among others) can drive ratings that outperform sectoral or regional averages

• Thinking about project design choices early and through the lens of risk can translate to higher credit prices and improved liquidity. Tools such as BeZero’s pre-rating scorecard can help developers assess these risks.