Publications

A significant number of countries direct their energy strategies to the development of renewable energy, as there is an urgent need to ensure energy security and smooth out the negative impact of such indicators as the increase in energy prices, the depletion of global hydrocarbon reserves, geopolitical risks and environmental problems. Thanks to this, there is a rapid development of technologies in the field of renewable energy, primarily in photovoltaics. Considering the need to accumulate significant financial resources for the introduction of solar PV technologies for electricity production, governments, international financial institutions and large commercial banks are making significant efforts to develop long-term financing programs for solar power plants, in particular, to simplify bank investment lending. In 2021, China ($266 billion), the United States ($114 billion), Germany ($47 billion) and the United Kingdom ($31 billion) accounted for the largest investments in the solar energy sector. It is difficult to determine the share of investment loans of commercial banks in the RES sector, because they mainly include long-term loans, but in practice credit lines and other short- and medium-term instruments are often used for investment purposes. Read More

As pandemic restrictions in Germany were largely lifted, private consumption received a significant boost in early 2022. On the other hand, energy prices, which have risen sharply since the start of the war in Ukraine, are fueling inflation and reducing the purchasing power of German households. Supply bottlenecks are slowing production, and exports are also suffering from weak demand. Against this background, the economic forecasts for the current year have been revised downwards, in some cases sharply. From today's perspective, GDP growth in Germany can only be expected to be between 1.5% and 2.3%. According to the estimate, the inflation rate in Germany rose to 7.9% in May 2022, the highest level in more than 48 years. The If business climate indicator fell to 88.5 points in August 2022, showing negative expectations of rising fuel and electricity prices, falling demand and a general slowdown in the German economy. In the second quarter of 2022, higher costs and greater economic uncertainty led to the largest growth in business loans, including industrial loans, ever recorded in Germany. This figure reached +35 billion euros in absolute terms, corresponding to a growth of 2.3%. According to Deutsche Bank, the total volume of lending exceeds the level of the previous year by 7.6%. Experts call the growing need of industry for short-term loans the main driver of lending. At the same time, the volume of deposits (+3.8% grew much more slowly than loans. Read More

Mexico has all the prerequisites to become one of the leaders in the development of RES in Latin America in the coming decades, but the country still has a long way to go. Currently, energy sector relies heavily on large thermal power plants that were built and expanded in the 1980s and 1990s. However, financing for renewable energy sector in Mexico is growing every year, driven by fossil fuel prices and the introduction of strict environmental standards. The basis for future development is solar PV plants, which take advantage of powerful solar radiation and vast sparsely populated areas, ideally suited for the construction of energy facilities. Mexico is making impressive progress in its green energy transition, despite limited financial resources and an imperfect legal framework. In particular, the country is home to the Villanueva Solar Park, one of the largest solar power plants in Latin America. The gradual development of infrastructure, the introduction of innovative technologies and the creation of a favorable business environment are accompanied by the growth of the investment attractiveness of the Mexican RES sector. At the moment, government institutions, international financial institutions and investment funds, and to a lesser extent commercial banks, play a major role in financing new RES projects. Read More

Austria is an industrialized country with large energy needs and high environmental standards that promote the development of RES, including the financing of wind farms. Lacking access to the sea, thus being cut off from the highly efficient offshore wind energy technologies, Austria has focused on the construction of onshore wind farms in the foothills of the Alps, mainly based on medium-power wind turbines. Although for many decades the country relied mainly on fossil fuels and conventional thermal energy, today investment in wind farms in Austria is experiencing a boom. How much does it cost to build one medium-sized onshore wind turbine in Austria? What does this investment mean for the local economy and business? Read More

Geothermal electricity production in 2021 exceeded the previous year's value by about 8% (0.2 billion kWh), but still accounts for less than 0.1% of renewable electricity production in Germany. The financing of geothermal power plants in Germany gained particular importance in 2021 following the rise in natural gas prices. Heat production at facilities of this type has reached 19.4 billion kWh, 11% higher than the previous year. About 10% of renewable heat in this country comes from geothermal energy and other environmentally friendly heating systems. There are many good locations for geothermal projects in Germany, but their development bottleneck is access to long-term debt capital. According to the generally accepted rule, the stage of the greatest risk of the project, including the drilling of the first well, should be financed from the capital of the project initiators. Each geothermal project must be designed in such a way that it can overcome typical barriers to access to finance and find suitable capital providers. Read More

Global investment in the chemical industry has grown over the decade since the end of the financial crisis. The European Chemical Industry Council noted that the industry grew from $1.17 trillion to $3.67 trillion between 2009 and 2019, and was in great shape before the pandemic. 2020 saw a 0.4% drop in the chemical industry, but the following year saw a rapid recovery that continued until the start of Russia's war in Europe. Despite the expected slowdown of the world economy and the increase in gas and electricity prices, experts predict excellent long-term prospects for chemical industry projects. The emphasis of most large chemical companies on asset diversification and investing in higher value-added business opportunities remains unchanged. In addition, the issue of increasing production efficiency and reducing dependence on natural gas has become a pressing issue for companies. At the beginning of 2022, the market predicted strong demand for chemicals, which should be the driver of growth throughout the year. Increased capital spending by chemical companies in previous years has done much to improve production efficiency and expand capabilities, but the last year has been a difficult period of struggle due to unpredictable geopolitical events that have shaken Europe and the world. Read More