World Bank Group wind energy investments top USD 80.7bn

The World Bank Group has a long history of supporting emerging industries. The wind energy sector is no different, and since 1995, wind power has benefited to the tune of USD 80.7 billion in project finance allocation from the World Bank on 565 different projects around the world.

Brazil has been the single largest beneficiary of these investments, receiving USD 24.2 billion (30.0% of total) between 1998 – 2018 and adding more than 4.5 GW of wind energy to their allocation of 14.1 GW at the end of 2018. The remainder of capacity additions in Brazil were completed through a combination of public and private finance from other sources.

Geographically, the Americas received a total of USD 35.3 billion (43.7% of total), followed by Asia Pacific with USD 20.7 billion (25.6% of total), Eastern Europe with USD 13.0 billion (16.1% of total) and lastly Africa & the Middle East with USD 11.7 billion (14.5% of total).

Africa & the Middle East are poised to see increased allocation of World Bank resources as capacity in Brazil ramps down along with a chill in the enthusiasm for renewables in some historically robust Eastern European markets.

Eastern Europe has seen fewer investments and those which are smaller in magnitude since their peak in 2012. Since then, the investment focus was shifted towards Asia Pacific as well as the Americas, with the latest trend in deal frequency and size favouring Africa & the Middle East.

Some investments in Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and especially Ukraine are likely to help bolster Europe, albeit at levels of investment lower than were seen historically. Investment in the Americas has been trending downward somewhat in deal volume, but they have maintained a reasonable and robust share of the overall annual allocation.

While South Africa has dominated in the African region, countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Senegal are poised to see significant project finance allocation as well. Plus, with new green bond offerings in Nigeria, and ongoing development work in Jordan, there will be many additional opportunities for investment throughout the region to supplement local market activity.

Vietnam, the Russian Federation, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are likely to be the biggest recipients of World Bank project finance investments in the Asia Pacific region moving forward, in spite of a reduction in the magnitude of overall geographic portfolio allocation there.

The largest beneficiary of the World Bank’s global investment in wind energy has been Enel and its subsidiaries to the tune of almost USD 5 billion, or 6.1% of the total. They have deployed this capital in project developments in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Romania, Morocco, Bulgaria, Peru and Russia thus far.

The full IntelStor Global Wind Energy Project Finance Trends Report is available at https://www.intelstor.com/store/Global-Wind-Energy-Project-Finance-Trends-p128074612

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