Bloomberg New Energy Finance has released some promising numbers regarding clean energy investments around the world. $63.6 billion was invested in the second quarter of 2014, which was an improvement of 33% over the first quarter of 2014. It was also a 9% improvement over the second quarter for 2013. The record was $78 billion in the second quarter of 2011.
The 600 MW Gemini offshore wind farm near the coast of the Netherlands was the largest single deal at $3.8 billion. Israel’s 121 MW Ashalim I Sun Negev solar thermal project came in at $818 million. Mexico’s 252MW Cemex Ventika wind farm was a $647 million deal.
The following three countries were investment leaders:
- China, $19.3 billion
- Europe, $14 billion
- US, $10.6 billion
The new investment upswing is broad-based, with activity rising across wind and solar, large-scale and small-scale projects, and covering most of the big markets. Even venture capital and private equity, which have been depressed in prior quarters, have seen the green shoots of recovery in deal volume.
We are expecting the full year figures for 2014 to show a clear rebound in global investment in clean energy. The debt-and-policy-fuelled bubble years of 2007-2010 were inevitably going to be followed by a period of consolidation; that period now definitely looks to be over and the industry is gathering momentum once again. –BNEF Advisory Board Chairman Liebreich.
Small-scale solar financing increased 41% over the second quarter of 2013. Solar parks, wind farms and small hydro dams were the top asset class, with financing of just over $38 billion. Venture capital and private equity investment increased 42% over the second quarter of 2014. The increase over the second quarter in 2013 was 36%.
That China is investing billions more than the United States is disappointing, considering that the US has historically been a leader in technological innovation. Of course, it isn’t only China: Europe is well outpacing the US, too. The US has been in a leadership position in many key fields, but it doesn’t seem clean energy is going to be one of them for some time.
Energy investment is for the long-term and since fossil fuels don’t seem to be the direction to continue pursuing, it makes more sense to keep investing in clean sources.
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