China’s energy spending pushed Asia-Oceania above the Americas for clean energy asset investment in the last quarter of 2009, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (who contribute to this edition – see page …). The report found that new investment increased by 25% in Asia-Oceania, whilst falling by 14% in EMEA and 25% in the Americas. Tracking spending by venture capitalists, governments, asset financiers and others, NEF saw $37.3 billion invested in Asia-Oceania as a whole, versus $32 billion for the Americas. “Asia has arrived not just has a big consumer of energy but also as a heavyweight investor in clean energy capacity,” said Michael Liebreich, chief executive of NEF.
The report found that of the $145 billion global clean energy investment last year, $91.9 billion was asset finance for major projects like wind farms, solar parks and biofuels plants. Offshore wind was a particularly prominent area of investment. The report also notes that many commercial banks restricted credit to renewable energy projects as a result of the recession, leading public sector institutions like the European Investment Bank and BNDES of Brazil to pick up the slack. “Clean energy remains a sector with strong long term growth fundamentals even during hard economic times,” said Mr Liebreich.
