Clean Energy Investment May Be Bouncing Back

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Investment in clean energy worldwide rose nearly 10% in the first quarter of 2014 (Q1'14) compared to the same period a year earlier, reaching $47.7 billion, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).The report says the dominant driver of the rise in investment was spending on small-scale projects of less than 1 MW, including rooftop solar. This increased 42% compared to the first quarter of 2013 (Q1'13), reaching $21.2 billion.Overall investment in solar was up 23% in Q1'14 to $27.5 billion, while that in wind fell 16% to $13.9 billion.

The report notes that the first quarter is often the weakest of the year for investment in clean energy, reflecting the fact that developers tend to rush to finance projects in the closing months of each year to take advantage of expiring subsidies, as well as the effect of colder weather in the Northern Hemisphere on project progress.So, although global investment in Q1'14 was down from the $58.1 billion seen in the fourth quarter of last year, BNEF says the more useful comparison is with the $43.6 billion in Q1'13.Notably, BNEF recently reported that full-year 2013 global investment in clean energy fell 11% to $254 billion, the lowest annual figure since 2009.

"It is too early to say definitively that 2013 was the low point for clean energy investment worldwide and that 2014 will show a rebound, but the first-quarter numbers are encouraging," says Michael Liebreich, chairman of the advisory board for BNEF.Breaking the figures down by region, the report says Asia and Oceania - excluding China and India - saw $12.1 billion of investment in Q1’14, up 26% compared to the same quarter of 2013, helped by the solar boom in Japan. 

The U.S. enjoyed a 95% gain in Q1'14 compared to a year earlier, although investment - at $7.9 billion - was only half the bumper figure for the fourth quarter of 2013 (Q4'13), when a number of large wind projects were financed.BNEF says Europe’s investment was down 30% compared to Q1'13, at $11.1 billion, while China’s was up 18% at $9.9 billion. The biggest percentage gain on the year came in Brazil, where investment rebounded to $1.3 billion in Q1'14, up 211%. The Americas, excluding the U.S. and Brazil, saw an 11% drop in investment compared to the same quarter last year, with the latest figure at $2.1 billion. The Middle East and Africa managed an 82% increase to $2.4 billion.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has created a $15 million program to help communities develop multi-year solar plans to install solar electricity for homes and businesses.As part of the Department's SunShot Initiative, the Solar Market Pathways program aims to help communities develop solar financing mechanisms and public-private partnerships to launch solar deployment initiatives, such as shared solar programs.The DOE says the program is intended to enable multi-year strategies that spur significant solar deployment, drive down solar soft costs, support local economic development efforts and address the potential challenges arising from increased solar penetration on the electrical grid.

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