Liebreich: The Perils of Protectionism
By Michael Liebreich Chief Executive Bloomberg New Energy Finance Take a Western world struggling to escape from recession and high unemployment. Add an industry which is growing rapidly but absorbing an increasing amount of government support. Sprinkle on some cut-price competition from an emerging economy, and what do you get? In our forecasts at the start of the year, we identified protectionism as one of the key risks for the clean energy sector in 2010. And sure enough we are hearing a growing chorus of complaints around the world about unfair trade.
McCrone: Watch the Debt Markets for Clues on the Next Twist for Clean Energy
By Angus McCrone Chief Editor Bloomberg New Energy Finance “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it,” said Mr Spock. 2010 looks set to be a record year for clean energy investment, but not as we know it.
Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2010 Report
Foreword The sustainable energy investment story of 2009 was one of resilience, frustration and determination.
Liebreich: The Real Story Behind China’s Lead Role in Clean Energy Investment in 2010
By Michael Liebreich Chief Executive Bloomberg New Energy Finance A month ago, we discussed in these pages Chinese solar equipment maker Yingli’s global sponsorship of the World Cup, putting it alongside the likes of Budweiser, Adidas and Sony along the touchlines during the tournament. Did Yingli’s $20-30m spend represent a bold long-term investment in the company’s brand or an act of pure hubris? Time will, of course, tell (and before we move on, congratulations Spain!) but there can no longer any doubt that China aims to be the dominant player in global clean energy over the next decade. Indeed, our latest figures indicate they are probably half way there already. This year, for the first time, Asia & Oceania (ASOC) will be the global leader in new private capital attracted, surpassing the Europe, Middle East & Africa region and the Americas – largely as a result of a colossal surge in clean energy investment in China in the past three years.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance 2010 Summit Results Book
A special publication documenting the 2010 Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit and Awards Dinner, which took place in London from 17 to 19 March.
Liebreich: Deepwater Horizon – Fossil Fuel’s Chernobyl?
By Michael Liebreich Chief Executive Bloomberg New Energy Finance Three months ago, I described the Magnificent Seven decadal themes that we expect to propel clean energy’s progress between now and 2020. One of them was the occurrence of “Black Swans”: unpredictable game-changing events that will transform the energy investment landscape for countries and companies.
Crossing the Valley of Death; Solutions to the next generation clean energy project financing gap
Executive Summary Thanks to a massive investment surge, clean energy technologies have made extraordinary progress down their respective learning curves in recent years. Still, much work remains; the cost of generating a clean kilowatt-hour is still well above that of generating one from coal or natural gas on an unsubsidized basis, assuming no associated costs for carbon pollution. One of the biggest impediments to further progress is a persistent dearth of capital for potentially lower-cost breakthrough technologies that have advanced out of the laboratory but still require extensive and expensive field testing and trial installations before being deployed at scale. Financing exists for early stage, potentially high-risk/high-return technologies in the form of venture capital. It is available for latestage, potentially low-risk/low-return technologies in the form of project financing. But what about those technologies that fall somewhere in between? The challenge of traversing the so-called “Valley of Death” intrigued the nonprofit Clean Energy Group (CEG). With funding from The Annenberg Foundation, CEG commissioned Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) to join in an assessment of current gaps in clean energy financing, and in soliciting recommendations to address them. In 2009, CEG and BNEF conducted more than five dozen interviews with industry players across the EU and North America, seeking their input on how to address the quandary. A myriad of ideas emerged, but three were particularly novel and are worthy of further study: Emerging Technology Reverse Auction Mechanism. Under such a programme, a public sector body would encourage developers of projects that employ novel technologies, which are deemed to hold special promise, to "bid in" alongside others in a competitive process to win a fixed-price contract under a pre-established utility-level programme cap. Those offering to sell their electricity at lowest cost within a targeted technology grouping would be awarded publicly-supported power purchase agreements, potentially at above-market rates. Such a plan takes its inspiration from European feedin- tariffs (FITs) that offer developers fixed-price contracts and cash flow certainty. But unlike FITs, this scheme would see market participants, not policymakers, take the lead in setting prices. Such an approach is now being actively investigated by staff of the California Public Utilities Commission.
State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2010: Building Bridges
Executive Summary The year of 2009 was a tumultuous one for the voluntary carbon markets. First, the economic recession had a marked impact on the number of companies offsetting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At the same time, unfolding new climate legislation in the United States led the actors in engaged in the voluntary carbon markets up with an interest in generating credits viable under new compliance programs through highs and lows.
McCrone: Spain and Latin America Raise the Stakes on Feed-In Tariffs
By Angus McCrone Chief Editor Bloomberg New Energy Finance Sometimes it is more comfortable to be proved wrong than proved right. When we published analysis last summer warning that the feed-in tariff regimes in Germany, Italy and – particularly – Spain might prove an expensive way of achieving additional renewable energy capacity, we did so in the knowledge that it would not be a welcome message for many in the industry.
Joined at the hip: the US-China clean energy relationship
Executive Summary The US – China relationship is the most important bilateral engagement in the world today, as the two countries engage on issues of commerce, currency, and their respective roles in international relations. In recent years, another aspect has entered the dynamic: the future of clean energy policy, manufacturing, technology, deployment, and trade.