Page 8 - AfrElec Week 28

AfrElec INVESTMENT AfrElec
Green investment rises 5%
GLOBAL
RENEWABLE investment showed great resil- ience in the rst half of 2020, increasing 5% in the face of the unprecedented economic shock caused by coronavirus (COVID-19).
Investment in new renewable capacity, excludinghydroover50MW,reached$132.4bn in the rst half of 2020, up 5% from a revised $125.8bn in the same period of 2019, accord- ing to the latest gures from research company BloombergNEF (BNEF),
e fastest growing area was o shore wind, with nal investment decisions (FIDs) rising by 319% to $35bn, and well above the record full- year gure of $31.9bn for 2019.
is o set declines in investment in solar, onshore wind and biomass in the rst half of 2020.
Investment decisions were made for 28 o - shore wind farms, including the largest ever, the 1.5-GW Vattenfall Hollandse Zuid array o the coast of the Netherlands, costing an estimated $3.9bn.
Other major offshore deals included the 1.1-GW SSE Seagreen project o the UK, at an estimated $3.8bn; the 600-MW CIP Changfang Xidao array o Taiwan, at an estimated $3.6bn; and the Fecamp and Saint-Brieuc projects in French waters, together totalling 993 MW and $5.4bn.
China saw 17 wind farms nanced, led by the Guangdong Yudean Yangjiang Yangxi Shapa at 600 MW and $1.8bn.
“We expected to see COVID-19 affecting renewable energy investment in the rst half, via delays in the nancing process and to some auc- tion programmes. ere are signs of that in both solar and onshore wind, but the overall global gure has proved amazingly resilient – thanks to o shore wind,” said Albert Cheung, head of analysis at BNEF.
Tom Harries, head of wind analysis, said: “Offshore wind is benefitting from the 67%
reduction in levelised costs achieved since 2012, and to the performance of the latest, giant tur- bines. But the rst half of this year also owed a lot to a rush in China to nance and build, in order to take advantage of a feed-in tari [FiT] before it expiresattheendof2021.Iexpectaslowdownin o shore wind investment globally in the second half, with potentially a new spike early next year.”
Onshore wind investment slipped 21% to $37.5bn, while that for solar fell 12% to $54.7bn. Investment in new biomass and waste-to-en- ergy plants fell 34% to $3.7bn, while that in geo-
thermal jumped 594% to $676 mn.
Small hydro projects of less than 50 MW
attracted an estimated $576mn, down 14%, and biofuel production plants $250mn, down 82%.
China was again the largest market, investing $41.6bn in 1H 2020, up 42% compared to the same period in 2019 thanks to its o shore wind boom.
Europe secured $36.5bn, up 50%, while the US slipped 30% to $17.8bn.
Japan saw nancings rise 14% to an estimated $10.8bn, but India fell 49% to $2.7bn and Brazil was down 26% at $2.5bn.
The Netherlands were up 231% at $6.9bn, France up 306% at $6.2bn, the UK 265% higher at $5.7bn, Spain down 11% at $3.7bn, and Ger- many up 20% at $3.6bn.
A clearer picture of the impact of COVID- 19 on green energy investment will come with the full-year 2020 gures, according to Angus McCrone, chief editor at BNEF, said: “Renewa- bles have been helped by vastly improved com- petitiveness and by investor appetite for assets offering secure cash flows. However, project developers face the challenge that key people, whether at the permitting, nancing or construc- tion stages, can’t meet face-to-face. And buyers of small-scale solar systems are sensitive to changes in consumer con dence,” said McCrone.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 28 16•July•2020