Aspen hikes capacity for climate insurer

Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance has increased its capacity agreement for renewable energy projects with climate insurer kWh Analytics. 

kWh said the deal means it will be able to underwrite up to $75 million per renewable energy project location and has full delegated authority to cover accounts compromising up to 100% of operational solar and/or battery energy storage systems projects and up to 50% of wind and/or construction accounts.

The increase comes one year after Aspen agreed to back kWh in launching property insurance underwriting and capacity for renewable energy assets in January, 2023. kWh Analytics and Aspen now have four of the top ten global (re)insurance partners on their panel.

Jason Kaminsky, chief executive officer at kWh Analytics, said: “This capacity raise is a strong indicator of confidence in our company’s data and sophisticated modelling capabilities and the industry’s desire to encourage resilient renewable assets. 

“Adding capacity enables us to expand coverage options for responsible asset owners, supporting renewable energy growth amidst worsening natural disasters by incentivising resilience and bridging the protection gap.”

Josh Jennings, SVP and head of inland marine at Aspen Insurance, said: “kWh Analytics' data-driven approach is consistent with Aspen’s future-focused underwriting strategy, and we’re delighted to continue our collaboration to meet our clients’ evolving needs with innovative renewables solutions. 

“This increased capacity provides additional options for asset owners who are proactively designing, building and maintaining resilient assets, and it further strengthens our commitment with kWh Analytics to offer solutions for the growing demands of the renewable energy market.”

kWh said recent years have seen reduced limits and substantial cost increases for renewable asset owners, amidst a growing need for new solutions to manage and underwrite risk. kWh Analytics said it uses its proprietary database of over 300,000 renewable energy assets to accurately price and underwrite unique risk transfer products, as well as reward asset owners for resiliency measures. This year, kWh Analytics also launched a microcracking endorsement for solar assets that simplifies the insurance claims process for this common but difficult-to-assess form of solar module damage.

kWh Analytics said it also leverages data to encourage resilient design practices and to identify the most common failure modes among existing solar PV projects. 

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