Bigger, Better, Faster, More...?
Clean Tech Investments drop, China's Hydropower on the Rise in
SE-Asia
-- a _kt75 | reprint Investment in low carbon technologies fell 11 per cent in 2012, according to a new report by market analysts Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which also shows China has overtaken the US as the world's largest contributor to renewable energy. The report [1] shows that investment in low carbon technologies is actually holding up pretty well after warnings from the report's authors last January that 2012 would be a "challenging year" for the sector. We took a look at some of the figures to find out how tough economic conditions and investor uncertainty over renewable energy policies in the UK have changed the investment landscape.
Overall investment drops
The report [1] shows that overall global investment in low carbon energy dropped by about $30 billion in the space of a year. Comparing investment last year to 2011 may be unfair, as 2011 saw the highest ever rate of investment in the sector. But it is only the second time in almost a decade that the figure has dropped on a year before - the last time being in financially-troubled 2009. The report [1] says that the drop in investment is due to the difficult global financial environment that has affected many sectors and because investors are unsure of the risks involved in investing due to government energy policy reforms. Of the $270 billion that was invested in clean energy worldwide, most of the money went into renewable energy projects such as wind farms, solar parks and biofuel plants. Investment in those projects in 2012 was just under $150 billion, about $30 billion less than in 2011. But not all investment dropped-off. Investment in smaller renewable energy projects increased by just under $4 billion - much of which was put towards building and installing more solar panels for rooftops. So while overall investment in 2012 was less than in 2011, there was still significant investment in renewable energy projects...
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China Hydro Power
China has emerged as a key player in both financing and building the hydroelectric power infrastructure in Southeast Asia [2]. China invested more than $6.1 billion between 2006 and 2011 in financing 2,729 megawatts (MW) of capacity additions. Between 2006 and 2011, Chinese investors—such as the state-owned enterprises Export Import Bank of China and China Development Bank—financed 46% of all hydroelectricity capacity additions in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar and developed previously untapped hydroelectric resources in countries bordering the Mekong and Irrawaddy river basins. This investment represented 6% of the total global hydroelectric power capacity currently under construction and 10% of the planned capacity additions outside of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
Southeast Asia has one of the world's fastest-growing regional economies and is also home to some of the world's largest untapped hydroelectric resources [2]. Through 2018, the International Monetary Fund expects the relatively small economies of Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar will see rapid economic growth within the region and will meet the increased energy demand with electricity from the new hydroelectric capacity. The combined percentage of hydroelectric generation relative to total generation in these three countries is expected to rise to 96% in 2030 from 80% currently, according to data from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Much of the future electricity generated from the Chinese-financed and -constructed hydroelectric facilities in neighboring Myanmar and Laos is expected to be exported to China's rapidly growing southern regions. Cambodia does not share a border with China.
