REUTERS/Nathan Frandino//File PhotoNEW YORK/HOUSTON, March 10 (Reuters) - Corporations and investors have been pouring money into renewable energy projects, seeing an opportunity to grasp the Holy Grail of socially conscious investing: do good while doing well. But sharply higher interest rates have further stressed a model strained by soaring prices for steel and silicon, vital for wind turbines and solar panels. Higher costs have buyers and sellers of renewable power projects recalculating potential returns, hampering fundraising and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). A decade of low interest rates meant borrowers could raise cheap debt to build projects and juice returns. Financial investors traditionally took stakes in operating renewables projects to avoid risks of construction delays and ensure stable returns.

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