Renewable energy infrastructure, just like real estate for instance, can take years, sometimes even decades for certain technologies (e.g., offshore wind, large hydropower, green PtX) to be developed. Project development is a crucial and complex phase that, very often, requires significant investment without a guarantee of success. Yet the promoter, the utility, or the public entity developing the project must rigorously work on all the complex aspects of permitting, with a specialized team, that contracts experts and consultants to carry out feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments, resource measurements, land purchase or lease negotiation, and public relations with the municipalities and social communities. The competitiveness of the financing as well as the project’s attractiveness to investors will depend on the level of readiness and quality of the development. Proper development leads in principle to a bankable project. Now, when promoters develop projects in non-mature, emerging markets, things can get even more complicated, and the licensing processes can take even longer. This is often due to bureaucracy, the lack of administrative structure in place to deal with the requests but also to the poor knowledge among promoters of the written and unwritten local rules, in particular when the promoters are international players with limited local presence. Whether in established markets or non-mature markets, understanding the stages of a renewable energy project and the regulatory frameworks is worthwhile, especially when it comes to assessing risks. For example, the development stage has a low cost or investment value but also represents a low chances of success, a permitted project has higher value but also higher chances of being constructed and thus to generate return, etc. There are stages in the life of renewable energy infrastructure, and each one has a specific risk-and-return profile that attracts different types of investors. These stages and what they imply are a key concept to grasp in order to excel in the financing and investing of renewable energy infrastructure.