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ePaper created 2014-06-03, 15:03:20 | version 1.30.01
RENEWABLES 2014 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT 17 ■■ INVESTMENT FLOWS Global new investment in renewable power and fuels—not including hydropower projects >50 megawatts (MW)i —was an estimated USD 214.4 billion in 2013, down 14% relative to 2012 and 23% lower than the record level in 2011. Including the unreported investments in hydropower projects larger than 50 MW, total new investment in renewable power and fuels was at least USD 249.4 billion in 2013. The second consecutive year of decline in investment—after several years of growth—was due in part to uncertainty over incentive policies in Europe and the United States, and to retroactive reductions in support in some countries. Europe’s renewable energy investment was down 44% from 2012. The year 2013 also saw an end to eight consecutive years of rising renewable energy investment in developing countries. Yet the global decline also resulted from sharp reductions in technology costs. This was particularly true for solar PV, which saw record levels of new installations in 2013, despite a 22% decline in dollars invested. Lower costs and efficiency improvements made it possible to build onshore wind and solar PV installations in a number of locations around the world in 2013 without subsidy support, particularly in Latin America. Considering only net investment in new power capacity, renewables outpaced fossil fuels for the fourth year running. Further, despite the overall downward trend in global investment, there were significant exceptions at the country level. The most notable was Japan, where investment in renewable energy (excluding research and development) increased by 80% relative to 2012 levels. Other countries that increased their investment in 2013 included Canada, Chile, Israel, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay. Despite the overall decline in China’s investment, for the first time ever, China invested more in renewable energy than did all of Europe combined, and it invested more in renewable power capacity than in fossil fuels. Solar power was again the leading sector by far in terms of money committed during 2013, receiving 53% (USD 113.7 billion) of total new investment in renewable power and fuels (with 90% going to solar PV). Wind power followed with USD 80.1 billion. Asset finance of utility-scale projects declined for the second consecutive year, but it again made up the vast majority of total investment in renewable energy, totalling USD 133.4 billion. Clean energy funds (equities) had a strong year, and clean energy project bonds set a new record in 2013. North America saw the emergence of innovative yield-oriented financing vehicles, and crowd funding moved further into the mainstream in a number of countries. Institutional investors continued to play an increasing role, particularly in Europe, with a record volume of renewable energy investment during the year. Development banks were again an important source of clean energy investment, with some banks pledging to curtail funding for fossil fuels, especially coal power. ■■ DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES In many parts of the world, the lack of access to modern energy services continues to impede sustainable development. Recent assessments suggest that as many as 1.3 billion people still do not have access to electricity, and more than 2.6 billion people rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating. However, during 2013, people in remote and rural areas of the world continued to gain access to electricity, modern cooking, heating and cooling as the installation and use of distributed renewable energy technologies increased. This expansion was a direct result of improvements in affordability, inclusion of distributed energy in national energy policies, greater access to financing, increased knowledge about local resources, and more- advanced technologies that can be tailored to meet customers’ specific needs. Furthermore, increased use of mini-grids supported the spread of renewable energy-powered electrification in un-electrified peri- urban and rural areas. Recent technical advances that enable the integration of renewables in mini-grid systems, combined with information and communication technology (ICT) applications for power management and end-user services, have allowed for a rapid growth in the use of renewables-powered mini-grids. There is a growing awareness that stand-alone cooking and electri- city systems based on renewables are often the most cost-effective options available for providing energy services to households and businesses in remote areas. As a result, an increasing number of countries is supporting the development of decentralised renewable energy-based systems to expand energy access. With the rising awareness that off-grid, low-income customers can provide fast-growing markets for goods and services, and with the emergence of new business and financing models for serving them, rural energy markets are increasingly being recognised as offering potential business opportunities. Many companies have become active across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, selling household-level renewable energy systems and devices. Commercial lenders, social venture capitalists, local and international development entities, governments, and others are actively engaged in the financing of distributed renewable energy. In 2013, levels of participation and progress varied from country to country depending on support policies, broader legal frameworks, and political stability. i - Except where noted explicitly, investment data in this section do not include hydropower projects >50 MW because these are not tracked by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the source for these statistics.