- New investment in renewable energy totaled $59.6 billion in the second quarter. This was up 24% on Q1, but still 18% below the near-record quarterly figure of $72.5bn in Q2 last year.
- China saw a surge in investment to $18.3bn in the April-to-June period, up 92% from the previous quarter. Europe and the US enjoyed solid but less spectacular gains in investment in Q2, of 11% and 18% over Q1, to reach $20bn and $10.2bn respectively.
- Overall, solar accounted for $33.6bn of investment in Q2, up 19% on Q1, and wind $21.6bn, up 47%. Small-scale projects of less than 1MW, such as rooftop photovoltaics, were estimated to be worth $21.5bn in Q2 this year, 13% more than in the same quarter last year.
- Among the largest projects financed in the second quarter of this year were the 270MW Lincs offshore wind farm, off the UK coast, for $1.6bn; the 419MW Flat Ridge Wind Farm phase two in the US, for $800m; and the 250MW Guodian Shanxi Qinyuan Taiyue Wind Farm phase two in China, for $317m. The largest Chinese solar project financed was the Shanlu & Shengyu Bayannur Wuyuan PV plant, at $316m.
- The largest venture capital and private equity deals of the quarter saw Fisker Automotive of the US clinch $148m for its plug-in hybrid vehicle development, and Sapphire Energy, also of the US, secure $144m for its algae-based biofuel business. The largest public market deal was a $340m initial public offering by Chinese solar water heater company Jiangsu Sunrain Solar Energy.
Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art