02/03/12 11:32am

Article By: CleanTechnica

February 3, 2012 By Zachary Shahan

For those eager to overlook words, note the important word “growth” at the end of the title above—India didn’t crush the world in cleantech investment in 2011 (as you know if you’re a regular reader here on CleanTechnica) but a recent report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) shows that India had a tremendous cleantech investment growth rate of 52%. (As I noted in my 2012 solar expectations post, I think India’s going to have an even much better year in 2012.)

India Solar Investments, Projections & Targets

In total, India had $10.3 billion invested in cleantech in 2011. Grid-connected solar investments increased 7 times over, going from $600 million in 2010 to $4.2 billion in 2011. These solar investments moved the country from 18 MW of installed solar power in 2010 to a total of 277 MW installed at the end of 2011. 500-700 MW may be installed in 2012, the report noted.

More good news on the solar front is that the country looks set to exceed its 2007-2012 5-year plan. “India’s 11th five-year plan, running from April 2007 to March 2012, targeted the addition of 12.4GW of grid-connected renewable energy. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, this target will be exceeded, with 14.2GW capacity installed during the period,” BNEF commented.

India Wind Investments & Projections

$4.6 billion was invested in wind energy, making it the country with the 3rd-most installations in 2011 (behind China and the U.S.). The country added a record 2,827 MW (compared to 2,140 MW of new installations in 2010). BNEF estimates 2,500-3,200 MW of new wind power installations in 2012.

Where the Investments Came From

Here’s more from BNEF on the types of investments driving the industry:

Asset financing for utility-scale projects remains the main type of clean energy investment in India, with $9.5bn in 2011. This is significant as the higher lending rates observed over the past year could have negatively impacted asset finance. Venture capital and private equity investment also made a strong comeback with $425m invested in 2011, more than four times the 2010 figure. Wind and solar project developers such as Mytrah Energy India and Kiran Energy Solar Power succeeded in doing deals. The only major type of investment that fell in 2011 was equity-raising via the public markets. Only $201m was raised compared to a record $735m in 2010 when the Indian stock market was at its all-time high.

India’s total cleantech investments in 2011 accounted for 4% of the world’s cleantech investments. Clearly, given its size, it’s still got plenty of room to grow.

Source: BNEF | India, solar panels, & wind turbine via shutterstock

Related posts:

1. Investment in Solar Continued Strong in April (Dominated Cleantech Investments)
2. Cleantech Investment Sees Huge Increase, Creams Record in 2010
3. Cleantech’s Revolutionary Growth & Expectations for Coming 10 Years