Investment in green energy projects hits record USD 41.8bn in Q3 2011 - BNEF

Oct 13, 2011 - In the third quarter of 2011 asset finance of utility-scale renewable energy projects around the globe rose to the record USD 41.8 billion (EUR 30.4bn), including USD 6.3 billion in offshore wind investment, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reports.

Asset finance and equity raisings in public markets and from venture capital and private equity funds rose by 9% quarter-on-quarter to USD 45.4 billion. The result was 16% higher than a year ago.

Merger and acquisition activity rose 31% on the quarter and 59% on the year to USD 25.9 billion. Venture capital and private equity investment in specialist clean energy firms stood at USD 2.2 billion during the third quarter of 2011, down 27% on the previous quarter but up 55% year-on-year.

According to BNEF, the average price of PV modules has dropped by some 33% since the autumn of 2010 and by 70% since mid-2008. At the same time, the prices of wind turbines have decreased by 20% since 2009. The analyst explains that these declines have bolstered the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies in terms of costs, but have affected producers.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.728)

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