Australia’s Federal Government has apparently succeeded in its mission to rein in the rollout of large scale renewables – even before its position on the Renewable Energy Target review has been announced.
According to figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reported on The Guardian, the nation’s investment in renewable energy projects has dropped to just $238m, down 70% and below that of Algeria, Thailand and Myanmar. Australia has slipped in global investment rankings from 11 to 31.
” The slowdown in renewable energy investment is pinned squarely by Bloomberg on the government’s review of the RET,” says Guardian Australia’s Oliver Milman.
However, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst Kobad Bhavnagri, the government has backed itself into a corner because the Warburton review ” lacks credibility”.
Elsewhere, renewable energy investment is booming. BNEF’s Global Trends In Clean Energy Investment (PDF) shows world clean energy investment in the first three quarters of 2014 was 16% up on the same period of 2013, at USD $175.1bn.
Chinese solar investment led the way in the third quarter, setting a new record of $12.2bn – up from $7.5bn in Q3 2013 and $8bn in the second quarter of this year.
BNEF forecasts China’s solar installations will reach 13-14GW in 2014, which it says is nearly a third of the world’s total installed PV capacity.
“It is heartening to see investment heading for an up-year in 2014 after two down-years, thanks in large part to the greatly enhanced competitiveness of solar, and to some extent wind,” said Michael Liebreich, chairman of the advisory board at BNEF.
While a very positive result overall, Mr. Liebreich warned of the dangers of complacency and said there was “still too much policy instability holding back investor confidence.”
Australia certainly knows all about that.
