Clean energy investment was down by almost one-third in the second quarter of 2016, compared with the same period last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) data.
Some $61.5bn was invested in the three months to 30 June, 12% above the first-quarter, but 32% below the $90bn in the second quarter of 2015.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance said investment in the first half of the year was $116.4bn, about 23% lower than in the opening six months of 2015.
Only Europe buoyed by offshore wind developments and Brazil bucked the downward trend with investment up 4% and 36% respectively in the first half of the year.
Elsewhere, investment was down 34% in China, 47% in the rest of Asia-Pacific, 46% in Africa, 5% in the US, 1% in India and 63% in the rest of the Americas.
BNEF chairman of the advisory board Michael Liebreich 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.”
Changes in the solar market are another reason for the lower trajectory for global investment so far this year, BNEF said.
“Photovoltaic panels and project construction have become cheaper in many countries, and there has also been a shift from small-scale projects – relatively expensive in terms of dollars per MW – to utility-scale projects, which are cheaper in capex terms,” it said.
Image: sxc
