Europe invested €51.2 billion in wind energy in 2017 out of which new farms accounted for €22.3 billion, WindEurope said in a report on Thursday.
According to the newly released WindEurope’s Financing and Investment Trends report, the remaining investment amount was designated to refinancing of existing wind farms, the acquisition of projects and of companies involved in wind, and on public market fundraising. The total investment figure was 9 percent up on 2016.
However, the €22.3 billion invested in new wind farms was down on the €28 billion invested in 2016. Nonetheless, it covered more capacity – 11.5 gigawatts (GW) compared to 10.3 GW – reflecting the falling costs of wind energy.
The report said that the maturity of the wind energy sector and the competitive pressure of auctions are changing the way wind projects are financed.
'Power producers still carry projects on balance sheets through Final Investment Decisions (FID). But refinancing and the sale of minority stakes in projects are coming in much earlier in the process,' the report said.
The report underlined that green bonds are emerging as an alternative source of debt, which is helping risk-averse institutional investors access the wind sector.
'Green bonds raised €17.5 billion in 2017, the highest rate of issuance in the last five years. €8.5 billion was in corporate renewables portfolios, around €7 billion in wind energy and €1.9 billion in transmission lines. This shows investors have more and more trust in the industry and are confident they will see a healthy return,' the report stated.
Twenty European countries invested in wind in 2017 compared to 16 in 2016 – though Germany and the U.K. accounted for half of all new FIDs. Investments in Southern and Eastern Europe remained low, representing just 16 percent of the total new assets financed in Europe at €3.5 billion.
'A lack of regulatory stability is largely responsible for this,' the report underlined.
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr