The renewable industry is going to take over the world in the coming decades. It has to if we are going to slow down or reverse catastrophic climate change. However, the sector is still in its infancy. There are so many companies and so much new technology. It can be hard to know which ones will pay off in the long run. I’ve looked into two companies that I am considering for my portfolio. I think they have potential but they come with a lot of risk.
1. Accsys PLC
Accsys (LSE: AXS) is a building supplies manufacturer that produces and sells sustainable wood for construction. With its headquarters in London, Accsys sources wood from several locations across northern Europe, then exports it to countries around the world. The benefits of using wood as a building materiel are twofold. One is that wood is a renewable resource that can be carefully managed. The second is that wood acts as a carbon sink, a way to collect CO2 from the atmosphere and store it indefinitely. Storing carbon will become an important part of the green transition and could be a great source of revenue for the company in the future.
Accsys also treats its wood with unique chemicals to make it more durable and extend its effective lifespan.
Accsys does have some challenges to overcome. It has weathered the pandemic but took on debt to do so. However, revenues are up, and if Accsys is able to reduce its debt to pre-pandemic levels then I think it has a chance to become a great, renewable, growth stock.
2. AFC Energy
AFC Energy (LSE: AFC) is a Surry-based designer and manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cells and other hydrogen products. It currently has a patent on several modular fuel cell designs that are transportable and able to run on lower quality hydrogen (meaning with more impurities).
Hydrogen fuel cells work by mixing hydrogen with oxygen, releasing electricity and heat. Producing hydrogen is currently difficult and expensive, but it is possible to do so in a renewable fashion. This is called green hydrogen. If fuel cells are able to use lower quality hydrogen, then producing it will become cheaper, encouraging adoption by everyone else.
AFC has a great market capitalization of £342m and is currently trading at a very cheap 50.82p. It also doesn’t pay a dividend, which is something I like in new companies.
AFC has struggled through the pandemic and only has enough cash to sustain business for another year. It is expected to increase revenue by 100% each year, but is not projected to become profitable for another three years.
I strongly believe that hydrogen power has massive growth potential and will really help our economies to become more renewable. But for now, I will just be watching how AFC manages over the next few years.
Conclusion
The green transition is happening right now, and presents a very exciting opportunity. Both of the companies I’ve looked into today are relatively small, and have clear issues which need to be resolved. But I think they both have big potential upsides. I will not be adding either to my portfolio just yet, but will continue to keep a close eye on them both.