Clean energy asset financing rebounded strongly in the second quarter of 2012, while equity financing remained subdued, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

Investment into clean energy over April to June reached a total of $59.6 billion, BNEF said, up 24% on the previous quarter but 18% below the near-record quarterly figure of $72.5 billion in the same period last year.

BNEF’s figures “show a clear split between investment in clean energy technology and equipment providers – which remained depressed in Q2 in the face of world economic and stock market troubles – and generating asset investment, which held up well”, it said.

Asset finance of utility-scale renewables projects was up 50% quarter-on-quarter, and accounted for $35.9 billion of total investments, while dropping 24% year-on-year.

Michael Liebreich, BNEF: China star performer in Q2

Among the largest projects financed in the second quarter of this year were the 270MW Lincs offshore wind farm, off the UK coast, for $1.6 billion, the 419MW Flat Ridge wind farm in the US, for $800 million, and the 250MW Guodian Shanxi Qinyuan Taiyue wind farm in China, for $317 million.

Investment in small-scale projects of less than 1MW, such as rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems, were estimated to be worth $21.5bn in the second quarter, 13% more than in the same quarter last year.

“Small-scale projects are becoming an increasingly important part of the world’s energy mix, particularly following the 75% drop in the cost of PV modules over the past three years,” said Michael Liebreich, London-based chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“Germany and Italy remain the largest markets, but small-scale PV is now broadening its geographic base, with installations in the US, Japan and China all growing strongly. We see further expansion across the sun-belt as costs continue to come down,” he added.

China was named the “star performer” in the second quarter, after seeing a 92% surge in investment, to $18.3 billion.

“These figures underline the pivotal role China is playing in the clean energy sector. Its torrent of supply-side investment was one of the main reasons why renewable energy costs have been plummeting; we are now seeing China creating enough demand to start mopping up some of the resulting over-capacity,” said Liebreich.

Meanwhile, raising equity finance remained a challenge in the clean energy sector, highlighted by a 15% fall in the WilderHill New Energy Global Index, which tracks almost 100 clean energy stocks globally, said BNEF.

While public market investment was up from the record low figure in the first quarter, to $1.2 billion from $601 million, it stood at 75% below the second quarter of 2011.

Venture capital and private equity investment was down 28% quarter-on-quarter, to $1.5 billion, and dropped almost 40% compared with the same period last year.

By Elza Holmstedt Pell
Environmental Finance