Data from Mercom Capital Group showed that venture capital financing for companies in the wind energy sector went up 44.4 % to $455 million worldwide in 2013, the Business Standard reported. Last year, India-based wind project developer ReNew Power ranked as the top venture capital-funded firm. It was able to raise $135 million in funding  for 2013. Mercom Capital data showed that total venture capital funding in 2012 was $315 million, the report said.

Mainstream Renewable Power which raised $133 million followed the ReNew Power financing. Another Indian project developer, NSL Renewable Power, ranked third. It gathered $60 million. Wind turbine maker Ogin, formerly known as FloDesign, was able to obtain $55 million while renewable power producer Green Infra was able to gather funding totaling $25 million, the report said.

Last year, funding for large-scale projects amounted to $18.1 billion spanning 114 transactions. This compared with the $14 billion raised in such projects in 2012 encompassing 72 deals, the report said.

Mercom Capital said, "There were a total of 150 investors that participated in project funding in 2013." The most prolific investor that funded projects was kfW IPEX-Bank which was involved in 9 deals. The European Investment Bank came in second with seven transactions and Nord L/B landed in third with six deals, the report said.

The $164 million loan received by Continuum Wind Energy from SBI for its 175 megawatt wind project in Maharashtra was one of the sizable project fundings in India.  Another notable funding in India was the one received by Orange Jaisalmer Wind Energy for its 50.4 megawatt wind power facility in Rajasthan. That loan amounted to $36 million, the report said.

As far as mergers and acquisitions go in the wind sector last year, there were 33 transactions recorded. Of this number, only 18 deals were disclosed, totaling $2.6 billion, the report said.

There were 10 debt financing deals announced last year which totaled $3.8 billion. This compared with the 16 deals done in 2012 which raked in a total of $12.5 billion, the report said.

According to its CruncBase profile, Mercom Capital Group is a clean energy communications and consulting company. It provides industry and market intelligence reports in the solar energy, wind energy and smart grid sectors. Its offices are located in the US and India.