Renewable Energy Investment May Reach $200 Billion in 2010

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Renewable energy investment may rise by 23 percent this year as government stimulus funds mainly in the U.S. and Europe are spent on wind turbines and solar panels.

Spending may rise to between $175 billion and $200 billion this year from $162 billion in 2009, said Bloomberg New Energy Finance Chief Executive Officer Michael Liebreich today.

“There’s a big bulge of stimulus money coming through this year,” he said during a press conference at the consultant’s annual conference in London. “The question is what happens when they switch off the stimulus.”

Governments in the U.S., China, Europe and other regions have earmarked $184 billion for clean energy projects, with two-thirds of that money expected to be spent through 2011, New Energy Finance estimates. Construction of windmills, solar power and biomass plants will continue even after United Nations negotiators failed to reach a binding treaty to limit carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel plants, Liebreich said.

“We’re going to be negotiating on the climate for the next 50 years,” he said.

Last year, China replaced the U.S. as the biggest investor in renewable energy for the first time in at least five years as the Asian nation raced to meet rising demand for power and reduce carbon emissions.

China vs U.S.

China invested $34.5 billion in wind turbines, solar panels and other low-carbon energy technologies in 2009, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said today in London. The U.S. spent about half as much last year, or $18.6 billion, slipping to second.

Demand for electricity, fuels and heating has soared in China as millions of farm workers moved to the cities, found jobs and bought appliances. Economic growth averaging 10 percent a year the past three decades made the country of 1.3 billion people the largest polluter, forcing the government to implement tougher emissions rules and set clean-energy targets.

“The rise of China as an investor in clean energy is a striking development that reflects in part Beijing’s determination to be at the forefront of manufacturing key technologies such as wind turbines and solar PV modules,” said Liebreich. “Investment in the U.S. was held back last year by a shortage of long-term private sector finance for projects.”

China has pledged to reduce its carbon-dioxide output per unit of gross domestic product by 40 percent to 45 percent of 2005 levels by 2020. Premier Wen Jiabao in January called pollution in his nation “grim” and said the government will curb emissions from power plants, cement and steel producers.

Decline in the U.S.

U.S. investments in clean energy fell 42 percent from a year earlier, reflecting tighter credit conditions amid the worst recession since World War II and the lack of a federal plan encouraging renewable power.

Worldwide, only 9 percent of the $182 billion of global economic stimulus packages earmarked for clean energy had been spent by the end of last year, New Energy Finance estimates. Two-thirds of the spending is scheduled for this year and next, which follows last year’s $162 billion.

China, the world’s third-largest economy, boosted the installed capacity of renewable energy projects to 52.5 gigawatts, mainly in the form of wind turbines and biomass plants. That’s the equivalent of 52 medium-sized coal plants. Low-carbon energy now accounts for 4 percent of the total.

The U.S. still leads the world in installed renewable capacity at 53.4 gigawatts, or 4 percent of the total. Spending this year is poised to climb, reversing last year’s 40 percent decline, with much of the $66 billion of the clean-energy stimulus money being spent, New Energy Finance said.

Venture capital spending was the highest in the U.S., accounting for 60 percent of the world total, New Energy Finance said in a fact book distributed at its annual conference in London today.

The U.K. was the third-largest renewable investor last year, accounting for 10 percent of the G-20 total, followed by Spain, Brazil, Germany and Canada, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Berlin at jvanloon@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net