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04 INVESTMENT FLOWS<br />
for solar power. Offshore wind had a breakthrough year in China,<br />
with nine projects financed for an estimated USD 5.6 billion. The<br />
country also invested significant sums in large-scale hydropoweri,<br />
commissioning 16 GW of new projects during the year, a large<br />
portion of which was projects >50 MW. 2 (p See Hydropower<br />
section in Market and Industry Trends chapter.)<br />
The United States, which invested USD 44.1 billion (including<br />
R&D), continued to be the largest individual investor among<br />
developed economies. The increase was due primarily to utilityscale<br />
and rooftop solar PV. In terms of finance types, venture<br />
capital and private equity finance for renewables increased<br />
to USD 2.2 billion. Asset finance of utility-scale renewable<br />
energy projects rose 31% to USD 24.4 billion – solar increased<br />
37% (USD 13 billion) and wind was up 24% (USD 10.6 billion).<br />
The rebound in wind asset finance and utility-scale solar PV<br />
investment in 2015 was driven largely by the on-off saga of<br />
national investment and production tax credits during the<br />
previous year.<br />
Japan’s investment of USD 36.2 billion (excluding R&D) remained<br />
relatively unchanged from 2014. Approximately 88% of total<br />
investment went to small-scale solar PV projects, driven by the<br />
country’s generous solar feed-in tariff. Japan accounted for most<br />
of the investment in the Pacific, excluding China and India, where<br />
investment was USD 47.6 billion, slightly below the 2014 total.<br />
The United Kingdom saw a considerable rise (25%) in renewable<br />
energy investments – particularly for solar PV and wind power<br />
(both offshore and onshore) – to USD 22.2 billion (excluding<br />
R&D). Wind power was again the country’s best-performing<br />
sector, with USD 10.5 billion for offshore projects. This compared<br />
with USD 1.8 billion invested in small-scale solar PV.<br />
Brazil invested USD 7.1 billion in renewables, with wind power<br />
asset finance up 46% over 2014 to USD 5.7 billion; solar power<br />
projects received USD 657 million.<br />
Elsewhere in the Americas (beyond Brazil and the United<br />
States), investment fell 3% to USD 12.8 billion. However,<br />
some countries saw significant growth. Mexico and Chile saw<br />
asset finance increase to USD 3.9 billion (more than doubling)<br />
and USD 3.4 billion (up 141%), respectively, and ranked ninth<br />
and tenth globally for total investment. Chile led the region<br />
for solar power by a large margin, investing USD 2.2 billion in<br />
the sector. Other Latin American countries with significant<br />
renewable energy investment were Uruguay (USD 1.1 billion),<br />
Honduras (USD 567 million), Jamaica (USD 167 million), Peru<br />
(USD 155 million) and the Dominican Republic (USD 129 million).<br />
The Middle East and Africa saw investment increase from<br />
less than USD 1 billion in 2004 to a record USD 12.5 billion in<br />
2015, thanks partly to South Africa’s successful Renewable<br />
Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP).<br />
In South Africa, investment rebounded to USD 4.5 billion, up<br />
from USD 1 billion in 2014. Much of the investment in renewable<br />
energy occurred in the first quarter of 2015, which resulted from<br />
a delay in the financial close of the remaining projects from<br />
the Round 3 auction that occurred in 2014. The second largest<br />
investor in Africa was Morocco (USD 2 billion), followed by<br />
Kenya (USD 357 million), Uganda (USD 134 million) and Ethiopia<br />
(USD 100 million).<br />
Investment in India increased for the second consecutive year,<br />
for a total of USD 10.2 billion in 2015. India’s increase was due<br />
to a jump in utility-scale solar power financing, which reached<br />
USD 4.6 billion, up 75% on the previous year, a direct result of the<br />
new Indian government’s increased focus on renewable energy.<br />
USD 4.1 billion of asset finance was invested in wind power, an<br />
increase of 17% compared to 2014.<br />
Apart from China, Japan and India, Thailand was the only<br />
other country in Asia to reach USD 1 billion in asset finance<br />
for renewables. Thailand was followed by the Philippines<br />
(USD 798 million), Pakistan (USD 723 million), the Republic<br />
of Korea (USD 395 million), Vietnam (USD 248 million) and<br />
Kazakhstan (USD 101 million).<br />
Germany, which ranked sixth globally for total investment, saw<br />
overall financing fall by 46%, to USD 8.5 billion. This decline<br />
was a result of the changing policy framework. (p See Policy<br />
Landscape chapter.) The total would have been even lower if<br />
not for investment in two large offshore wind projects, totalling<br />
USD 3.4 billion. Once Europe’s engine of growth for small-scale<br />
distributed solar PV, Germany saw its investment in this sector<br />
contract by 57% in 2015, to USD 1.3 billion. Europe in general saw<br />
investment fall 21% to its lowest total since 2006.<br />
i The Chinese government estimates that China invested USD 12 billion (CNY 78 billion) in 2015, down 17% from 2014, including hydropower facilities of all<br />
sizes, per National Energy Agency of China, National Electric Power Industry Statistics, sourced from the National Energy Board, 15 January 2016,<br />
http://www.nea.gov.cn/2016-01/15/c_135013789.htm; and National Energy Administration of China, National Electric Power Industry Statistics, sourced from<br />
the National Energy Board, 16 January 2015, http://www.nea.gov.cn/2015-01/16/c_133923477.htm.<br />
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