The largest percentage gains came in the Western Hemisphere, where Brazil invested $2.3 billion, up 131% year over year in the third quarter; Chile, where investment soared from $180 million in the third quarter of last year to $1.6 billion this year; and the United States, where investment rose 25% to $13.4 billion. Investments in Europe dropped 48% to $5.8 billion.
The data were reported Thursday by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The group’s advisory board chairman, Michael Liebreich, called the investment level “a resilient performance given the sizeable shifts in foreign exchange rates that will have reduced the dollar value of projects outside the U.S.”
The largest projects to receive financing in the third quarter were a solar thermal electricity generation (concentrated solar power, or CSP) plants in China, Israel and South Africa and four offshore wind farms in Chinese waters. Chinese investment totaled $26.7 billion, up 5%, and the most of any nation. The United States ranked second at $13.4 billion invested.
ALSO READ: 3 Top Jefferies Hidden Value Stocks to Buy Now
Utility-scale projects received $47.3 billion in third-quarter financing, down 4% year over year, and small-scale projects like rooftop solar, saw a financing increase of 21% to $19 billion.
Venture capital and private equity funds nearly doubled investments year over year to $2 billion, while investment from public markets dropped 38% to $3.7 billion. The largest equity raises were a $750 million issue from Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and TerraForm Global Inc. (NASDAQ: GLBL), a yieldco controlled by SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) that raised $675 million in an initial public offering.
Globally by sector, investment in solar slipped 1% year over year to $43.9 billion in the third quarter, and investments in wind energy fell 5% to $20.5 billion. Biomass and waste-to-energy projects experienced a 26% decline in investment to $1.3 billion, investment in small hydro-power projects (less than 50 megawatts) rose 41% to $1.5 billion and investment in geothermal energy dropped 16% to $530 million.
In all of 2014, investors poured $318 billion into renewable projects, up 13% compared with 2013.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance also includes in the total estimates of R&D spending by governments and companies, and asset finance for smart grid and storage projects.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks