Recent financial data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows that global investment in solar and wind power has surged in the third quarter of 2011 (Q3 2011), despite forecast gloom on world markets over the same period.
Cash flow into utility scale renewable energy projects saw the most gains, jumping to a record $41.8 billion in Q3 this year, largely on the back of three offshore wind farms in the North Sea totalling one gigawatt in capacity and worth around $6 billion.
In welcome news for the renewables industry as a whole, new investment in clean energy rose to $45.4 billion – up 9 percent on Q2 2011 and 16 percent on numbers for Q3 2010.
Corporations are taking advantage of this period to acquire new clean energy companies and consolidate holdings. Merger and acquisition activity reached a total of $25.9bn, up 31% on the second quarter of this year and 59% on Q3 2010.
However, as investments climbed, the price of clean energy shares fell by 35% in Q3, based on numbers from the NEX, an index made up of 95 clean energy stocks worldwide, which on October 4th hit its lowest mark since 2003.
According to Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the report paints a picture of an industry in flux.
“Over the past three years we have seen extraordinary falls in the prices of clean energy equipment – wind turbines and solar photovoltaic panels (the report found the global price of solar panels has fallen by a third since 2010).”
While developers take advantage of record low prices for clean energy equipment, its manufacturers are struggling to stay afloat in a competitive market. Leibreich says the USA’s Loans Guarantee situation and the failure of a major thin-film solar panel maker had not helped share prices in Q3.
“The industry has swung between being a buyer’s market and a seller’s market a few times in recent years: right now, you would love to be a developer with access to funding, but not a supplier. Eventually things will come back into balance.”
Bloomberg publishes its annual global clean energy investment data early in the New Year.
