While the Covid-19 pandemic has devastated massive portions of the global economy over the more than six years
New figures from the BloombergNEF research company show that global investment in new renewable energy capacity increased by 5% in the first part of 2020, despite the global economic surprise caused by the pandemic.
The robust functionality of the sector boosted the six most productive months of offshore wind, which more than offset the decline in investment in solar, land wind and biomass.
Investors invested $35 billion in offshore wind energy in the first six months of the year, more than in all of 2019, and more than three times that was last year. Some 28 ocean wind farms made investment decisions, the largest transaction ever completed, Vattenfall Hollandse Zuid Bay of $3.9 billion and 1.5 GW off the coast of the Netherlands.
Other primary overseas transactions come with Seagreen SSE’s allocation of 1.1 GW off the UK COAST, with an estimated value of $3.8 billion; Changfang Xidao CIP Bay, $6 hundred MW of $3.6 billion off the coast of Taiwan; and the allocations of Fécamp and Saint-Brieuc in French waters, for a total of 993 MW with a charge of $5.4 billion. In addition, the Chinese market has taken off: no fewer than 17 Chinese services have been funded, supported through the allocation of six hundred MW Guangdong Yudean Yangjiang Yangxi Shapaat, which will charge $1.8 billion.
Albert Cheung, head of research at BNEF, said: “We expected Covid-19 to allocate investments in renewable energy in the first part of the year, through delays in the financing procedure and in some auction programs. There are symptoms of this in sun and land wind, however, the overall figure has been bizarrely resistant, thanks to offshore wind power.
Offshore wind is benefiting from 67% relief in prices leveled since 2012 and the functionality of the latest giant turbines, said Tom Harries, head of wind analysis. “But the first part of this year is also due to China’s haste to finance and build, in order to gain credit for an acquisition fee before it expires in late 2021. I hope that global investment in offshore wind is slowing at this time of year, with potential new peaks early next year”.
Overall investment in new renewable energy capacity (excluding giant hydroelectric dams of more than 50 MW) $132.4 billion in the first part of 2020, 5% more than the $125.8 billion revised in it was in 2019. But investment in onshore wind energy 21% below $37.5 billion, while sun financing fell 12% to $54.7 billion.
Investments in new biomass and waste energy recovery fell more than a third to $3.7 billion, however, investments in geothermal increased by nearly six times to $676 million. Small hydroelectric projects with less than 50 MW saw their investments fall by 14% to $576 million, while biofuels refineries saw their financing fall by 82% to $250 million
The rise of offshore wind energy in China has allowed its investments in renewable energy to accumulate by 42% until it was in 2019, while European investment has increased by 50% and the Japanese market by 14%. There have been dramatic increases in individual European markets: financing in France has more than tripled, while the UK and the Netherlands have had investments about 2.5 times higher than the previous year. On the other hand, investment fell in India (-49%), Brazil (-26%) Spain (-11%).
A clearer picture of the pandemic’s effect on target energy investment will emerge when the 2020 annual figures are published, said Angus McCrone, BNEF’s editor-in-chief. “Renewable energy has benefited through particularly advanced competitiveness and investors’ appetite for assets with safe money flows. However, assignment developers face the challenge that key people, whether in licensing, financing, or construction, cannot meet in person. Small-scale solar systems are sensitive to customer confidence adjustments. »
In the less mature market for smart energy technologies, such as battery storage, financing fell by 43%, while the largest public markets were the small IPOs of Chinese solar corporations Jinko Power Technology and Trina Solar, which raised $366 million and $359 million respectively.
I write about the intersection of business and the environment and the important importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) problems for businesses and
I write about the intersection of business and the environment and the important importance of environmental, social and government disorders (ESG) for corporations and investors who help finance them. This means everything from climate replacement to executive reimbursement and disruptive technologies ranging from renewable energy and energy garage to nanotechnology. These disorders can have a profound effect on the company’s performance, but they are still largely ignored by many investors. I’ve been a journalist for over 20 years, and I’ve been in the Financial Times for over nine. Since 2006, as a freelance journalist, I have written for a variety of titles, including FT, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, as well as for think tanks such as Friends of Europe and corporate clients such as Siemens, Rabobank. , PwCArray Deloitte and AkzoNobel.