Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) today reported that two big European offshore wind financings, and a record quarter for investment in Chile, were among the highlights of an otherwise sluggish Q2 2015, when it comes to clean energy investment. Worldwide, clean energy investment was $53bn in the second quarter of 2015, just 3% less than a revised $54.4bn in Q1 2015 but down 28% compared to the $73.6bn recorded in Q2 2014.
Global investment this year is facing headwinds from the financial markets, BNEF said. However, there continue to be bright spots, notably small-scale solar, which enjoyed investment at $20.4bn in the second quarter, and remain on course for a record year, as countries such as the US, Japan and China , and other parts of the developing world, respond to the improved cost-effectiveness of rooftop photovoltaics after the price falls of recent years.
Other features of Q2 were European offshore wind, where two project financings accounted for nearly $4.2bn of investment between them (the 402MW Veja Mate array in German waters, and the 400MW E.ON Rampion project off the coast of England ), and Chile’s $1.3bn of investment in wind and solar, the highest that country has committed in any quarter to date.
Michael Liebreich , chairman of the advisory board at Bloomberg New Energy Finance , commented: “The first two quarters of 2015, taken together, have seen investment down 18% compared to the first half of last year. It is possible that the Q1 and Q2 2015 figures will be revised up a bit in due course as some more deals are disclosed, but we have been predicting since January that this year would see lower investment than 2014 because of the strong dollar.
“In the medium term, we expect investment to resume its strong growth. Our New Energy Outlook 2015, published in June, forecast that two thirds of the $12.2 trillion investment in generating capacity globally between now and 2040 will be in renewables, as costs per MWh for solar and wind grind downwards.”
The largest category of investment in clean energy in Q2 was asset finance of utility-scale projects such as solar parks, wind farms, biomass and waste-to-energy generators, biofuel production units, geothermal plants, small hydro-electric schemes of less than 50MW and marine energy projects. This amounted to $30.9bn between April and June, down 3% on Q1 and 41% on Q2 2014.
Top asset finance deals of the quarter included the Veja Mate and Rampion offshore wind projects, at $2.1bn and $2bn respectively, the Silver State South PV plant in Nevada , the US, at 294MW and an estimated $744m , and the Three Gorges Xiangshui offshore wind array off China , at 202MW and $567m .
Today, Bloomberg New Energy Finance also announced revisions to previous years’ investment totals, to reflect new information on deals and projects. Clean energy investment in 2014 is now put at $318bn , up from $267.8bn in 2013, $295bn in 2012 and $317.6bn in 2011. The previous figures, published in January this year, were $310bn in 2014, $268.1bn in 2013, $294bn in 2012 and $317.5bn in 2011. The revised figure for 2014 is 5.3 times the total of $60.2bn recorded 10 years earlier, in 2004.
Image: Rampion Offshore Wind Farm