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China Beats U.S. on Renewable-Energy Investor Ranking (Update1)
2010-09-08 12:11:00.639 GMT
(Adds Chinese subsidies, financing, solar development from
fifth paragraph.)
By Alex Morales
Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- China overtook the U.S. to lead a
quarterly index of the most attractive countries for renewable
energy projects for the first time, according to a list compiled
by the global accounting firm Ernst & Young.
After sharing the lead with the U.S. in the first quarter
China moved ahead of the world's largest economy to rank as the
most appealing nation for investing in wind and solar power
projects, according to the report released today. The move
follows the failure of U.S. Congress to pass legislation that
would have required utilities to use clean energy.
"China has all the benefits of capital, government will,
and it's a massive market," Ben Warren, Ernst & Young's
environment and energy infrastructure advisory leader, said in a
telephone interview. "We would expect to see China retaining a
dominant position."
The Asian nation, the world's biggest energy consumer, has
set itself a goal of generating 15 percent of its electricity
from renewable sources by 2020. It almost doubled consumer
subsidies for renewable-power generation in the second half of
last year to $545 million, the most recent period reported.
In the second quarter of 2010 China attracted $11.5 billion
in asset-financing for clean technologies, more than Europe and
the U.S. combined, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The accounting firm compared regulations, access to
capital, availability of land, planning barriers, subsidies and
access to the power-delivery grid when determining the ranking,
which started in 2003.
State-run China Development Bank Corp. this year agreed to
lend as much as 116 billion yuan ($17 billion) to Yingli Green
Energy Holding Co., Suntech Power Holdings Co. and Trina Solar
Ltd., China's biggest solar firms by market value.
U.S. Incentives
The U.S. also lost ground because the expiry of a grant
program at the end of this year provides "no real effective
incentive mechanism for renewable energy projects," the report
said.
"What we're seeing in the U.S. is a continued resistance
to committing to long-term visible and transparent support for
the sector," Warren said. "The U.S. market has always suffered
from this boom and bust tax-based incentive regime."
China also topped Ernst & Young's attractiveness index for
investments in wind power. The country last year had three
turbine makers in the top 10 worldwide in terms of sales by
megawatts, according to Danish researcher BTM Consult APS. Those
companies are Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co.,
Dongfang Electric Corp. and Sinovel Wind Co.
For solar photovoltaic power, China was "until recently
almost totally absent," the European Photovoltaic Industry
Association said in a report in May. Installations last year
almost quadrupled to 160 megawatts, and could grow to 600
megawatts this year, the association said.
The Ernst & Young ranking includes 27 countries, with
Germany, India, Italy, the U.K., France, Spain, Canada and
Portugal completing the top 10 behind China and the U.S.
For Related News and Information:
Climate-change news: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
Renewable Energy Stories: NI ALTNRG <GO>
--Editors: Todd White, Reed Landberg
To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Morales in London at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or landberg@bloomberg.net.
