$243bn Investments in Cleantech done 2010, 30% up

in 2010, according to new figures from research company Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Main drivers of growth in 2010 were China, European offshore wind, European rooftop solar, and research and development.

source: onlinetes.com

• • Investment in China was up 30% to $51.1bn in 2010, by far the largest figure for any country. In 2009, Asia and Oceania overtook the Americas, and in 2010 narrowed the gap further on Europe, Middle East and Africa as the leading region of the world for clean energy investment.

  • BNEF said offshore wind finance had another good year in 2010, led by a $1.7B package to fund the next, 295MW phases of the Thornton Bank offshore wind farm off the coast of Belgium, and a $1B deal to finance the Borkum West II project in German waters.

  • Investment in small-scale, distributed generation projects – particularly rooftop and other small-scale solar projects - surged by 91% last year to $59.6B.

  • Research and development spending grew record levels in 2010, said BNEF, with government R&D reaching $21B, up from $15.8B in 2009. Corporate R&D recovered from 2009's recession-hit figure of $12.8B to reach $14.4B, giving a total for global clean energy R&D of $35.5B.

2010 SOLAR 49% up to $90bn

Most notable feature of 2010 was a 49% growth in investment in solar power to $89.3B, driven largely by distributed generation projects in Europe. BNEF estimates that 86% of investment in small-scale solar took place in markets where feed-in tariffs have been introduced.

Energy-smart technologies such as smart grid,

energy management, electric vehicles and power storage also had a strong year, with financing of companies in this sector reaching a record $23.9B, up 27% on 2009.

$500bn investment/year for Clean energy needed, C02 peaks 2020

“We have been saying for some time that the world needs to reach a figure of $500B per annum investment in clean energy if we are to see carbon emissions peak by 2020,”

Government growth driven: cheap debt China, feed-in tariffs

“More than in most years, growth has been in fairly direct response to government intervention, whether in the form of cheap debt in China, sweet off-take deals for European offshore wind, feed-in tariffs for solar or a regulatory push for smart grids. The industry needs to continue to drive down its costs and reduce its reliance on this sort of support.”