BNEF: Biggest RE Asset Finance Made in European Offshore Wind

Asset finance of renewable energy projects in the first half of 2016 was at USD 92 billion worldwide, down 19% on H1 2015, with the biggest asset finance deals of the second quarter made in offshore wind in Europe, according to the latest data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

This was led by the USD 3.9 billion final investment decision on the 588MW Beatrice project in the UK by SDIC Power Holdings, SSE Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. Other offshore wind projects financed in Q2 included the 450MW Borkum Riffgrund 2 and 385MW Arkona, both in Germany, and the 400MW Horns Rev 3 in Denmark.

Overall, renewable energy investment in the second quarter of 2016 totalled USD 61.5 billion, some 12% above the first-quarter 2016 figure but 32% below a very strong outturn of USD 90 billion in the equivalent period of 2015. Looking at the 2016 trend so far, and taking the Q1 and Q2 2016 figures together, global investment in the first half of this year was USD 116.4 billion, some 23% lower than in the opening six months of 2015, according to BNEF.

Europe’s figure for H1 2016 was up 4% at USD 33.5 billion and Brazil was up 36% at USD 3.7 billion. But all the other regions were down – China by 34% to USD 33.7 billion, India down 1% at USD 3.8 billion, the rest of Asia Pacific down 47% at USD 12.1 billion, Middle East and Africa down 46% at USD 4.2 billion, the US down 5% at USD 23.1 billion, and the Americas excluding the US and Brazil down 63% at USD 2.3 billion.

Michael Liebreich, chairman of the advisory board at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said:  “It is now looking almost certain that the global investment total for this year will fail to match 2015’s runaway record. China’s financing of wind and solar projects was even higher last year than previously estimated, and the hangover this year caused by weak electricity demand and policy changes in that country will therefore be all the greater.”