US, Germany share 2nd spot in Ernst & Young's renewables indices

Sep 5, 2012 - China is still the most attractive market for green energy investors, while the US now shares the second place with Germany in the August 2012 edition of the quarterly renewable energy attractiveness indices of Ernst & Young.

The audit and consultancy company pointed to the obvious contrast between the US, whose renewable energy sector is suffering from policy uncertainty and tension ahead of the November elections, and Germany which is pursuing its green agenda. The European country’s progress from third to second place in the ranking has been motivated by the launch of a mid-size rooftop PV tariff, a move to compensate investors and project developers for losses resulting from grid-connection delays for offshore wind farms and other steps to encourage investment.

Further down the indices, Spain and Italy dropped by one spot each, affected by the credit crises they are fighting with. At the same time, the UK moved up by an inch after the "plethora of policy announcements this quarter have garnered little clarity for investors".

Ernst & Young said that growth on emerging markets such as South Africa and the Middle East brought a bright ray of light for the sector. The same goes for Japan, which launched appealing feed-in tariffs for renewables in July, and Brazil, which is showing significant green potential. The latter two held the ninth and 10th spot in the ranking.

Turkey made a significant jump up the indices, to 26th from 29th place in three months, on significant solar project activity and financial support from the European Investment Bank for renewable and energy efficiency projects.

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