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Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices: Global Highlights

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November 2009

Issue 23 Renewable energy country


attractiveness indices

In this issue: Global highlights


Overview of indices: With the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit due to commence in just days, our guest
issue 23 ................................2 columnist, Jonathan Johns, summarizes his expectations for the summit inside this
issue. Whilst the outcomes of the summit are currently difficult to predict, it is likely the
It’s not all down
discussions will, in the medium term at least, have a significant bearing on these indicies. In
to Copenhagen ......................3
the meantime, however, there have been some noticeable additions and changes:
Issue highlights......................6
This issue sees the inclusion of two new countries in response to requests from the
All renewables index readership survey. These are the Czech Republic and South Africa. Introductory country
at November 2009 ................8 focus pages have been included on pages 19 and 20 respectively. This issue is also host to
Wind indices an interview with the Hon Martin Ferguson AM, MP – Australia’s Minister for Resources and
at November 2009 ................9 Energy and Minister for Tourism. The technology focus in issue 23 is wave and tidal and
considers the issues surrounding financing of technology development.
Near-term wind index
at November 2009 ..............10 In relation to the All renewables index, the weighting between technologies (namely wind
and solar) has been reassessed, to reflect the growing relative importance of the solar
Country focus — US, China,
sector. As such, there are a number of changes to the index scores across the board, with a
Germany, India, Portugal,
general rise in countries favouring solar technology.
Ireland, Poland, Brazil ..........11
China has risen above Germany in the All renewables index for the first time, on the back
Country introduction —
of announcements that restrictions on the amount of non-domestic components used
South Africa,
to manufacture generation technologies are being relaxed. A raft of announcements,
Czech Republic ....................19 of new plans for solar PV parks, as well as the Golden Sun incentive program, have also
Feature — wave energy: contributed to the rise.
breaking on the shores of
Lower down the table, this issue sees rises for both Brazil and Japan. Brazil’s energy plan
opportunity .........................21 to 2017 includes calls for 7.3GW of wind, biomass and small hydro combined generation
Australia — Minister Ferguson’s capacity to drive towards a 2020 target of 10% of consumption to be met by renewable
interview with energy. Meanwhile the Japanese government’s new targets to reduce greenhouse gas
Ernst & Young .....................22 emissions by 25% (based on 1990 levels) by 2020 represent a significant increase on
previous targets of 8%.
Commentary:
guidance notes ....................24
Company index ....................26
Glossary ..............................27
Ernst & Young was ranked
the leading project finance
advisor in the Americas,
Europe, Middle East and Africa
between 2001 and 2008 by
Project Finance International.

Overview of indices: issue 23


The Ernst & Young country attractiveness indices provide scores Renewables infrastructure index
for national renewable energy markets, renewable energy This provides an assessment of the general regulatory
infrastructures and their suitability for individual technologies. infrastructure for renewable energy by country (see page 8).
The indices provide scores out of 100 and are updated on a
regular basis.
Technology factors
The main indices (all renewables and long-term wind) are referred
These provide resource-specific assessments for each country
to as “long-term indices.“ The near-term wind index takes a two-
(see page 8).
year view with slightly different parameters and weightings (see
right).
Long-term wind index
The country attractiveness indices take a generic view, and
This index is derived from scoring:
different sponsor/financier requirements will clearly affect how
countries are rated. Ernst & Young’s Renewable Energy Group can ► The onshore wind index — 70%
provide detailed studies to meet specific corporate objectives. It ► The offshore wind index — 30%
is important that readers refer to the guidance notes set out on
pages 24-25 when referring to the indices.
Long-term solar index
This index is derived from scoring:
Long-term indices
The long-term indices are forward looking and take a long-term ► The solar PV index — 73%
view, hence the UK’s high ranking in the wind index, explained by ► The solar CSP index — 27%
the large amount of unexploited wind resource, strong offshore
regime and attractive tariffs available under the Renewables
Obligation mechanism. Conversely, although Denmark has the
Near-term wind index
highest proportion of installed wind capacity to population level, The near-term wind index takes a forward-looking, two-year view
it scores relatively low because of its restricted grid capacity and based on the parameters of most concern to a typical investor
reduced tariff incentives. seeking to make a near-term investment. The index is based on
separate scores for onshore and offshore wind. For parameters
and weightings, see page 24.
All renewables index
This index provides an overall score for all renewable energy
Comments and suggestions
technologies. It combines individual technology indices as follows:
We would welcome your comments or suggestions on any
► Wind index — 68% aspect of the indices. Detailed attractiveness surveys and
(comprising onshore wind index and offshore wind index) market reports can be provided, taking account of specific
► Solar index — 15% corporate objectives.
(comprising solar PV index and solar CSP index) Please visit our website www.ey.com/renewables
► Biomass and other resource index — 17% or contact:
Ben Warren
Individual technology indices Partner, Ernst & Young LLP: bwarren@uk.ey.com
These indices are derived from scoring: Andrew Perkins
► General country-specific parameters (renewables Partner, Ernst & Young LLP: aperkins@uk.ey.com
infrastructure index), accounting for 35% Dane Wilkins, Director: dwilkins1@uk.ey.com
► Technology-specific parameters (technology factors), Arnaud Bouille, Director: abouille@uk.ey.com
accounting for 65%

2 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


It’s not all down to Copenhagen
Jonathan Johns, Guest Columnist

Even though it’s now accepted that the Copenhagen climate JI/CDM in the developing world has not to date rivalled feed in
change summit will focus on policy and principles rather than a tariffs in the West as a means of funding renewables projects,
legally binding agreement, expectations remain high: certainly not to an extent sufficient to warrant their elevation in
the CAI: China and India, of course, have powerful independent
1. Will there finally be a deal involving strong commitment from
support mechanisms.
the US, given that the Kerry-Boxer Climate Bill is largely
dependent on the fortunes of President Obama’s healthcare It is interesting to note that the UK ROC scheme consultation
programs and is likely at the time of writing to slip to next potentially allocates 10% of the scheme towards overseas
year, with the prospect of free allocations watering down its projects. It would be good if all nations agreed that a similar
effectiveness in early years? proportion — or even 5% — of their domestic schemes could be
made available to overseas projects in poorer countries, on terms
2. Will China put further strong commitments on the table and
identical to those that would be received if they were domestic to
surprise the West, building on its announcements of very
the country providing such aid. It is, of course, not certain that
strong programs for wind and solar, its intentions to create
this was what the UK proposal had in mind when raising the issue.
its own carbon market and its new target to reduce its carbon
intensity by 40%-45%? The energy industry as a whole is now grappling with the issue
of marshalling unparalleled investment to replace and build new
3. Will European leaders be resolute and united, given
capacity and grid infrastructure with an entirely different mix of
taxpayer and consumer pressures over the cost of support
generating technologies. All this is in a business environment
programmes, or will they seek longer term tariff reductions as
where demand control via smart grids intermingles with
the price of continued feed in support?
consumers becoming producers: intermittent power in some
4. Or will the outcome be mixed, with apparently strong regions becoming the new baseload and in many economies
statements backed up with little substance? energy saving having greater value than production.
Personally I am optimistic, given a 12- to 15- month horizon, For businesses with a sensible eye on the future, Copenhagen
but also realistic in that it is unlikely that Copenhagen and its is likely to mean the death knell of carbon-intensive business
successor conference will answer all the questions: there is sure models and processes, with a degree of change likely that isn’t
to be some devil in the details if not in the rhetoric. yet fully understood. Energy efficiency (the silent renewable)
is likely to become a significant focus for investment as well as
The atmosphere of the climate change debate has shifted
onsite or offsite renewables for energy intensive industries if
radically since Kyoto: the debate centers more on how great the
regulatory mechanisms allow. Businesses will also need to make
cuts in carbon need to be and who pays, rather than whether
sure that fossil fuel-dependent assets are not in fact liabilities
substantial cuts are necessary at all.
or at best subject to accelerated depreciation. Many national
All significant economic powers are now addressing the issue one and global players are reviewing their entire property estate and
way or another, in some cases citing security of energy supply manufacturing facilities on this basis.
and the need to hedge against long-term rises in fossil fuel costs
But what are the implications for the renewables industry,
as significant reinforcing arguments.
which arguably ought to be best placed to deal with the post-
Whatever the specific outcome of Copenhagen, it is likely that Copenhagen world? It seems that the first signs of moving on
carbon and climate change will have come center stage as a key from the depths of recession are appearing and that green
arbiter of future energy and infrastructure investment. Not only is stimulus packages are having some effect; albeit hesitant and
the debate about replacing the aging electricity-generation fleets slower than had hoped — as opposed to planned — in many
of the West, but also the vast deployment of new capacity in the market economies.
East; the extent to which the latter is carbon friendly is the key
Given the scale of the challenge, it is likely that in most
determinant of success.
jurisdictions current support programmes are insufficiently
The debate about who will pay raises the issue of the fuel poor ambitious and will at best require continuation for some years to
and those countries least able to meet the new challenges. The come. “Critical issues in years to come are: how the burden will
concern is that JI/CDM mechanisms have not yet lived fully up fall on the taxpayer/consumer; the effect it will have on the fuel
to expectations. A significant number of projects are subject to poor; and heavy employment of high-energy-using industries.”
controversy over certification, and there are concerns that an
insufficient proportion of the end carbon sale flows through to
the originating project, particularly where projects have sold
long-term positions at relatively low fixed prices to Western
brokers and funds.

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 3


The sheer scale of investment is daunting particularly given the with high fossil fuel dependency and high levels of unexploited
relative dearth of project financing for a sector acknowledged resource, may choose to be more aggressive in their deployment
by bankers as highly attractive. The US has acknowledged strategies and decide to employ more competitive support
this difficulty not only by allowing production tax credits to mechanisms than less fortunate neighbors. The cost of nuclear or
be swapped for capital-grants, but also by introducing loan clean coal could become the relevant comparator for renewable
guarantees for qualifying projects. China’s planned economy technologies rather than as previously the lowest cost fossil fuel
effectively provides a similar stimulus. Unless credit eases technology (usually CCGT). Of course policies may not follow this
dramatically, particularly in relation to the long tenors required mantra; to date, countries with the best resource (e.g., the UK
by renewable projects, then it is likely that other jurisdictions with onshore wind) have not always chosen to exploit it to the
will need to provide capital-grant or loan-guarantee support full. The danger is, however, that in decades to come, competitive
mechanisms if they wish deployment rates to be maintained and edge will be lost if goods and services have an unnecessarily high
indeed accelerated. This is especially the case for less-mature carbon footprint and global consumers arbitrate on this basis.
technologies where project financing has all but dried up and
The difficulty for the industry is that there is no embedded price
where in any case it is likely to be desirable to accelerate the
for carbon to make this choice real: the EU ETS price has been
choice of solutions available to meet the scale of cuts in carbon
volatile and is currently hovering around €14 (EUA), not the
required- for example newer-generation energy from waste
€20 to €35 required to radically affect investment decisions.
technologies, tidal and marine power.
Carbon pricing as currently posited is effective as a means of
In the long term, it is likely that the design of support encouraging change by carbon-intensive industries but less so as
mechanisms, which have by and large evolved in a different an incentive to install new renewables capacity, which requires
era, will need to be overhauled and more explicitly focussed on long-term mechanisms with minimal risk of market fluctuations,
carbon tons saved versus a previous focus on megawatt capacity hence the relative cost effectiveness of feed in tariffs as capacity
and terawatt-hour output. It would be good (but unlikely) if at incentives rather than market-based mechanisms such as
Copenhagen governments recognized the need for a greater ROCs. Interestingly some economies (e.g., France) and some
harmonization of renewables support mechanisms, thus making it commentators (e.g., Exxon) are reaching for carbon taxes as a
easier to establish large markets, justifying the positioning of local more reliable way of achieving behavioral change. In this regard,
manufacturing facilities, and allowing economies of scale. it is interesting to note how effective programmed incremental
rises in landfill tax in the UK have been at promoting behavioral
There is an added complication: a focus on value in terms of
change towards recycling and other treatment technologies
carbon tons saved dynamically changes the value of renewables
producing less greenhouse gases and replenishing treasury
significantly by territory. In those economies with a dependency
coffers. As time goes by, carbon taxes could become increasingly
on fossil fuels, the value of renewables as a means of reducing
tempting to legislators.
carbon is higher and not necessarily directly linked to the cost
of production (most support mechanisms being based on a cost
plus standard rate of return) . Consequently those economies

Tons of C02 per MWh


1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Austria

Belgium

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Italy

Norway

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom

Australia

United States

Canada

Japan

Poland

South Africa
Ireland

China

The Netherlands

Portugal

India

Turkey

New Zealand

Brazil

Czech Republic

Source: International Energy Agency


Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23

4 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


For the renewable energy industry and governments, the Annual oil price (US$)
challenge is to ensure renewable resources are quickly captured.
In most territories, this will require speedy investment in the 100
grid network and zoning polices to overcome planning-consent 80
logjams. To date, capacity has not always moved forward fastest 60
where there are the best resource and given the imperatives of 40
climate change, it is unlikely we can collectively afford the waste
20
that this implies. Perhaps we will one day realize that rights
0
relating to the exploitation of renewable resources are at least

1946

1955

1964

1973

1982

1991

2000

2009
as valuable as oil reserves are today. In this respect, it is salutary
to note that we are entering the next phase of economic growth
with oil prices already at a high level in real terms relative to our Inflation adjusted 2009 October 2009
current “recession” position in the economic cycle (see graph and
Source: InflationData.com
commentary below).
It is interesting to note that both recent scenarios by the IEA and
the UK’s Ofgem show that an energy strategy with a strong low-
In oil price terms, the most similar previous oil price hike and
carbon component produces lower energy prices in the long-term
subsequent recession was the oil price peak in December 1979
rather than higher. It’s not all down to Copenhagen. and then the recession in the early 80’s. Oil prices dropped off
very quickly during the early eighties and thus demand recovered
more quickly at the end of the recession around the end of 1982.
However this time, although oil prices fell back quickly initially,
they have already been rising again since March 2009, so oil prices
are now already at a high level for this point of a recession. This
could well slow the rate of recovery coming out of recession but
could also benefit the renewables market with less of a differential
between fossil fuel and renewable energy generation.

Going big: the rising influence of corporations on cleantech growth

The continuous growth in world population, the and business model innovation that will enable this
increase in consumption power of the middle class massive transformation. Cleantech spending is robust
in emerging markets, the growing scarcity of natural and primed to accelerate, according to “Going big: the
resources around the globe, the need to ensure energy rising influence of corporations on cleantech growth”,
security, the business response to climate change, and the third annual global cleantech report from
the rising energy and commodity prices, are driving Ernst & Young. This is the conclusion of a survey of
a worldwide transformation in the way that natural more than 300 executives in global corporations with
resources, including energy and water, are produced, annual revenues of more than US $1b, that forms the
distributed, stored, managed and consumed. Experts centerpiece of the report. Alongside the survey there
anticipate that this transformation to a more resource are also interviews with the world’s top cleantech
efficient and lower carbon consumed economy will industry leaders as well as perspectives and analysis of
have the magnitude of a new industrial and technology current trends.
revolution. Cleantech represents the technological

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 5


Issue highlights
Equity markets Share price performance by RE sector
During the third quarter of 2009, stock markets around the In the wind sector, the differential in relative value (compared to
world continued the general rise that had begun in March, when the March 2007 benchmark) between large and small companies
various fiscal stimulus packages were announced. However, in (by market capitalization) remains: big caps have recovered much
recent weeks, since the end of the quarter, markets appear to of their value since March 2009, while little caps have continued
have levelled off, with investors unsure about the future direction. to struggle.
Some commentators talk about economies recovering soon from
recession, while others talk of a risk of a double-dip. Nevertheless, Wind share prices
the fact that share prices have generally recovered about 60%
1.60
(from their minima and are now back to September 2008 levels) 1.40
has brought relief to many investors. 1.20
1.00
Stock market indices from September 2005 to 0.80

September 2009 0.60


0.40
1.60 0.20
1.40 0.00
Mar 2007

Mar 2008

Mar 2009
Jun 2007

Jun 2008

Jun 2009

Sep 2009
Dec 2007

Dec 2008
Sep 2007

Sep 2008
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60 Little caps Big caps
0.40
Source: Ernst & Young
0.20
0.00
In the solar sector, levels at the end of the third quarter were
Sep 2007

Mar 2008
Jun 2008
Sep 2008
Dec 2008
Mar 2009
Jun 2009
Sep 2009
Sep 2005
Dec 2005
Mar 2006
Jun 2006
Sep 2006
Dec 2006
Mar 2007
Jun 2007

Dec 2007

down slightly from a peak at the end of May, but still up over 40%
from March’s low point. Little caps have also recovered well and
Nasdaq MSCI-EAFE NEX (Wilderhill) narrowed the value gap with bigger firms.
MSCI-world FTSE 100 HSBC climate
change index

Source: Ernst & Young


Solar share prices
2.50

Renewable energy industry companies have reflected a similar 2.00


trend to the wider market, recovering from a low point at the end
of February 2009, but leveling off in recent months. According to 1.50

Ernst & Young research portfolios, with about a dozen companies 1.00
in each sector, the wind and biomass sectors have been
remarkably steady over the last quarter, while the solar sector 0.50

exhibits larger month-to-month fluctuations (values are weighted 0.00


Mar 2007

Mar 2008

Mar 2009
Jun 2007

Jun 2008

Jun 2009

Sep 2009
Dec 2007

Dec 2008
Sep 2007

Sep 2008

per company according to market capitalization).

Renewable energy and indices performance from


Little caps Big caps
March 2007 to September 2009
4.00 Source: Ernst & Young
3.50
3.00 Meanwhile in the biomass sector, companies are very slowly
2.50
recovering value, with little difference between large and small
2.00
companies. Although prices have improved by more than 30%
1.50
of their value in March 2009, levels are still about 25% less than
1.00
0.50
prices were at the end of August 2008.
0.00
Mar 2009
Mar 2007

Mar 2008

Jun 2009
Jun 2007

Jun 2008

Sep 2009
Dec 2007

Dec 2008
Sep 2007

Sep 2008

FTSE NEX (Winderhill) Wind


Solar Biomass Utilities (Big 6)
Crude oil HSBC Climate Change Index

Source: Ernst & Young

6 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Biomass share prices Solar
1.20 Atlantis Capital Fund, an Italian fund of private equity house
1.00 Atlantis Capital Special Situations SpA, has agreed to acquire
0.80 Ecostream Italy Srl, the Italy-based solar power systems producer
for €10.5m.
0.60

0.40 Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, a subsidiary of Siemens


0.20
Financial Services, has agreed to acquire a 40% stake in Israeli
photovoltaic plant developer, builder and operator The Arava
0.00
Power Company. The total consideration consists of US$15m
Mar 2007

Mar 2008

Mar 2009
Jun 2007

Jun 2008

Jun 2009

Sep 2009
Dec 2007

Dec 2008
Sep 2007

Sep 2008

(€10.2m), valuing the total outstanding share capital at


US$37.5m (€25.5m).
Little caps Big caps
Meridian Energy Limited has acquired Cleantech America Inc, the
Source: Ernst & Young US-based developer of solar farms and other renewable energy
projects, from Clydesdale Ventures LLC, the US-based venture
capital firm, for consideration of US$5.4m (€3.7m).
M&A activity in the renewables sector
Green Infra Ltd, an India-based joint venture between EVI and An agreement has been made between Solar Millennium AG and
IDFC Private Equity, has agreed to acquire BP Energy India Pvt MAN Ferrostaal Inc to form a joint venture, Solar Trust of America
Ltd’s wind power assets in India. LLC, to which both companies will provide assets and technical
expertise. Solar Millennium will have ownership of 70% of the
Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd, the UK-based private equity company with MAN Ferrostaal owning the remaining 30%. Solar
house, chaired by Guy Hands, has agreed to acquire EverPower Trust of America will be able to offer an entire range of services
Wind Holding Inc for an initial sum of US$200m (€136m) and has in the development, financing, technology, construction and
committed another US$150m (€102m) to the business over the operation of solar thermal power plants.
next few years.
Energy Conversion Devices Inc, US manufacturer of solar
GE Energy has acquired Norway’s ScanWind AS, a developer laminate products, has agreed to acquire Solar Integrated
and supplier of wind-turbines and services, for consideration of Technologies Inc, designer and manufacturer of Building
US$18m (€12.2m) from Morphic Technologies AB and Nord- Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) roofing systems, in a deal worth
Trondelag Elektrisitetsverk. With this acquisition, GE Energy is US$16m (€10.9m).
able to provide a direct-drive, offshore wind turbine offering as an
option to its customers.
Hydro
Babcock & Brown Limited has agreed to sell Kallista Energies A2A SpA has agreed to acquire a 29% stake in Elektroprivreda
Renouvelables and Kallista France for an aggregate deal value of Crne Gore AD Niksic, a Montenegrin hydro-electric power
US$317m (€215.5m) to Holding Energies Renouvelables SAS, provider, from the Government of Montenegro and other minority
an infrastructure fund of AXA Private Equity. The acquisition shareholders. Total consideration offered is €311m with an
includes 15 wind farms with a total capacity of 163MW. implied equity valuation for the transaction of €1.073b.
Sumitomo Corporation of America has acquired a 42.5% stake Guangxi Guiguan Electric Power Co Ltd, the Chinese
in Stanton Wind Energy LLC, a US-based, 120MW wind energy hydroelectricity generator and distributor, has agreed to
project which is developed, managed and operated by Invenergy acquire Sichuan Chuanghui Shuidian Touzi Youxian Gongsi, a
Wind LLC. hydroelectric power generation company, from seven private
Stadtwerke Muenchen GmbH, the German municipal utilities investors in a deal worth CNY219.62m (€21.96m).
company, has acquired five wind farms, with total capacity
of 50MW, from WPD AG, a German wind farm developer and Biomass
operator.
Rockfield Energy Investments LLC, the UK-based private equity
Century Profit Investments Ltd, a subsidiary of 21 Holdings Ltd, firm specializing in renewable energy investments, has completed
and Champion Wind Energy Investment and Management have a €30m acquisition of an undisclosed stake in Imperative Energy
agreed to form a joint venture, holding 80% and 20% ownership Limited, the Ireland-based biomass boiler supplier. The move is in
respectively. Under the terms of the agreement Century will line with Imperative’s strategy to expand its operations in the UK
acquire certain assets for consideration of US$100m (€68m). and Ireland.

In a move to increase the company’s presence in the European


renewable energy sector, Oneworld Energy Inc, a Canada based
wind and solar energy generator, has agreed to purchase CWC
Wind Power for an undisclosed value.

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 7


All renewables index at November 2009
1
All Wind Onshore Offshore Solar Solar Biomass/ Infra-2
Rank Country renewables index wind wind PV CSP other Geothermal structure
3
1 (1) US 70 71 75 59 72 76 64 67 68
2 (3) China 67 72 76 61 64 38 56 49 71
3 (2) Germany 66 67 66 72 74 28 64 55 64
4 (4) India 61 63 70 42 62 59 56 43 60
5 (5) Spain 59 60 65 45 64 69 52 35 60
5 (6) Italy 59 59 64 46 66 60 55 65 64
7 (7) UK 57 62 60 67 48 0 56 35 62
7 (8) France 57 59 61 54 61 23 57 29 59
9 (9) Canada 54 60 65 47 42 0 49 34 62
10 (10) Portugal 53 56 61 43 58 22 45 33 58
11 (12) Greece 52 53 57 43 60 43 43 34 56
12 (11) Ireland 51 58 58 57 36 0 47 28 60
13 (13) Australia 50 51 54 42 56 45 46 59 53
14 (13) Sweden 49 52 52 51 43 0 55 34 52
15 (15) Netherlands 45 49 50 49 47 0 40 21 42
15 (15) Poland 45 49 53 39 42 0 41 22 46
17 (17) Denmark 44 48 45 54 40 0 45 32 50
17 (17) Belgium 44 50 48 55 34 0 35 26 47
17 (20) Brazil 44 45 49 34 44 29 46 21 42
20 (17) Norway 43 48 49 45 30 0 44 30 49
20 (21) Japan 43 45 47 39 49 24 34 39 48
22 (21) New Zealand 41 46 50 36 31 0 33 49 41
22 (21) Turkey 41 43 46 36 43 28 36 42 44
22 — South Africa 41 43 47 35 34 44 34 31 41
25 — Czech Republic 36 34 46 0 56 0 39 32 45
26 (24) Austria 34 30 41 0 53 0 47 33 48
27 (25) Finland 33 33 32 35 25 0 47 22 33
Source: Ernst & Young
1. Ranking in issue 22 is shown in parenthesis.
2. Combines with each set of technology factors to produce the individual technology indices.
3. This indicates US states with Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and favorable renewable energy regimes.

This issue sees slight score changes taking place across the board China has risen above Germany in the All renewables index for
as the weighting between technologies (namely wind and solar) the first time, on the back of announcements that restrictions
has been reassessed. This has led to a general rise in countries on the amount of non-domestic components used to
favouring solar technology, reflecting the growing importance of manufacture generation technologies are being relaxed. A raft
solar as a generation technology going forwards. of announcements of new plans for solar PV parks as well as the
Golden Sun incentive program have also contributed to the rise.
In response to requests from our readership, this issue also
contains the addition of two new countries to the published list, Lower down the table, this issue sees rise in Japan’s score. The
South Africa and the Czech Republic. Introductory country focus Japanese government’s new targets to reduce greenhouse gas
pages have been included on pages 19 and 20 respectively. emissions by 25% (based on 1990 levels) by 2020 represents a
significant increase on previous targets of 8%.
Spain has fallen a point in the All renewables to tie with Italy,
reflecting the continuing impact of legislation changes and delays Brazil’s energy plan to 2017 includes calls for 7.3GW of wind,
in processing of applications. biomass and small hydro combined generation capacity to drive
towards a 2020 target of 10% of consumption to be met by
renewable energy.

8 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Wind indices at November 2009
1
Rank Country Wind index Onshore wind Offshore wind Near-term wind
1 (2) China 72 76 61 81
2
2 (1) US 71 75 59 85
3 (2) Germany 67 66 72 52
4 (4) India 63 70 42 56
5 (5) UK 62 60 67 49
6 (6) Spain 60 65 45 51
6 (7) Canada 60 65 47 46
8 (7) Italy 59 64 46 47
8 (7) France 59 61 54 47
10 (10) Ireland 58 58 57 40
11 (11) Portugal 56 61 43 42
12 (12) Greece 53 57 43 40
13 (13) Sweden 52 52 51 35
14 (14) Australia 51 54 42 40
15 (15) Belgium 50 48 55 37
16 (16) Netherlands 49 50 49 34
16 (16) Poland 49 53 39 37
18 (18) Denmark 48 45 54 34
18 (18) Norway 48 49 45 34
20 (20) New Zealand 46 50 36 32
21 (21) Japan 45 47 39 27
21 (21) Brazil 45 49 34 36
23 (23) Turkey 43 46 36 33
23 — South Africa 43 47 35 32
25 — Czech Republic 34 46 NA 28
26 (24) Finland 33 32 35 23
27 (25) Austria 30 41 NA 24
Source: Ernst & Young
1. Ranking in issue 22 long-term wind index is shown in parenthesis.
2. This indicates US states with RPS and favorable renewable energy regimes.

At the top of the table, China has moved ahead of the US due Brazil and Japan have also risen one point in the wind index,
to news of easing restrictions surrounding the usage of foreign following positive announcements from their governments, as
components in developments. This represents a lessening in the detailed under the all renewables index.
difficulty to penetrate the Chinese market, which improves the
Germany has risen one point in the offshore index following
attractiveness of the market to external developers.
approval by the government of special planning permissions
Falling in the wind index this issue, Spain has dropped a point for 15 more offshore wind farms, bringing the total approved
following continued complications in the political environment capacity to 12 GW.
in Spain. News of skyline taxes in Galicia represent a new and
In the onshore wind index, Canada has risen one point following
uncertain development: will they help combat “NIMBYism” or
announcements in Ontario that the province will be spending
drive investment elsewhere?
CAN$2.3b (€1.45b) on grid improvements as well as announcing
The UK has risen one point following further announcements an offshore wind tariff.
relating to improvements with the grid-connection process. The
France has also risen one point in the onshore wind index
announcement of a further £1.15bn of investment in the grid
following news that projects have started to acquire bank
provides hope the situation may improve in the medium term.
finance again.
Some results are starting to be seen from the acceleration of
grid queues.

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 9


Near-term wind index at November 2009
Rank
1
Country Wind index Near-term wind index
2
1 (1) US 85 The US score has risen two points in the near term index as the
2 (2) China 81 short-term drop in installations (relating to stalls caused early
3 (3) India 56 in the credit crunch) appears to be easing, bringing stronger
4 (5) Germany 52 forecasts into the near term.
5 (4) Spain 51
The Chinese score has risen three points following
6 (6) UK 49
announcements regarding the reduction of restrictions on the
7 (7) France 47
level of local components required in developments.
7 (7) Italy 47
9 (9) Canada 46 Germany has risen one point above Spain following
10 (10) Portugal 42 announcements of the approval of 15 more offshore wind farms.
11 (11) Australia 40 Belgium, Norway and Denmark have all risen one point in the near
11 (11) Ireland 40 term due to increased capacity forecasts.
11 (11) Greece 40
Brazil has been forced down one position due to Belgium’s rise in
14 (14) Poland 37
the index.
14 (15) Belgium 37
16 (15) Brazil 36 This issue includes two new countries which have not previously
17 (17) Sweden 35 been published. These have entered toward the lower end
18 (18) Netherlands 34 of the table. For details on these please, see the country
18 (19) Norway 34 introductions for South Africa and the Czech Republic on pages
18 (19) Denmark 34 19 and 20 respectively.
21 (19) Turkey 33
22 (22) New Zealand 32
22 - South Africa 32
24 - Czech Republic 28
25 (23) Japan 27
26 (24) Austria 24
27 (24) Finland 23
Source: Ernst & Young
1. Ranking in issue 22 is shown parenthesis.
2. This indicates US states with RPS and favorable renewable energy regimes.

10 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Country focus — US
Tax credit or grant Ethos Green Energy Asset Finance, a collateral-based lender
serving a niche market of renewable energy developers, said that
Ranking Issue 23 Issue 22 it has struck an agreement to extend a US$300,000 (€204,000)
All renewables index 1 1 loan to Solar America LLC, which Ethos called the first renewable
Long-term wind index 2 1 energy loan secured primarily by newly available federal grant
Near-term wind index 1 1 payments made in lieu of tax credits.
Source: Ernst & Young Companies that import solar panels to the US could face as much
as US$70m (€47.6m) in new tariffs annually because of a recent
The passing of the US’s ambitious climate change bill, which
decision by US Customs. The newly-applied 2.5% duty would
would commit the US to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by
result in increased solar PV prices and decreased attractiveness
20% by 2020, received push-back due to a major push by the
of investment. The US imports around US$1.037b (€705m) in
Democratic leadership to pass a health reform bill during its fall
solar panels every year.
reconvening. Latest indications are that the Senate is unlikely to
pass the climate bill until spring next year. However those working FPL Group Inc of Florida has filed an application to build a US$1b
on the bill have pledged to complete a framework before the (€680m), 250MW CSP plant in Riverside County, southern
Copenhagen climate conference in December. Also a timeline has California. The construction of the first of two 125MW units is
been mapped out for next year to produce an agreement that expected by the summer of 2013.
could attract support from Republicans and moderate Democrats. DoE finalized a US$535m (€363.8m) loan guarantee for
In a major boost for renewable energy, Washington has Solyndra, a Californian solar-energy company. It was the first loan
announced up to US$30b (€20.4b) in loan guarantees for guarantee completed by the department since 2005.
renewable energy projects. The government-guaranteed loans The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reported in its
just announced are to aid companies in solar, wind, biofuels and Q3 market report that the US wind energy industry installed
other renewable energy projects secure private financing. The 1,649MW of new power generating capacity in the third quarter —
loan guarantees are in part funded by the Recovery Act, passed a an amount higher than either Q2 2009 or Q3 2008 — bringing the
few weeks after Obama took office in January 2009, and by the total capacity added this year to date to over 5,800MW. AWEA
Department of Energy’s (DoE) ordinary annual budget. also reported that wind turbine manufacturing still lags below
In September 2009, The US Treasury and Energy Department 2008 levels, in both production and new announcements.
issued US$502m (€341.4m) to renewable energy producers Since the early July announcement of rules to implement the
under the first round of a new program that provides direct stimulus bill, the wind industry has seen over 1,600MW (enough
payments to developers in place of tax credits over time to spur to supply 480,000 average households) of completed projects,
production and attract more private investment in the sector. and over 1,700MW of construction starts. These projects equate
The program, also part of the US$787b (€535b) economic to about US$6.5b (€4.4b) in new investment.
stimulus bill, will provide a total of US$3bn (€2b) in payments to
project developers that began or will begin construction between
1 January 2009 and 30 September 2011. Contact:
Spain’s Iberdrola announced on 8 September that it had issued Michael Bernier
US$2bn (€1.36b) in debt among 150 US institutional investors, Tel: +1 617 585 0322
underlining the company’s declared goal of focusing future wind Email: michael.bernier@ey.com
energy growth in the US. The debt placement came one week
after another boost to IR’s US expansion plans, when it was
awarded US$294m (€200m) of the initial US$502m (€341.4m)
in stimulus grants awarded by the US Treasury.

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 11


Country focus — China
Tender The Golden Sun subsidy was widely anticipated, with China-based
solar panel makers recently announcing a spate of major projects
Ranking Issue 23 Issue 22 that will be technically eligible for the subsidy.
1
All renewables index 2 2
RenaSola announced that it had reached a preliminary agreement
Long-term wind index 1 2
with the city of Yancheng — located north of Shanghai — for a
Near-term wind index 2 2
500MW on-grid solar power project. It will mostly consist of
Source: Ernst & Young ground-mounted systems to be built over a six-year period.
1. Joint
Suntech Power Holdings, one of the world’s largest PV module
The Chinese government has decided to drop a requirement makers, announced in July 2009 that it planned to build three
that most of the components for wind power equipment be 500MW solar projects in Panzhihua city in Sichuan province,
made locally. China currently requires that all wind projects use Shizuishan city in Ningxia Autonomous Region and Qinghai
turbines with more than 70% of their components made in China, province. Another 300MW facility is also planned for the Shaanxi
according to a regulation set by the National Development and province. This brings the total of the four projects to 1.8GW of
Reform Commission in 2007. installed capacity.
China plans to amend the country’s renewable energy law to set a US company First Solar said that it had signed a Memorandum
minimum quota of electricity produced by RES that state-owned of Understanding (MoU) with the Chinese government to build a
grid companies must buy , in a effort to encourage them to buy 2-GW solar plant in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, China. The project
more electricity from wind, solar and biomass projects. will benefit from a feed-in-tariff that will guarantee the price of
On 21 July 2009, the Chinese Ministry of Finance announced the electricity the power plant generates over the long term.
‘Golden Sun’ subsidy scheme which will support at least 500MW China Datang subsidiary Datang New Energy said last week it
of PV installation in the next two to three years. Several Chinese had signed agreements with the government of Baotou in Inner
provinces have also announced PV targets and supportive policies Mongolia to build a 1,000MW wind farm, as well as a 500MW
in the past few months. solar power plant. China Datang recently said it intended to
The Ministry of Finance announced that a maximum of 20MW expand its RE portfolio by expanding its current 2,350MW of wind
per province would be eligible for the ‘Golden Sun’ incentive. capacity up to 10,000MW by 2015.
It will cover half the building costs, including grid-connection,
transmission and distribution systems, for the projects. The Contact:
subsidy will rise to 70% for solar power systems in remote areas
Ben Warren
that are not currently connected to the grid. Under the scheme,
Tel: +44 20 7951 6024
grid operators will also be required to buy excess electricity at
Email: bwarren@uk.ey.com
prices on a par with power from coal-fired power plants.

12 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Country focus — Germany
Feed-in tariff the obligation to connect German offshore wind parks to the
transmission grid.
Ranking Issue 23 Issue 22 According to the Energy Industry Act, Transmission System
1
All renewables index 3 2 Operators are obligated to connect RE facilities to the grid. Given
Long-term wind index 3 3 that some €1.1b of investment is required, grid operators (E.on
1
Near-term wind index 4 4 for the North Sea and Vattenfall for the Baltic Sea) are hesitant
Source: Ernst & Young to provide the grid connections. Evidence is sought regarding the
1. Joint viability of the offshore projects. On the other hand, developers
faced difficulties obtaining funding from financing parties who
required proof of grid connection to assess the project’s progress.
Solar
As it is unclear under which criteria an offshore wind park can
Since 1 January 2009, feed-in tariffs have declined 10% for solar
assume to be connected, project developers were in the limbo,
PV and 8% for integrated solar and roof-top solar. This significant
which caused delays to some developments.
decline has created a massive rush for German developers to
develop residential solutions. This is further exacerbated by the The position paper now provided by BNetzA clarifies this situation
Spanish solar market’s collapse due to the 500MWp cap introduced and provides the following four criteria:
for new installations in FY09. 1. A permit for the construction or the confirmation from
Prices for solar PV panels have decreased 30% to 40% worldwide respective authorities that the required permits will be issued
since summer 2008. The worst-affected are the high quality, 2. A reasonable construction time line
upscale German photovoltaic supply chain companies, now
suffering from overcapacity in a market where installation 3. A sea bed subsurface investigation to be considered for the
capacities are shrinking. The acquisition of PV module maker assessment of the grid connection
Ersol last year and currently Aleo Solar by Robert Bosch might be 4. Contracts evidencing that wind turbines have been ordered;
seen as the first steps of a possible market consolidation. Other and a binding credit commitment for wind turbine financing or
listed giants like ABB or GE might follow suit. a letter of intent regarding the ordering of key components
Companies are calling on politicians to seek protection. One idea Based on this new position paper from BNetzA, it can be hoped
is to tighten the quality standards for PV modules used. Subsidies that this “chicken and egg” situation can be resolved and that
and feed-in tariffs should only be granted in cases where certain fundraising for offshore wind parks will be eased on this basis.
standards are fulfilled. This could reduce competition from China
(e.g., Yingly, Suntech) as well as US firms (e.g., First Solar) who
use cadmium for thin-layer solar products. According to the
Alpha Ventus
German Coalition agreement of the new government to solar feed On 12 August 2009, for the first time offshore wind power flowed
in tarrifs are subject to review and the new government envisages from the North Sea to the German power grid. A consortium
to amend the German Renewable Energy Law by 2012. of EWE (47%), E.ON (26.5%) and Vattenfall (26.5%), has now
successfully started up, adjusted and regulated electricity
German solar PV market also faces legislative challenges in generation for six “M5000 Areva Multibrid” and another six
comparison with other RE sources. For instance, German trade repower M5 wind turbines at the Alpha Ventus wind farm.
tax legislations provide that 70% of the income generated by
wind farms is taxable (7% to 17% tax rate) by the municipality The experience gained in the adjustment phase has been viewed
where the wind turbines are located. The remaining 30% is by the other 14 offshore wind projects in the North Sea and
taxed by the municipality where the operating company has its 4 in the Baltic Sea with great interest and will have further
business headquarters. For solar energy plants, no such provision implications on their project planning. It is not an adjustment
exists. Instead, income of PV plants is 100% taxable by the phase but a “pilot phase”.
municipality where the company has its business seat. If the solar
plants are placed in a particular location, the local municipality
Contact:
will not gain taxable trade income. This leads to a situation
where municipalities are rejecting solar energy projects, despite Dr. Frank Matzen
available capacities in the area. This is another challenge for Tel: +44 20 7951 0331
German politicians. Email: fmatzen@uk.ey.com
Dr. Florian Ropohl
Offshore wind Tel: +49 40 36132 16554
The Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Email: florian.ropohl@de.ey.com
Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA) published a
position paper on 2 October 2009, clarifying the issue regarding

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 13


Country focus — India
Feed-in tariff Suzlon Energy intends to double the capacity of its recently
launched 750 MW wind farm in the Kutch district of Gujarat.
Ranking Issue 23 Issue 23 Suzlon has already inked a INR50b (€700m) MoU with the
All renewables index 4 4 state government to boost the facility’s capacity to 1.5GW over
1
Long-term wind index 4 4 two years.
Near-term wind index 3 3
CLP Group will build a 99MW wind farm at Theni in Tamil Nadu.
Source: Ernst & Young With this investment, CLP India expands its wind energy portfolio
1. Joint
to 450MW and raises the group’s total renewable investments to
Ahead of the Copenhagen conference on climate change, the more than 1,300MW.
Indian government is likely to announce a 15% target for new Indian Veer Energy and Infrastructure Ltd intends to develop
energy capacity addition from renewable resources by 2020. The a wind power pipeline with a combined capacity of 200MW in
National Solar Mission aims to make India a global leader in solar Gujarat with an investment of INR12b (€168m). It will involve
energy. It envisages installed solar generation capacity of 20GW, the purchase of land, foundation work and installation of wind
100GW and 200GW in 2020, 2030 and 2050 respectively. turbines as well as commissioning.
The government is expected to allocate INR850b to INR1,050b
Gujarat is planning to acquire 12,000 to 15,000 acres of
(€11.9b to €14.7b) to support the mission which aims to add one
waste land to set up a 3GW solar power complex. The state
million green jobs by 2020.
government of Gujarat hopes to complete the land procurement
The “Indian wind energy outlook, 2009” prepared jointly by the for its giant solar project by the end of this year. The Clinton
Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and the Indian Wind Turbine Foundation is set to help the state’s government source funding
Manufacturers Association (IWTMA) considers that wind energy for the US$10b (€140m) project and to bring in manufacturers
can provide up to 24% of the country’s power needs by 2030. It and power generators.
can also attract INR475b (€6.65b) of investment annually, create
North Delhi Power Ltd (NDPL) intends to develop a solar project
over 200,000 million green-collar jobs and reduce 5.5 billion
with 50 to 100MW capacity in Rajasthan. NDPL is in talks with the
tonnes of carbon.
Rajasthan government and electricity board about the project,
DLF Ltd, India’s largest listed real estate developer, is in talks with including the power tariff and transmission costs.
Europe-based GDF Suez and Akuo Energy to sell its wind energy
French nuclear power major Areva and US RE group Astonfield
business. DLF hopes to raise at least INR9b (€126m) from the sale.
will invest €100m to build 10 biomass power plants of 10MW
BP Plc has sold its wind power interests in India as it intends to each in India. Astonfield will fund 60% of the project costs, while
focus on its wind energy portfolio in the US. Green Infra Limited Areva the remaining 40%. The construction works are due to
has purchased BP’s subsidiary, BP Energy India Private Ltd, which begin in the fourth quarter of 2009 in West Bengal.
operates three wind farms in India with a capacity of 100MW.
GE Energy, a unit of General Electric Company, will build a 450MW
Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), the central wind turbine manufacturing plant in South India. The facility,
power sector regulator in India, has announced tariff guidelines scheduled for operation in the second half of 2010, will make 1.5
for RE sources, which are expected to accelerate the sector’s XLE-type turbines, which GE deems most suitable for India’s low
development. Base pretax Return on Equity (RoE) for all wind level. GE Energy considers the move will allow access to a
renewable projects has been set at 19% for the first 10 years larger sourcing base from India for critical items including blades,
and 24% thereafter. towers, gear boxes, castings and forgings.
North Indian state of Haryana has the highest fixed tariffs in the
country. The state government has signed a MoU with private
investors for generation of 215 MW RE electricity with a INR10bn
Contact:
(€140m) investment. Sudipta Das
Tel: +91 33 6615 3400
Email: sudipta.das@in.ey.com

14 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Country focus — Portugal
Green certificate Babcock & Brown sold its majority stake (78%) in the pioneering
wave power project in Portugal developed by Companhia de
Ranking Issue 23 Issue 22 Energia Oceanica. The stakes were bought by Portuguese power
All renewables index 10 10 company, EDP, and a Portuguese electronics and industrial
Long-term wind index 11 11 products firm, EFACEC, in a deal worth €2.5m. With the new
Near-term wind index 10 10 shareholder structure: EDP (52%), EFACEC (25%) and the Scottish
Source: Ernst & Young
company Pelamis Wave Power (23%), the consortium is hoping
to repair the Pelamis devices, that have been out of the water
Portugal has set RE policy objectives for 2007-20 as follows: for 10 months now due to technical problems. By 2011, the
consortium intends to implement the second phase of the project
► Increase installed capacity by 100% — from 14.4MW (2007) to
with Pelamis II, with firstly a pilot version of only one machine.
28.4MW (2020)
Depending on the level of success achieved, the full two dozen
► Achieve competitive energy costs — through promotion of power rigs with 21MW of potential capacity may be implemented.
wind-water projects, reduction of RES technology costs, and
Following the insolvency of Qimonda AG announced in January
investments in energy efficiency
2009, a consortium of Portuguese industrial companies, banks
► 60% of electricity consumption to be supplied by renewable and investment funds had planned to take over Qimonda’s
sources — currently 43% of electricity is generated from interest in Itarion, a solar PV cell manufacturing joint venture
renewable sources launched with Centrosolar Group. Itarion was classified as a
project of national interest. However, in August 2009 Centrosolar
► To limit CO2 emissions to 7.6 tons per capita — the most
concluded that the direction taken by negotiations ruled out
ambitious CO2 target in the EU
the success of the project, and Itarion was filed for insolvency.
EDF Energies Nouvelles jointly operates the Alto Minho I wind The remaining parties to the consortium (now with an Angolan
park (Europe’s largest wind farm) with 120 turbines (240MW Bank) lead by DST Renewables have presented a new project
total capacity). It has an annual forecast production of 530GWh — to manufacture solar PV cells panels, taking advantage of the
capable of supplying 160,000 homes. previous Qimonda facilities and their technical expertise.
The Amareleja Solar Power Station operated by Acciona Energy
in Moura is the world’s largest photovoltaic station. With 2,520
azimuthal solar trackers (each with 104 panels) this station has Contact:
the capacity to produce 93,000MWh per year. Isaac Vaz
Tel: +351 217 912 231
Portugal also hosts the world’s first commercial wave energy
Email: isaac.vaz@pt.ey.com
project. September 2008 saw the wave park open in Aguçadoura,
Póvoa do Varzim, Northern Portugal. The three Pelamis energy Jose Gonzaga Rosa
converters (with 2.25MW installed capacity) located 5km offshore Tel: +351 217 912 232
aim to supply energy to 1,500 homes. Email: jose.gonzaga-rosa@pt.ey.com
Martifer Renewables has agreed to acquire Parque Eolico Penha Florbela Lima
da Gardunha (PEPG), a Portugal-based operator of wind farms, Tel: +351 217 949 341
from Enersis for a total consideration of €7.5m. PEPG currently Email: florbela.lima@pt.ey.com
holds a 25% interest in Ventiveste SA, a Portuguese wind
energy consortium, and with this acquisition Martifer will hold
a 56.6% share.

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 15


Country focus — Ireland
Feed-in tariff BioPower also recently commissioned a report entitled
The BioPower Report: Renewable Energy Generation and
Ranking Issue 23 Issue 22 Renewable Resources in Ireland. The main findings of this are that
All renewables index 12 11 Ireland has an abundance of RE and that a combination of these
Long-term wind index 10 10 renewable energies can give Ireland a totally secure, dependable
1 1
Near-term wind index 11 11 and predictable energy supply.
Source: Ernst & Young Ten Irish firms are to be granted a total of €4.3m in funding
1. Joint
to boost ocean-based hydropower projects. The cash will be
In recent weeks the European Investment Bank announced up to distributed by government-funded Sustainable Energy Ireland
€300m in soft loans for an interconnector between Ireland and (SEI). “The Atlantic ocean provides an untapped source of RE
the UK, while a further allocation of up to €200m was approved and gives Ireland a unique advantage in the development of
for development of renewable energy businesses — principally ocean energy technology,” SEI CEO Owen Lewis said. Individual
wind farms — by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), Ireland’s state- company grants range from €20,000 to €2m.
owned electricity provider. Irish tidal RE company OpenHydro has been awarded a grant
The investment is to promote the development of offshore and of up to €2m under SEI’s Ocean Energy Prototype Research &
onshore wind energy production in Ireland, which at present is Development Programme. The grant will go toward OpenHydro’s
only realizing a fraction of its potential in this area. The longer- design and development costs of its next generation €16m Open-
term view is that Ireland will have vast excess capacity of wind Centre Turbine, Subsea Base and Installation Barge used in the
energy, which it can sell on to the European markets through deployment of OpenHydro’s technology.
the interconnector. Swedish electricity company Vattenfall has announced a joint
The Republic of Ireland’s government has awarded planning venture with Irish wave-energy company Wavebob aimed at
permission for a 500MW power link to Wales that will run via commercializing the wave energy produced by the oceans
a 260km cable beneath the Irish Sea. The announcement around Ireland. Together, the two companies have formed Tonn
comes just two weeks after EirGrid secured consent for an Energy, which is among one of the first commercial wave power-
electricity converter station near the Welsh coast. The east- development companies to be established in Ireland.
west interconnector developed by EirGrid will enable two-way Kedco, an Irish-based green energy group has raised €2.6m from
power transmission between the two nations by 2012. The a share placing with a number of investors. Kedco said the new
£539m (€603.7m) link will carry electricity to supply up to funds would be used to develop opportunities for joint ventures
300,000 homes. which it had already identified. The investors include the directors
Ireland’s Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural of the company.
Resources, Eamon Ryan said, “The scheme will allow us to import Kedco also said Enterprise Ireland (the Government agency
electricity when required from the UK market. More importantly it responsible for the development of the Irish indigenous business
will mean that we can export our electricity to the UK.” sector) had agreed to subscribe €500,000 for shares in Kedco
BGE has announced a €1.8m deal with UK-based Ceres Power Power Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kedco. The company,
to provide small-scale Combined Heat and Power (Micro-CHP) which is listed on London’s AIM market, is focused on energy
products to the residential market. These Micro-CHP products production in Ireland and the UK.
are based on state-of-the-art fuel cell technology and operate on A Cork-based company has secured funding of €230,000 from
natural gas. Development and trialling of the products in Ireland Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI). The funding boost follows
and Northern Ireland is expected to begin in 2010 with a full successful completion of trials to test the company’s wave power
market rollout in 2012. technology at an offshore site in Galway Bay. The company
BioPower Group Plc (BioPower) is a bioenergy and organic plans to generate a further €20m in funding over the next five
waste management company, which has developed a system to years to commercialize the product for use in the Irish and
convert organic waste to energy (BioPower System 6) combining overseas markets.
a number of existing technologies in a unique integrated cycle.
BioPower plans to build 30 BioParks® strategically located across
Contact:
Britain and Ireland.
Maurice Minogue
Tel: +353 21 4805 762
Email: maurice.minogue@ie.ey.com

16 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Country focus — Poland
Green certificate and feed-in tariff Elektrownia Połaniec (GDF Suez member) bought a 30% share
of Beta from Polish Energy Partners. Beta is constructing a wind
Ranking Issue 23 Issue 22 farm in Jarogniew/Mołtowo, Zachodniopomorskie. The total net
1 1
All renewables index 15 15 transaction amounted to PLN4.7m (€1.1m).
1 1
Long-term wind index 16 16
1 1
A Danish company, Nordex, wants to invest €60m in the
Near-term wind index 14 14
construction of 15 wind turbines (2.5MW each) in Orla county
Source: Ernst & Young (Podlaskie). The construction is to begin in 2010.
1. Joint
The largest energy company in Portugal, EDP Group, secured
Wind farms with a 12GW total capacity are currently under a refinancing loan of PLN360m (€86m) from the European
development in Poland, of which (according to the TSO) only 8GW Investment Bank for its first project in Poland. The loan will
will be able to be connected to the power grid. finance half of the wind farm project in Margonin, which will be
Poland’s wind power cumulative installed capacity exceeded the largest wind farm in Poland. Neolica Polska (of the EDP Group)
600 MW (624 MW in August 2009), which is approximately 2% has already built 20 wind turbines (2MW each). The project is to
of the total capacity installed in Poland. Poland has 253 wind have 60 wind turbines totaling 120MW.
installations. A private investor (who owns Polish company J.W. Construction)
A report on wind energy prepared in July 2009 (by Milward- declared he would use the land he owns in the Nowogard county
Brown SMG/KRC) provides the following information: (Zachodniopomorskie) to construct 100 wind turbines (2.3MW
each). The investment is to cost approximately PLN 1b (€230m).
► The majority of companies (45%) finance their wind farm If constructed, this would be the largest wind farm project realized
investments internally. Only 16 % declared they would take so far in Poland.
advantage of EU or Polish investment support funds.
It is estimated that 3,000 biogas production installations could be
► The declared average cost of 1MW of installed capacity in a constructed in Poland (with 0.1MW-3MW capacity). At present,
wind farm is €1.3m. only five biogas installations are operating and more than a dozen
► The investment process took on average four to five years. such projects are under construction. Projects often face delays
due to problems with administrative procedures.
The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water
Management accumulated PLN 2.3b (€0.5b) in penalties from Kopex prepares to launch its first biogas installations in Rzeczyce
entities not meeting the required share of green energy sales. and Zalesie (1MW each) with planned electricity generation in Q4
However, due to overcomplicated administrative procedures, most 2009. In 2010, Kopex plans to construct an additional four such
of the money has not yet been reallocated to support initiatives installations with a goal of 30 installations over five years, with
such as RES investments. each costing PLN20m (€4.7m).

The Ministry of Economy prepared an amendment to the In August 2009, Agrogaz Sp constructed the largest biogas
ordinance concerning the electricity and heat generation from installation (Schmack Biogaz AG) in Poland (with a capacity of
RES. Biomass materials will now include grain from agricultural 2.1MW) in Liszków. The installation is to be further developed to
crops. The grain has to be below the EU intervention purchase reach a 3MW capacity. In September 2009, the company started
quality standards. The proposal prompts controversies but similar building another 1.8MW installation in Świecie. It also plans to
solutions have already been adopted in certain countries (USA, start the construction of a larger 3.2MW installation in Kruszwica
Finland and Sweden). for Q2 2010. The company estimates that it will be able to realize
four to eight similar projects annually.
In another proposed amendment to the Polish Energy Law
Act, the Ministry of Economy wants to grant the production
of agricultural biogas the same green certificates as for the Contact:
electricity production by other RE sources.
Kamil Baj
During Q3 2009, project activity in Poland has mainly involved Tel: +48 23 557 8855
wind farm development. However, biogas installations have Email: kamil.baj@pl.ey.com
started to compete with wind farms for investment funding.
Jacek Rodzeń
ENERGA and Lignite Mine Adamów signed a letter of intent to Tel: +48 23 557 6234
jointly construct and operate wind farms on the decommissioned Email: jacek.rodzen@pl.ey.com
lignite mine sites. The projected installed capacity is 80 MW and is
due to start operation in 2012.

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 17


Country focus — Brazil
Tender

Ranking Issue 23 Issue 22


1
All renewables index 17 20
1
Long-term wind index 21 21
Near-term wind index 16 15
Source: Ernst & Young
1. Joint.

PROINFA, the Brazilian federal government-backed program, aims


to encourage new investments in renewable energy, especially
wind farms. Through this program, the government has offered
funding options and PPAs with public players. Once projects have
obtained guarantees, 80% of Capex funding can be arranged
with BNDES, the main public bank in Brazil. Eletrobras, a public
energy company, often guarantees the long-term PPA with these
new projects.
Brazil’s energy plan to 2017 includes calls for 7.3GW of combined
generation capacity — wind, biomass and small hydro — driving
towards a 2020 target of 10% of consumption to be met by
renewable energy.
Fifty-four new wind projects have been contracted with a total
installed capacity of 1.4GW if successfully completed. However,
investors have found difficulties procuring the related technology.
There are few equipment suppliers in Brazil and Capex costs have
become unreflective of the projected cash flow for these new
investments. Purchasing the equipment from foreign suppliers
would not normally be the best option, as public banks usually
require locally sourced equipment to approve better funding
options. Over six years, only 27% of contracted wind power
capacity through PROINFA is operating.
By the end of 2009, the Brazil national energy authority, ANEEL,
is preparing a new auction of 13GW of wind power through a
long term PPA. There are 441 new projects in this auction, and
the success of this process will depend on the parameters to be
established by ANEEL.

Contact:
Luiz Claudio S. Campos
Tel: +55 21 2109 1710
Email: luiz-claudio.campos@br.ey.com

18 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Country introduction — South Africa
Feed-in tariff In October 2009, NERSA approved phase II of the feed-in tariffs,
which provided further optimism particularly for solar investment.
Ranking Issue 23 Issue 22 The 20-year guarantee at rates comparable to Europe’s top
1
All renewables index 22 N/A solar markets could be enough to generate attractive returns at
1
Long-term wind index 23 N/A relatively high discount rates. While the approved tariffs are valid
1
Near-term wind index 22 N/A for 2009, it is not clear how will they decline over the years.
Long-term solar index 16 N/A
Excluded from phase II are wave, tidal and geothermal
Source: Ernst & Young technologies, regarded as not commercially viable at present.
1. Joint
CPV, was also excluded due to “high economic cost,” according
to NERSA.
The target set in the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME)’s
2003 white paper on renewable energy created significant The REFIT scheme, structured in combination with other incentive
interest in the South African market and has prompted several mechanisms: Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Tradable
potential Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to propose Renewable Energy Certificates (TRECs), grant financing and
renewable power generation projects. premium power purchase prices have successfully encouraged
the development of several projects such as the Bethlehem
Subsequent to the 2003 white paper, the DME issued the
hydropower project, Darling wind farm and Nelson Mandela Bay
Renewable Energy Framework (REF).
Renewable Energy Project.
The aim of the REF is to enable the establishment of new RE
In terms of resource quality, South Africa’s wind resource
generating projects in order to meet South Africa’s 2013
can be described as moderate with the East and West Coast
renewable energy target of:
regions having an average resource of approximately 4 to 6m/s
► Biomass above 1MW per annum at a 10m hub height or 6 to 8 m/s at 50m. The wind
► Small scale hydro greater than 1MW and less than or equal is highly seasonal and varied, resulting in relatively low average.
to 10MW capacity factors between 15% and 25%, though some higher
capacity factor sites exist.
► Large-scale wind preferably larger than 20MW
South Africa experiences some high levels of solar radiation.
► Concentrated solar power larger than or equal to 20MW The average daily solar radiation in South Africa varies between
2
The REF defines that: 4.5 and 6.5 kWh/m /day, with several excellent areas such as
2
Upington, with 8.2 kWh/m /day.
► The renewable energy target of 10,000GWh is to be met by
60% electric and 40% non-electric sources. For small hydro, South Africa has an installed capacity of 34MW.
In the short term, the potential for developing more of this
► IPPs are expected to supply 60% of the 6,000GWh resource is firmly established at 69MW with an additional long-
electric target. term 94MW of identified resources.
To encourage investment in renewable energy infrastructure, South Africa’s biomass potential can be divided into three groups,
in March 2009 the National Energy Regulator of South Africa that of wood, agricultural and grass feedstocks. Estimates
(NERSA) announced the Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (REFIT) indicate that there is potentially 1.26 billion GJ of energy
will guarantee a stable rate-of-return to IPPs. available annually from biomass feedstocks. Biomass energy
Under the REFIT scheme, private RE generators will be able to could thus theoretically provide 50 % of the national demand.
sell electricity at fixed subsidized levels to Eskom, South Africa’s Recent developments have also seen implementation and
electricity utility. The feed-in tariffs would cover four renewable development of landfill gas projects.
energy technologies, namely wind, concentrated solar, landfill gas
and small hydropower.
This incentive yielded positive responses as South Africa’s Contact:
Department of Minerals and Energy said it had received more than Norman Ndaba
100 renewable energy proposals that could add up to 5,000MW Tel: +27 11 772 225 3294
(equivalent to six coal power plants) to the country’s energy mix. Of Email: norman.ndaba@za.ey.com
the projects, the greatest interest related to wind energy (45% of
proposals), biomass (34%) and hydroelectric power (8%).

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 19


Country introduction — Czech Republic
Feed-in tariff and green bonus the Law 180/2005. The amendment enables the ERO to decrease
the tariff for newly commissioned RE technology by more than
Ranking Issue 23 Issue 22 5% if the given RE technology has a payback period lower than 11
All renewables index 25 N/A years in the year when the new tariff is being set by the ERO. This
Long-term wind index 25 N/A amendment will be put into force from 2011, which means the
Near-term wind index 24 N/A feed-in tariffs for RE technologies put into operation in 2010 shall
Long-term solar index 12 N/A still not be more than 5% lower than current tariffs in force in 2009.
Moreover, according to the amendment, the ERO can decrease the
Source: Ernst & Young
tariffs for newly commissioned technologies from 2011 onwards
Current legislative framework in the Czech Republic aims to only to such an extent as to ensure the 15 years payback period.
reach an indicative target of 8% of electricity produced to be from Other aspects of feed-in tariffs will remain unchanged.
renewable sources in 2010, up from 4.7% in 2008. Belgian RE company, Enfinity, signed a contract in May 2009 with
RE-generated electricity is promoted via a price regulation developer VGP to place PV panels on the roofs of industrial parks
mechanism where plant operators may choose between a in the Czech Republic. Enfinity plans to install panels with an
guaranteed feed-in tariff and a green bonus (paid on top of the output of up to 10MW.
market price). The largest Czech PV plant will be completed by the end of 2009
The Energy Regulation Office (ERO) determines the feed-in in Vranovská Ves. Total costs will reach CZK 2bn ($115m) and will
tariff and green bonus for individual technologies used in the contain three power units with 18-20MW of total capacity.
generation of renewable electricity for the coming calendar CEZ, Czech Republic’s largest RE producer — mainly operating
year. Both mechanisms are applicable throughout the operating large hydro plants — plans, plans to increase its biomass electricity
life of the technologies — currently set at 20 years for main production to 1 million MWh, tripling its 2008 production.
technologies, and 30 years for small hydro.
Teplárny České Budějovice (TČB) received approval in 2009
The Feed-in tariff set by the ERO for the technology at the time of from the Ministry of Environment for a new biomass combustion
its commissioning is the minimum price throughout its operating power block at Vráto. The new block should produce an output of
life. This price increases by inflation at 2% to 4% p.a. Feed-in tariffs 9.6MWe and heating output of 28.2MWt. Annual consumption is
for newly commissioned technology for the following year shall anticipated at 84,000 tons of wood chips and pellets.
not be less than 95% of the tariff in force for the given technology
in the year before ERO recalculation. Wind energy, which has the lowest feed-in tariff is largely opposed
by the public and regional authorities who consider it noisy and
The green bonus applicable to the individual technology is detrimental to the landscape. As such, it is very difficult to get
guaranteed only for one year because the bonus changes each construction permits for wind plants.
year, as it is mainly dependent on the market price of electricity.
The Stribro municipality rejected the construction of wind plants
Profit from sale of RES electricity is exempt from income tax. on their territory in May 2009. This ends CEZ’s plans to build the
The fiscal benefit is claimed in the year which the system was biggest wind park in the Plzensko region. Local residents also
commissioned and in the five subsequent years. opposed the plans.
Operators of plants that generate renewable electricity are In August 2009, the first big success for these wind energy
entitled to priority connection to the grid as obligated under disputes occurred when the regional court in Hradec Králové
Act Nr. 180/2005. RE-sourced electricity are also be ruled in favour of an investor after initial rejection by Pardubice
transmitted at a priority. regional authority, thus setting a precedent.
The largest potential lies with wind power and biomass, while
investments in solar energy are generally driven by attractive
Contact:
subsidies. Hydro power potential is almost fully utilized.
Vladislav Severa
Feed-in tariffs and green bonuses for RE are set by the ERO for a Tel: +420 225 335 411
target 15-year payback period of invested capital. According to Email: Vladislav.Severa@cz.ey.com
current legislation, maximum year-on-year recalculated decrease
for newly commissioned technologies is 5%. Yet solar technology Štěpán Flieger
prices have declined by more than 40% in recent years due to Tel: +420 225 335 863
technological progress and economies of scale. This leads to Email: Stepan.Flieger@cz.ey.com
a situation where the actual average payback period for solar Petra Lukešová
investment is now said to be only seven years discounted. Tel: +420 225 335 765
In response to these developments in solar technology, in Email: Petra.Lukesova@cz.ey.com
November 2009 the Czech government passed an amendment to

20 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Feature — wave energy:
breaking on the shores of opportunity
1
Rank Country Wave index Wave energy moves along the maturity curve
1 (1) Portugal 68
The global wave energy industry has moved from test tank trials
2 (2) Ireland 65
to a race for commercialization. Multiple technology developers
3 (3) UK 64 seek the first bankable technology — no clear winners have as
2
4 (4) US 60 yet emerged.
5 (5) Australia 53
6 (6) France 53
Financing device development
7 (7) Canada 48
Many device developers are now finding that financing to pull
8 NA South Africa 47
their designs through to commercialization is proving challenging.
9 (8) China 46
Examples exist of the different routes developers have taken.
10 (9) New Zealand 44
However the financial crisis has altered the finance landscape and
11 (10) Norway 43
closed some, previously open, doors.
12 (12) Denmark 41
13 (11) Spain 41 As with technical diversification, device developers have sought
14 (13) Italy 40 out a number of different routes to secure development capital:
15 (15) Greece 36 ► Venture capital/private equity: Oceanlinx has been through
16 (14) Germany 35 multiple private funding rounds.
17 (16) Netherlands 30
18 (17) Sweden 28
► IPO: OPT floated on AIM and Nasdaq in May 2007.
19 (18) Belgium 27 ► Strategic partnerships: Vattenfall and Wavebob, Orecon and
20 (19) India 22 Eneólica, or Lockheed Martin and OPT have formed strategic
21 (20) Finland 20 partnerships.
22 (22) Japan 18
► Project finance: Carnegie have agreed a AU$250m draw down
23 (21) Poland 17
facility with Investec to support a commercial scale project.
24 (23) Turkey 16
25 (24) Brazil 16
How can the wave sector better prepare
26 NA Czech Republic 0
26 (25) Austria 0
for investment?
Investors, especially in the current economic climate, are highly
Source: Ernst & Young
1. Ranking in issue 22 is in parenthesis. sensitive to risk. The industry therefore needs to address this. This
2. This indicates US states with RPS and favorable renewable energy regimes. needs to be managed from a business perspective, for example:
► Technical: Comprehensive due diligence from a recognized
Global resource technical expert
Wave energy is a resource found all across the globe with ► Management: Internal management expertise, in terms
the highest resource being concentrated in the 40° to 60° of technical know-how, business development and
latitude range north and south and on the western coasts of business management
the major continents.
► Financial: Robust cash flow forecasting, evidence of reliable
cash flow control
Another route to reducing project risk would be to harness
established infrastructure, such as EMEC or Wave Hub in the UK.
Infrastructure risk is a key technical challenge, and therefore those
developers who can reduce this will see increased investor interest.

Government support is key


The lure of large generation subsidies might not be enough to
bring finance at the crucial commercialization phase. As such, the
wave energy sector needs a range of financial support measures,
which are relevant to different device developers at their different
stages of R&D and testing to allow smooth progression to
commercial devices being installed in seas around the globe.

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 21


Australia — Minister Ferguson’s interview with
Ernst & Young
In September 2009, Dr. Marc Newson, Cleantech
leader for Ernst & Young Oceania, spoke with the Contact:
Honourable Martin Ferguson AM, MP, Australia’s Dr. Marc Newson
Minister for Resource and Energy and Minister Tel: +61 2 9248 5555
for Tourism. Email: marc.newson@au.ey.com

Marc Newson: The May 2009 budget outlining development Marc Newson: Back to the 1GW Solar flagship projects, have
of 1GW of new Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) is a welcomed you considered the tendering process for these projects? For
step to rapidly grow renewable energy infrastructure in example, will projects integrating CSP and CCGT infrastructure
Australia, but has the interaction of these flagship projects been as hybrids be viewed with different criteria to stand-alone CSP
considered with the recently passed expanded MRET scheme? projects?
Minister Ferguson: The AUD$1.5b (€930m) Solar Flagships Minister Ferguson: The Clean Energy Initiative, including
Program announced in the Australian government’s May the AUD$1.5b (€930m) Solar Flagships Program is a major
2009 budget will provide funding to support construction and undertaking and one that has attracted international interest.
demonstration of large-scale solar power stations — both solar
All matters relating to the design of the Solar Flagships
thermal and solar PV — in Australia.
Program are currently under consideration by the
The flagships projects complement the expanded Renewable government.
Energy Target (RET) by providing additional support to
accelerate the deployment of technologies that are ready for
large-scale commercial demonstration. Once commissioned,
solar flagships projects will be eligible to create renewable
energy certificates under the RET scheme. Marc Newson: Equally, there is a very large skill and materials
pull by areas such as India and the Middle East; how do you
plan to position the Australian projects ahead of these to
secure these essential resources?
Minister Ferguson: Australia is well-positioned in key parts
Marc Newson: Ernst & Young research indicates that the of the industry-development chain, particularly technology
additional capacity required to meet an extended target is development, financing, project management, engineering,
likely to be met by the national pipeline of 14GW to 18GW construction, and operations. There is currently a global glut
of wind projects. Is there still scope to modify the new MRET in some component manufacturing, with the establishment
target for more emerging technologies such as large-scale of new facilities in low cost locations such as China. This is
solar or wave energy? hurting established manufacturing operations in places such
Minister Ferguson: The Renewable Energy Target is a market- as Germany, but is good for Australia in keeping downward
based mechanism, and as such, it is likely to bring on the most pressure on project costs.
mature, market-ready technologies, particularly in the early
years of the scheme.
Marc Newson: One of the very interesting technical
As you have indicated, this means that we are likely to see
capabilities of CSP is the ability to employ heat-storage
significant amounts of wind generation come on-line, as well
materials and generate an almost baseload level of power,
as other mature renewable technologies such as biomass.
which comes with an additional cost. What might this value of
However, because of the sheer size of the target, we expect
base load power be above more intermittent supplies?
the RET will bring on a range of other technologies such as
solar and geothermal. Minister Ferguson: Australia operates a competitive
wholesale generation market which values generation
Other Government initiatives within the AUD$4.5bn(€2.8b)
in line with its ability to meet demand. Given that solar
Clean Energy Initiative support the research, development
is well-correlated to demand peaks, it should be able to
and demonstration of large-scale solar, geothermal and wave
take advantage of higher price periods. As the Carbon
energy. This funding support will help drive down the cost of
Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) makes coal and gas
emerging technologies so they can compete with more mature
more expensive, that will also make solar baseload power
technologies under the expanded RET.
increasingly competitive in all price bands.

22 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Marc Newson: On the subject of renewable energy and Marc Newson: There appears to be a financing gap between
intermittency, one of the perception risks with renewable AUD$200m to AUD$350m (€124m to €217m) for the CSP
energy is the intermittency and associate energy fluctuations projects that Australia is planning to build. Apart from a local
associated with significant amounts of renewable energy. utility company, what sort of investor is being encouraged to
What is the government doing to mitigate this risk? participate in solar flagships, and what is the planned timing
around this?
Minister Ferguson: The government is aware that significantly
increasing the level of renewable energy generation, Minister Ferguson: All matters relating to the design of the
particularly from intermittent sources such as wind, may pose Solar Flagships Program are currently under consideration by
challenges for our electricity network stability. the government. One thing is certain — the program will have
very high levels of accountability. The adequacy of financing
This is why the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE),
will only be determined by testing the market.
comprising commonwealth as well as state and territory
energy ministers, has already implemented a range of
initiatives to manage increasing levels of wind generation.
These include new information disclosure requirements,
technical standards for wind generation, and new market rules
to support the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)
better manage the network at times of high wind generation.
The Australian government has also funded the development
of the Australian Wind Energy Forecasting System (AWEFS),
which was implemented in October 2008. The AWEFS will
enable AEMO to better forecast wind generation in Australian
power systems and help maximize wind’s contribution to
abating greenhouse gas emissions.
The MCE has commissioned a review by the Australian Energy
Market Commission (AEMC) to assess the current energy
market framework and determine whether any amendments
need to be made in light of the expanded RET and CPRS.
Arrangements within the National Electricity Market (NEM)
already make provisions for sufficient reserves to be available
in order to meet the required standard of supply reliability
across the NEM. The NEM reliability standard requires
adequate generation capacity to be in place and sufficient
transmission capacity, to match supply and demand at all
times, including under a range of credible contingencies. This
is sensible energy market management and predates the
growth of intermittent generation in Australia.
The government is also supporting the development
of promising baseload renewable technologies such as
geothermal and solar thermal.

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 23


Commentary: guidance notes
Long-term index Other renewable energy resources include small hydro, landfill
As stated on page 2, the individual technology indices, gas, and wave and tidal technologies. Energy from waste is not
which combine to generate the all renewables index are made considered. Each of the indices considers, on a weighted basis,
up as follows: the following:

► Renewables infrastructure index — 35% 1. Power offtake attractiveness — 19%: this includes the price
received, the potential price variation and length of PPAs
► Technology factors — 65% granted. Higher scores are also achievable if a government
These guidance notes provide further details on the renewables guarantees the power offtake rather than merchant offtakers.
infrastructure index and the technology factors. 2. Tax climate — 11%: favorable, high-scoring tax climates that
stimulate renewable energy generation can exist in a variety
Renewables infrastructure index of forms and/or structures. The most successful incentives
The renewables infrastructure index is an assessment by country and structures have been direct RE tax breaks or brown-
of the general regulatory infrastructure for renewable energy. energy penalties, accelerated tax depreciation on RE assets
On a weighted basis, the index considers: and tax-efficient equity investment vehicles for individuals.

► Electricity market regulatory risk — 29%: markets that are 3. Grant/soft loan availability — 9%: grants can be available
fully deregulated score higher, as they have experienced at local, regional, national and international levels and
the “market shock” on underlying wholesale prices that may depend on the maturity of a technology as well as
this transition may exert. While this may not affect current the geographical location of the generating capacity. Soft
projects, these effects are particularly important when loans have historically been used in pioneering countries of
considering long-term investment prospects. RE technologies to kick-start the industry. High scores are
achieved through an array of grants and soft loans.
► Planning and grid connection issues — 42%: favorable planning
environments (low failure rates and strong adherence to 4. Market growth potential — 18.5%: this considers current
national targets) score highly. Grid connection scoring is based capacity compared to published targets. Higher scores
on the ease of obtaining a grid connection in a cost-effective are given if ambitious targets have been set and a policy
manner. The score also takes into account the degree of grid framework is in place to accelerate development. The realism
saturation for intermittent technologies. of targets is taken into account as well as the seriousness with
which they are being pursued (i.e., penalties in place for
► Access to finance — 29%: a market with a mature renewable noncompliance).
energy financing environment, characterized by cheap access
to equity and good lending terms, will score higher. 5. Current installed base — 8%: high installed bases demonstrate
that the country has an established infrastructure and supply
This generic renewables infrastructure index is combined chain in place, which will facilitate continued growth and, in
with each set of technology factors to provide the individual particular, encourage the repowering of older projects.
technology indices.
6. Resource quality — 19%: examples of this are wind speeds and
solar intensity.
Technology factors
7. Project size — 15.5%: large projects provide economies of
These are six indices providing resource-specific assessments for
scale and a generally favorable planning environment, which
each country:
facilitates project development financing.
1. Onshore wind index
2. Offshore wind index
3. Solar PV index
4. Solar CSP index
5. Geothermal index
6. Biomass and other resources index

24 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Near-term wind index In the offshore near-term wind index, countries with no projects
As stated on page 2, the near-term wind index focuses on estimated to reach construction in the next two years (early 2009
factors of most immediate concern to near-term investment in to end 2010) are excluded.
wind energy. The scoring follows the same methodology as It should be noted that the market growth potential score is
the long-term wind index, but with a more focused set of based on a view taken of a range of business analysts’ forecasts
parameters and a tailored weighting. Therefore, the indices and Ernst & Young’s own market knowledge. There is significant
consider the following, on a weighted basis, for both onshore variation between analysts’ views on each market, and within
and offshore wind separately: some markets the variation is greater than in others. The
► Power offtake attractiveness — 27% forecasts used are a market view only, and the scores in no way
guarantee that the forecasted capacity will be built.
► Tax climate — 8%
While comparisons have been made between scores in the
► Resource quality — 14% long-term and near-term wind indices, it should be emphasized
► Market growth potential (mid-2009 to mid-2011) — 40% that, due to the different weightings and parameters used,
these cross-comparisons are of a narrative nature only and by
► Project size — 11% no means indicate any quantitative valuation.

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 25


Company index
Company Page Company Page Company Page
41 Holdings Ltd 7 Elektrownia Połaniec 17 Nordex 17
A4A SpA 7 Eneólica 21 North Delhi Power Ltd 14
ABB 13 ENERGA 17 Oceanlinx 21
Acciona Energy 15 Energy Conversion Devices Inc 7 Oneworld Energy Inc 7
Adamów 17 Enersis 15 OpenHydro 16
Agrogaz Sp 17 Enfinity 20 OPT 21
Akuo Energy 14 E.ON 13 Orecon 21
Aleo Solar 12 Ersol 13 Parque Eolico Penha da 15
Gardunha
Areva 14 Eskom 19
Pelamis Wave Power 15
Astonfield 14 Ethos Green Energy 11
Asset Finance Polish Energy Partners 17
Atlantis Capital fund 7
EverPower Wind Holding Inc 7 Qimonda AG 15
Atlantis Capital Special 7
Situations SpA EVI 7 RenaSola 12
AXA Private Equity 7 EWE 13 Robert Bosch 13
Babcock & Brown Limited 7, 15 Exxon 4 Rockfield Energy 7
Investments LLC
Beta 17 First Solar 12, 13
ScanWind AS 7
BGE 16 FPL Group Inc 11
Schmack Biogaz AG 17
BioPower Group Plc 16 GDF Suez 14
Sichuan Chuanghui Shuidian 7
BP Energy India Pvt Ltd 7, 14 GE Energy 7, 13, 14
Touzi Youxian Gongsi
BP Plc 14 Green Infra Ltd 7, 14
Siemens Financial Services 7, 13
Carnegie 21 Guangxi Guiguan Electric Power 7
Siemens Project Ventures GmbH 7
Co Ltd
Champion Wind Energy 7
Solar America LLC 11
Investment and Management Holding Energies Renouvelables 7
SAS Solar Integrated Technologies Inc 7
China Datang 12
Iberdrola Renovables 11 Solar Millennium AG 7
Centrosolar Group 15
IDFC Private Equity 7 Solar Trust of America LLC 7
Century Profit Investments Ltd 7
Imperative Energy Limited 7 Sumitomo Corporation 7
Ceres Power 16
Indian Veer Energy and 14 Suntech Power Holdings 11
CEZ 20
Infrastructure Ltd
Stanton Wind Energy LLC 7
Cleantech America Inc 7
Invenergy Wind LLC 7
Stadtwerke Muenchen GmbH 7
CLP Group 14
Investeq 21
Suntech 13
Clydesdale Ventures LLC 7
Itarion 15
Suzlon Energy 14
Companhia de Energia Oceanica 15
J.W,Construction 17
Teplárny České Budějovice 20
CWC Wind Power 7
Kallista Energies Renouvelables 7
Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd 7
Datang New Energy 12
Kallista France 7
The Arava Power Company 7
DLF Ltd 14
Kedco 16
Tonn Energy 16
DST Renewables 15
Kopex 17
Vattenfall 13, 16, 21
Ecostream Italy Srl 7
Lockheed Martin 21
Ventiveste SA 15
EDF Energies Nouvelles 15
MAN Ferrostaal Inc 7
VGP 20
EDP 15, 17
Martifer Renewables 15
Wavebob 16, 21
EFACEC 15
Meridian Energy Limited 7
WPD AG 7
EirGrid 16
Morphic Technologies AB 7
Yingly 13
Eletrobras 18
Neolica Polska 17
Elektroprivreda Crne Gore AD 7
Nord-Trondelag Elektrisitetsverk 7
Niksic

26 Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23


Glossary
Abbreviation Definition Abbreviation Definition
AEMC Australian Energy Market commission PV Photovoltaic
AEMO Australian Energy Market operator RE Renewable energy
AWEA American Wind Energy association REF Renewable energy framework
AWEFS Australian Wind Energy Forecasting System REFIT Renewable energy feed-in tariff
ANEEL Brazilian electricity regulatory agency RES Renewable energy source
BNDES Brazilian development bank RET Renewable Energy Target
BWEA British Wind Energy Association ROC Renewables obligation certificate
CAI Country attractiveness index RPS Renewable portfolio standard
CCGT Combined cycle gas turbines SEI Sustainable Energy Ireland
CHP Combined heat and power TSO Transmission system operator
CSP Concentrated solar power
CPRS Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
DOE Department of Energy
DME Department of Minerals and Energy
EIB European Investment Bank
ERO Energy Regulation Office
ETS Emissions trading scheme
EMEC European Marine Energy Centre
EUA EU emission allowance
FDP Free Democratic Party
GBI Generation based incentives
GC Green Certificate
GW Gigawatt
IEA International Energy Agency
IPP Independent Power Producers
JI/CDM Joint implementation/clean development mechanism
KW Kilowatt
M&A Mergers and acquisitions
MCE Ministerial Council on Energy
MIT Ministry of Industry and Trade
MRET Mandatory Renewable Energy Target
MoU Memorandum of understanding
MW Megawatt
MWh Megawatt hour
NaREC New and renewable energy centre
NEM National electricity market
NERSA National Energy Regulator of South Africa
NIMBY “Not in my backyard”
OEM Original equipment manufacturer
PPA Power purchase agreement
PSE Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne
PROINFA Programme of incentives for alternative electricity
sources

Renewable energy country attractiveness indices Issue 23 27


Ernst & Young Ernst & Young

Renewable Energy Group Assurance | Tax | Transactions | Advisory

With a dedicated 50-strong team of international advisors operating from our UK About Ernst & Young
member firm — supported by a network of over 65 experienced professionals from our Ernst & Young is a global leader in
member firms worldwide — Ernst & Young’s Renewable Energy Group helps clients to assurance, tax, transaction and advisory
increase value from renewable energy activity. Members of the group provide advice services. Worldwide, our 144,000 people
and services in the following areas: are united by our shared values and an
unwavering commitment to quality. We
► Financial advisory and valuation ► Strategy review make a difference by helping our people,
our clients and our wider communities
► Financial modeling and structuring ► Technologies achieve their potential.
► Taxation ► Onshore and offshore wind
For more information, please visit
► Finance raising ► Biomass www.ey.com.
► Asset value optimization ► Biofuels Ernst & Young refers to the global
► Market entry strategy ► Energy from waste organization of member firms of
Ernst & Young Global Limited, each
► Procurement strategy ► Wave and tidal
of which is a separate legal entity.
► PPA tendering ► Solar Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK
► Feedstock strategy ► Fuel cells company limited by guarantee, does
not provide services to clients.
► Transaction support ► CHP
The Ernst & Young organization is divided
► PE advice ► Landfill gas into five geographic areas and firms may
► IPO advice ► Hydro be members of the following entities:
Ernst & Young Americas LLC, Ernst & Young
► JI/CDM financing ► Carbon capture and storage
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Ben Warren Andrew Perkins This publication contains information in summary form
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15465.indd (UK) 08/09. Artwork by UKDP.


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Country attractiveness indices production supported by:


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Sam Reed
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Tad Fon Kho


Analyst, Project Finance
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