Wind energy is winning the global clean tech race.
The wind energy sector has experienced 630% growth in finance and investments since 2004.
The sector managed to work through the recession selling off inventory in 2008 and 2009.
After a 2-year dip in investment, the sector set record amounts of cash flow to it in 2010. With wind farm plants as the preferred technology for global clean energy investments last year, the industry attracted $95 billion.
A report by Pew Charitable Trusts generated data displaying the monumental increase in wind energy investment.
The results from the report showed wind turbine investment increased by 34% in 2010 with wind investments accounting for 48% of the annual clean energy investments.
This is a 30% or $243 billion increase in investment from 2009.
China, Germany, Italy, and India attracted the most private investments last year.
China, which has the world’s highest wind power capacity with 41.8 GW, added 62% in new capacity last year.
The Inner Mongolia region of China, which is leading the cleantech powerhouse, has the largest number of wind farms. The region installed 10.9 GW of wind farms last month, and is expected to install 30 GW by 2015 and 50 GW by 2020.
Inner Mongolian wind farm’s helped China reach its record breaking amount of investment in China cleanteach last year. Cleantech investment in China was up 39% or $54.4 billion from 2009.
Germany, which falls in the number two spot of wind energy investment for 2010, experienced a 100% increase in cleantech investment in 2010.
The UK, which didn’t even make it to the top four, is expected to make a huge impact on the wind energy sector this year. The island kingdom has more offshore wind power capacity than any other nation, and its officials are betting on wind technology to help fix its economic woes by providing hundreds and thousands of jobs.
Why invest?
Current investors are drawn in by the long-term certainty renewable energy technologies like wind power offer.
Offshore wind is viewed as an economic asset generating long-term growth and energy security.
Greentech experts peg wind installations and solar energy as the two most promising green energy technologies.
Investors are well aware of our need for green energy technologies, so why not bet on the best bet?
The renewable energy sector has surged 66% in 2010 with 530 deals in 2010. That is up from just 319 deals in 2009.
The sector will only continue to surge, especially with heightened public scrutiny of nuclear power plants following Japan’s tragic incident — not to mention the high gas and oil prices political turmoil in the Middle East has generated in the last couple of months.
It is becoming shockingly obvious the world needs to invest time and money into developing renewable energy sources and wind energy is the way to go with the global offshore wind-power market expected to be worth upwards of $273 billion by 2050.
Until next time,
Kaitlin Walter
