India was one of the bright spots in clean energy investments in the first quarter of calendar year 2016, amid a fall in markets such as China and Brazil, according to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. As per the data, India’s clean energy investments reached $1.9 billion in the January-March quarter, up 6 per cent from the comparable period in 2015.
The Narendra Modi-led BJP government has set an ambitious target of increasing renewable power capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022 as part of its plan to supply electricity to every household.
Ashish Sethia, head of India and Southeast Asia, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in an email response: “While a rise in investments is a positive sign, they have to almost double from here to meet PM Modi’s ambitious 175GW target.”
Global investments in renewable energy fell 12 per cent during the first three months of 2016, due to the slowdown in emerging economies, according to data released Tuesday by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The decline in overall investment comes after a record year for clean energy investments in 2015, when the spending reached $328.9 billion.
Spending on renewables fell to $53.1 billion in the first-quarter this year when compared to $60.5 billion in the first quarter of 2015, it said. The first quarter is often the weakest of the year for global investment, and totals may be revised up if more deals come to light, BNEF said.
In the first quarter of 2016, spending on clean energy fell 37 per cent to $11.8 billion in China and investments in Brazil fell 27 per cent to $1 billion from the comparable period last year. Other key markets also saw a slow start. South Africa recorded almost no deals in Q1 2016, when compared to $3.7 billion in the same quarter of 2015.
Japan’s investment was down 19 per cent to $6.8 billion, while Chile, Mexico and Uruguay, all significant centres for investment in 2015, had quiet starts to 2016, it said.
Europe recorded the strongest growth, where spending rose 70 per cent to $17 billion, driven by three big billion-dollar wind project investments. In the US, spending rose 9 per cent to $9.7 billion.
Michael Liebreich, chairman of the advisory board at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said: “Based on Q1 figures, 2016 is going to be hard-pressed to beat last year’s record investment total.
“The fundamentals behind global clean energy investment remain strong, with our latest research showing solar PV and wind again reducing their costs and competing strongly despite lower coal, oil and gas prices. But China accounted for more than one third of all new financings last year, so what happens there in 2016 will be crucial.”
Original Post: The Hindu
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