Clean Energy Investment Near $150 Bln In 2007 – Study
Date: 29-Feb-08
Country: UK
The research company was updating its previous, preliminary 2007 estimate of $117 billion, after taking into account deals which closed towards the end of the year.
Europe, Middle East and Africa topped the league regionally at $76.2 billion, helped partly by the $6.6 billion public listing of Spain's Iberdrola Renovables, compared to the Americas which followed at $42.9 billion, the report found.
Investment in clean energy in 2007 represented 19 percent of global funding of energy industry infrastructure, it said, but uncertainty clouded the next steps.
"There's enormous uncertainty about the trajectory of the sector," said Michael Liebreich, New Energy Finance chief executive, citing the dependence of the sector on public support to finance a switch away from fossil fuels.
In addition, a global credit squeeze is restricting the flow of capital to markets generally.
Another worry for the clean energy sector was accelerated funding especially of publicly quoted companies, and the risk of over-valuation reminiscent of the dotcom bubble.
Most clean energy alternatives are more expensive than conventional fuels like coal and gas, and governments support them to help fund the fight against climate change and energy dependency.
Within the clean energy sector solar power has seen by far the strongest investment growth over the past four years, the report said, at 254 percent per year since 2004.
But some solar stocks have seen severe falls in the past month, underlining bubble concerns, while biofuel investment actually fell in 2007 after a period of plunging margins.
Wind power topped investment among clean energy technologies in 2007, at $50.2 billion invested and some 20.6 gigawatts (GW) installed, while solar came second with $28.6 billion invested and 2.6 GW installed, the report estimated.
The report defined new investment as the capital which companies raised from private equity and venture capital funds, as they grow, or from selling shares when they list on publicly quoted markets. It also included money raised to finance assets such as wind farms.
