BIZCHINA / Center
$9b invested in renewable energy last year
By Wu Chong (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-22 10:56
The nation saw a remarkable investment flow of $9 billion into the
renewable energy sector last year, mostly in wind and solar segments,
according to a report released yesterday by the United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP)
The 46-page analysis says globally, investment in sustainable energy
investment climbed from $80 billion in 2005 to $100 billion last year,
with unprecedented growth in developing countries, particularly China,
India and Brazil.
China, the world's largest producer of renewable energy, took a healthy 9
percent of global investment last year, which was helped by significant
asset financing activity in the wind, biomass and waste sectors, the
report says.
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Eric Usher, head of Renewable Energy Finance at UNEP, told China Daily
that growth was led by both the Renewable Energy Law the country
promulgated last year and the Clean Development Mechanism, a carbon
credit trading system under the Kyoto Protocol.
"We also see (in China) a more mature type of investment across the
finance spectrum including public market and venture capitals," Usher
said in a phone interview.
Chris Greenwood, director of operations in New Energy Finance who
co-authored the report, added that State incentives also played a key
role. He particularly referred to the government's goal of reducing
energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent by
2010 from 2005.
The country is expected to continue embracing growth of 30 to 40 percent
in sustainable energy investment this year, with more companies going
public and the government's target of enhancing solar and wind power
capacity, Greenwood estimated.
China aims to supply 15 percent of primary energy through renewable
sources by 2020. Installed wind capacity, for example, almost doubled
last year to about 2.3 gigawatts from 2005, according to the National
Development and Reform Commission.
The UNEP report says that while renewable sources today produce about 2
percent of the world's energy, they now account for about 18 percent of
global investment in power generation, with wind generation at the
forefront.
Solar and biofuel energy technologies grew even more quickly than wind,
but from a smaller base, it adds.
It attributes the growth to a combined effect of global concerns over
climate change, increasing energy demands and energy security, in
addition to persistently high oil prices, growing consumer awareness of
energy efficiency and government incentives.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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