Reuters: Private Equity: Q1 cleantech investment lowest since 2009 downturn

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Q1 cleantech investment lowest since 2009 downturn Apr 12th 2012, 10:27 Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:27am EDT * New investment in Q1 2012 falls 28 pct to $27 bln from Q4 * Nears quarterly low of $20 bln seen in Q1 2009 LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - New global clean energy investment in the first quarter fell to its lowest level since the financial crisis in the first quarter of 2009 as uncertainty about government support shook investors, a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance said on Thursday. New financial investment fell 28 percent from the previous quarter to $27 billion in the first quartre of this year and was 22 percent lower than the first quarter of 2011. "A $27 billion quarterly figure is not a disaster, but it is the weakest since the dismal $20 billion seen in the first quarter of 2009, when the financial crisis was at its worst," said Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The weak figure was mainly due to uncertainty about the future of clean energy support in the European Union, while it struggles with the euro zone sovereign debt crisis, and in the United States, as stimulus programmes expire around the time of a presidential election. The main U.S. support mechanism for wind power - called the production tax credit - is due to expire at the end of this year unless Congress agrees to extend it. In Europe, several governments including Spain, Italy, Germany, Poland and the UK have announced cuts to incentives for renewable power projects. "There is no sign of a rapid turnaround in either of these regions in the next 12 months," Liebreich said. "Clean energy technologies, particularly solar photovoltaics and onshore wind, continue to fall in price and approach competitiveness with fossil-fuel power, but politicians in many countries appear to be ducking the decisions that would ensure that the sector maintains its growth trajectory." The first-quarter new investment figure included $24.2 billion of finance for utility-scale renewable projects and $1.9 billion of venture capital and private equity investment in specialist clean energy companies. Only $601 million was raised on the public markets by listed companies, down 12 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011 and 87 percent from the first quarter of 2011. In 2011, global clean energy investment was a record $263 billion. "It is becoming harder to see the sector worldwide beating last year's record, unless the storm clouds lift in Europe and U.S. Congress stops bickering and sends some clear signals about the importance of new energy technologies," said Liebreich. "Meanwhile, continuing improvements in the sector's economics mean that companies which survive these next few years, whether on the industry's supply or demand side, will be extremely well positioned for the next growth phase." (Reporting by Nina Chestney, editing by Jane Baird) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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