Europe Spent $30 Billion on Windfarms in 2018

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Europe invested 27 billion euro ($30.4 billion) in new windfarms in 2018.

Despite being similar to amounts invested in previous years, it will fund a greater amount of wind capacity thanks to cost-reductions. Figures from WindEurope's annual Financing and Investment Trends show that the amount invested last year will finance a record 16.7 gigawatts (GW) of new wind capacity. With cost reductions, 1 megawatt (MW) of new onshore wind capacity now costs 1.4 million euro ($1.6 million) in capital expenditure, down from 2 million euro ($2.2 million) in 2015, while 1 MW of new offshore wind capacity requires 2.5 million euro ($2.8 million), down from 4.5 million euro ($5.1 million) in 2015.

Most of investment made in 2018 was for onshore wind, which accounted for 12.5 GW, while offshore wind investment accounted for 4.2 GW of capacity. Industrial Info is tracking some of the largest offshore windfarms to reach a final investment decision (FID) in 2018, including Moray East (950 MW), Triton Knoll (850 MW) and Borssele III & IV (732 MW).

WindEurope Chief Executive Officer Giles Dickson said: "Wind energy got 60% of all the new investments in power generation capacity in Europe last year. And it was a record year for the amount of new wind energy capacity financed. Cost reduction means investors now get more megawatts-per-euro they invest. And lenders are more comfortable with the risks, so the costs of finance are falling too."

A total of 190 windfarms across 22 different countries reached FID in 2018, with northern and western Europe dominating most of the new investment. The U.K. was the biggest investor, mostly in offshore wind, followed by Sweden in second and Belgium in third. However, investments in southern, central and eastern Europe were only 4% of the total, although WindEurope believes that investments in Spain and Poland will pick up this year.

The report found that an additional 24.1 billion euro ($27.1 billion) was invested in the acquisition of windfarms, including projects under development and of companies involved in wind energy. This total was "much more than in previous years," thanks to a growth in investors as equity partners in projects, particularly from financial services. The report cited the growing maturity of wind energy and the competitiveness of the sector as reasons for the increased activity.

Despite the high investment totals, Dickson warned that Europe still has a lot to do to reach its wind energy and overall renewable energy goals. "Europe needs to keep investing significant amounts in wind if it's going to meet its 32% renewables target for 2030. The money is out there. But there aren't enough bankable projects. One problem is permitting: the processes are slower and more complex than they were. Another problem is the lack of visibility today on governments' plans for renewables. The National Energy Plans they have to write this year are key to resolving this. If they're clear and ambitious, this'll provide investment signals which will make projects happen."

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