This paper summarises the key events across worldwide energy markets in 2016 and
highlights three notable trends driving a rapid transformation of the global energy
economy. Policy-makers, corporations and investors who disregard this historic,
technology-led movement do so at their peril and with the likelihood that they will carry
growing stranded-asset risk as this widening market shift picks up speed.
 With the entry into force of the Paris agreement, countries lagging on action to reduce
emissions are coming under increased international pressure. The phasing out of fossil
fuel subsidies, including Export Credit Agency-subsidised financing of coal-fired power,
is a key priority.
 Directors who fail fiduciary duties relating to climate-related risks are facing potential
litigation.
 Carbon pricing is gaining momentum, as 2017 is set to see the largest increase in the
proportion of GHG emissions covered by such pricing, with initiatives by China, South
Africa, Chile and the Canadian province of Alberta in the works.
 Countries and regions with economies tied deeply and traditionally to fossil fuel
production (e.g. the U.K., the U.S.) are accelerating their renewable energy
deployment.
 Total reliance on renewables is growing: In 2016, a record number of regions reported
periods in which electricity consumption was covered 100% by renewables, an
occurrence that will become increasingly commonplace from 2017 on.
 Uptake of renewables globally will very likely outpace the IEA’s recent, significantly
increased 2016 medium-term forecast.
 Solar PV and onshore wind expansion will be complemented increasingly by offshore
wind, first, and then by concentrated solar development.
 Africa is set to become the first continent whose development is driven primarily by
renewable energy. Morocco continues to lead North African renewables growth.
 Record low tariffs were awarded in solar PV in 2016 across countries as diverse as India,
the UAE, Chile, Argentina, Mexico and South Africa. The UAE saw the lowest solar tariff
yet at US$24 per Megawatt hour in September (a 60% reduction in just 18 months).
 Offshore wind price reductions will accelerate global uptake of wind-powered
electricity in the decade ahead, providing greater system diversity in Europe, China,
Japan and the U.S.
 Declining battery costs will see Electric Vehicles (EVs) approach price parity with
combustion-engine cars this decade.
 The faster than expected rise of EVs, energy efficiency and renewable energy could
result in oil consumption peaking as soon as 2030.
 Energy efficiency is accelerating the global transformation by decoupling energy
consumption and hence emissions from GDP growth. China is a leader, delivering a
5.2% energy productivity gain in 2016 on top of a 5.6% gain in 2015.
 Clean energy is now a demonstrably sustainable business model that can deliver
superior shareholder returns. Energy sector champions include Tesla and BYD in the EV
sector, and ENEL, NextEra Energy, Brookfield Renewables, China Longyuan and
Softbank in the utilities sector.
 The rapidly growing green bond market is indicative of the private capital moving out
of fossil fuels and into renewable energy. New renewable infrastructure funds are also
leveraging global pension funds, the largest reservoirs of capital.
 Renewable energy investment is being accompanied by an increase in technological
efficiency and reduced costs, and is therefore yielding more capacity per dollar.
 Rapid development of electric vehicles and the global policy action on climate
change puts oil majors like ExxonMobil at clear stranded-asset risk.
 The implementation of accelerated policies to enact COP21 could see global
seaborne thermal coal volumes decline 40% by 2035, resulting in stranded-asset risks
across the coal-mining sector and in associated rail and port infrastructure.
 Renewable energy will continue to erode the viability of coal-fired generation by
contributing to reduced coal-generation utilisation rates. A defining feature of 2016
was the record low utilisation rate (47%) of the Chinese coal-fired power fleet.
 Coal-fired electricity generation development has slowed: 2016 has seen a reduction
in the development pipeline almost equal to the entire coal-fired capacity of the EU.
 World coal consumption is in decline, having peaked in 2013 and has declined in 2016
for the third consecutive year.
 The seaborne thermal coal market is facing structural headwinds despite traded coal
prices doubling over 2016.
 The breakdown of the LNG pricing regime continues with weak oil prices
compounded by the emergence of cheap U.S. gas exports. Lower-than-expected
demand growth in conjunction with increased LNG supply is likely to lead to stranded
LNG assets.
 Countries lagging on action to reduce emissions are likely to come under increased
international pressure.
 Directors who fail fiduciary duties relating to climate-related risks could face litigation.
In October, the political process of the COP21 Paris agreement was concluded. The
agreement enters into force 30 days after at least 55 parties, representing at least 55% of
global emissions, have ratified it. With EU ratification the threshold has been crossed,
triggering the agreement to become binding under international law from November 4,
2016. Entry into force of the agreement means that there will now be regular meetings of
the world’s nations at the UN to discuss how to strengthen individual climate pledges over
time. Governments will have to report their progress to the UN on a regular basis.
The Paris agreement has dramatic implications for the global energy sector.
There is evidence already that developed nations considered to be lagging in emissions
reductions are coming under pressure from the international community. Australia, for
instance, is being asked to explain its lack of progress on climate change abatement
given that its carbon emissions have consistently risen since the national price on carbon
was removed in July 2014 and in the telling absence of a detailed, post-2020 plan1.
Similarly, Japan has attracted criticism for falling behind on the transition to cleaner
sources of energy as well as continuing to be a major provider of subsidised finance for
coal-fired projects2.
In addition to greater scrutiny of national targets, countries can expect renewed focus on
financing for sustainable development.
India was the 62nd country to ratify the Paris agreement, doing so on October 2, and with
the agreement entering into force is likely to bring more scrutiny of India’s ability to reach
its ambitious renewable energy targets (350GW by 2030) as well as the delivery of
significant financing commitments from international agencies including the World Bank
and the IFC, AIIB, NDB, JBIC, ADB, OPIC and the U.S. EXIM Bank3. Meanwhile the pressure
on carbon-intensive industries will only increase. A deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of
India acknowledged in September that the international community is moving toward
penalising industries that add to carbon emissions4.
The World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, has stated that a slowdown in the construction of
coal-fired power stations, particularly those planned in Asia, is vital if the Paris climate
targets are to be met5. He added that there is no prospect of keeping global warming at
1
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australia-facing-questions-at-un-over-post2020-climate-change-
stance-20161011-gs0avq.html
2
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-13/japan-unswayed-by-increasing-pressure-to-disavow-coal-support
3
http://www.bridgetoindia.com/blog/ratification-of-climate-accord-to-bring-more-focus-on-indias-renewable-sector/
4 https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_SpeechesView.aspx?Id=1027
5
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/09/world-bank-jim-yong-kim-paris-climate-coal-power-
emissions?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail
or below 2 degrees if such power projects are built. The World Bank also sees a global
price on carbon as a key tool for achieving the Paris targets, which present countries with
a transformative economic opportunity6.
The agreement also has substantial consequences for corporations. Company directors
have a fiduciary duty to consider all risks, including those arising directly from climate
change and from regulations that address it. Post-Paris, it is now possible that directors
who fail to take account of risks related to climate change could be found to be in
breach of their fiduciary duty7.
The ideology surrounding emissions and climate is now irrelevant; the increasing
regulations implemented by governments moving to fulfil their Paris obligations will create
additional risks for businesses regardless of personal beliefs8 on climate change. Some
companies are significantly more prepared than others for this new reality. It is probably
only a matter of time before legal action is taken against company directors over a failure
to properly consider and respond to climate-related risks. The successful conclusion of the
legal case won by the New York Attorney General against Peabody Energy Corp (U.S.) in
November 2015 sets a clear precedent.9
 100 countries accounting for 58% of global emissions are planning a carbon price or
equivalent; new movers in 2016 include India (doubling its coal tax) and Canada.
 2017 is set to see the largest increase in the proportion of GHG emissions covered by a
carbon price.
Individual country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to reducing
carbon emissions encompass a range of policies and programs, but to IEEFA, carbonpricing
schemes will play a critical role in accelerating finance and realising the Paris
targets. About 100 parties to the convention are planning or considering some form of
carbon price or ETS, representing 58% of global greenhouse gas emissions10. However,
tangible progress on the increased uptake of a carbon price worldwide has been limited
in 2016. A carbon price that fully reflects the social cost of carbon emissions is a significant
game changer for energy markets and makes renewable energy still more cost effective
versus fossil fuels.
This year BlackRock, the world’s largest investor, called on governments to make
businesses pay a higher price for the pollution they generate to make it easier to
understand climate risks when making investment decisions11. In August, 130 investors
collectively managing over US$13tn in assets called on the G20 to implement a stable and
6
http://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/paris-agreement-becomes-reality-how-transform-economies-through-carbon-
pricing
7
The Centre for Policy Development and The Future Business Council, Memorandum of Opinion: Climate Change and
Directors Duties, 7th
October 2016.
8
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-24/climate-change-may-trigger-next-financial-crisis-fisher-says
9
http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-secures-unprecedented-agreement-peabody-energy-end-
misleading
10
World Bank, State and Trends of Carbon Pricing, October 2016, p. 11.
11
https://www.ft.com/content/bde6859a-9ac2-11e6-8f9b-70e3cabccfae
economically meaningful carbon price to aid investment decision-making. Further
progress in this area is required going forward.
Forty national jurisdictions and more than 20 sub-national governments have implemented
a carbon price, and the share of global emissions covered by carbon pricing initiatives
has tripled over the past decade. Demonstrated impacts of carbon pricing are already
apparent; the doubling of the U.K.’s carbon price floor to £18/tonne of CO2 in 2015 was
reported to have caused a 64% year-on-year drop in thermal coal imports for the first
seven months of 201612. The price floor is set to double again in 2020 and reach £70/tonne
in 2030.
British Columbia put a price on LNG gas plant emissions in 2016 alongside its existing
carbon tax of C$23/tonne. In October 2016 the Canadian federal government committed
to bring in a minimum price of C$10/tonne on carbon emissions by 2018 with each
province to implement its own carbon price or have one set centrally13.
In February 2016, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley doubled India’s coal tax to Rs400/tonne
(US$6/tonne), the third time the tax has been doubled since being introduced in 2010.14
The stated logic for the tax (officially called the Clean Energy Cess) is to price in some of
the externalities of coal use.
Next year could see the largest annual increase ever in the proportion of global emissions
covered by carbon pricing schemes. South Africa, Chile and Alberta are all due to
implement a carbon tax whilst Ontario will commence an emissions trading scheme (ETS).
However, by far the biggest impact will come from China. If the Chinese national ETS is
implemented as planned over 2017, then the proportion of global emissions covered by
carbon price schemes will reach 20% to 25% from the current 13%15. Mexico is due to
launch a national scheme in 2018.16
In addition to national and sub-national schemes, the number of companies that are
implementing internal carbon prices in 2016 has tripled since 2014. This year also saw the
development of numerous international platforms that are helping build carbon pricing
momentum. These include the Ministerial Declaration on Carbon Pricing and the Carbon
Pricing Leadership Coalition. In addition, the G7 Carbon Market Platform was opened up
to countries outside the G7 and the High Level Panel on Carbon Pricing set a target to
ensure the emissions covered by carbon pricing schemes reaches 25% by 2020 and then
doubles again within the following decade.
Such platforms for cooperation raise the prospect of an international carbon market that
the World Bank models could reduce global mitigation costs by 50% by the middle of the
century17.
12
https://www.bimco.org/Reports/Market_Analysis/2016/1010_UK_coal_story.aspx
13
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-carbon-idUSKCN12320O
14
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/03/04/india-doubles-tax-coal/
15 World Bank, State and Trends of Carbon Pricing, October 2016, p. 11.
16
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/09/07/mexico-will-launch-carbon-pricing-november/
17
World Bank, State and Trends of Carbon Pricing, October 2016, p. 16.
 Countries and regions with economies tied deeply and traditionally to fossil fuels are
turning to renewable energy.
 2016 saw more nations experience periods of electricity consumption covered 100%
by renewables, which will become increasingly commonplace from 2017.
The U.K., birthplace of the coal-fired Industrial Revolution, saw more electricity generated
by solar panels than from coal in the six months from April to September 201618. The
turnaround, considered “unthinkable five years ago” by the Renewable Energy
Association19, happened quickly— the first day that solar produced more electricity than
coal was April 9, 2016. The following month of May marked the first time solar beat coal
over an entire month. In that same month, the U.K. went without any coal-fired generation
for a full day for the first time since electricity generation began. The U.K. government
announced in 2015 that it planned to phase out all unabated coal-fired power stations by
2025.
Scotland has gone even further than the U.K. as a whole. On Aug. 7, Scotland’s wind
turbines produced enough electricity to power the whole nation20. This comes after
Portugal’s electricity consumption was entirely covered by solar, wind and hydro
generation for four days in May21, which was closely followed by a similar event in
Germany when
electricity prices
turned negative on
May 15 as clean
energy provided
all its electricity
needs. In addition,
Uruguay ran
entirely on
renewables for six
straight days in
September22.
More generally,
greater than 50%
of Scotland’s
electricity comes
from wind, hydro
and solar sources
and its target of
becoming 100%
reliant on
renewables by
18
http://www.energytrendtracker.org/2016/10/solar-outshines-coal-in-uk-for-6-months/
19
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/solar-panels-electricity-coal-power-stations-uk-sun-a7344326.html
20
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-scotland-gusts-of-wind-usher-in-a-quiet-energy-
revolution/2016/10/15/e5da2f5a-8a57-11e6-8cdc-4fbb1973b506_story.html?tid=ss_tw
21 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/18/portugal-runs-for-four-days-straight-on-renewable-energy-
alone
22
Global Wind Energy Council, Global Wind Energy Outlook, October 2016, p. 35.
Source: BIMCO, gov.uk, HMRC
2020 may well be realised. This from a nation that tapped its plentiful offshore oil and gas
reserves for decades. With the last of its coal-fired power stations closing in 201623,
Scotland is proof that renewables can be the mainstay of a nation’s energy supply, not
just a complement to fossil fuels.
U.S. coal production in 2016 is projected to decline 19% from 2015 with power generation
coal consumption down 9% as coal stock levels are run down. Consumption in the U.S. is
expected to be at its lowest level since 1984. Coal-fired power will make up 30% of
electricity generation in the U.S. in 2016, down from 51% in 2005. U.S. Coal exports are also
expected to drop significantly in 2016, totalling 54.5m short tons, 26.3% lower than 201524.
Meanwhile, in the first six months of 2016, renewable energy consumption in the U.S.
increased 9% compared to the same period in 201525. New rooftop solar installs are
forecast by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) to reach around 2.8GW in 201626, up
40% year on year and three times the install rate achieved by Australia at its peak
expansion. Including utility scale, solar power capacity in the U.S. will have almost tripled in
less than three years by 2017. Wind generation capacity is expected to increase 15.5% in
201627.
The state of Texas demonstrates how the U.S. energy mix is moving from increasingly
costly-to-maintain coal-fired power plants to progressively cheaper wind and solar—in
addition to natural gas. Texas burns more coal than any other state and is the nation’s
biggest carbon emitter but it has also seen wind generation grow ten-fold since 200528. It is
already the largest wind energy producer in the U.S.29 The state is soon to lose 6GW of
coal-fired generation, yet electricity prices may be about to fall as 11GW of wind power is
set to come online during the 2015-2018 period, more than making up for the coal
shutdowns30. In addition to wind generation, solar PV is increasingly a factor in the state
with power purchase agreements (PPAs) approaching US$30/MWh31. The rise of
renewables combined
with low natural gas
prices has led to sharp
declines in coal-fired
generation capacity
factors and
subsequent
undermining of
profitability32. By
comparison, Iowa
delivered 35.8% of its
electricity from wind in
2015/16.33
23
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-35882883
24
http://www.platts.com/latest-news/coal/houston/us-power-sector-coal-consumption-to-near-1984-21781465
25
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=28312&src=email
26
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-20/get-ready-for-the-rooftop-solar-stall
27
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/21/us-energy-shakeup-continues-as-solar-capacity-set-to-
triple?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail
28
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-13/coal-s-cruel-fortune-its-biggest-market-is-also-the-windiest
29
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2016/10/18/obamas-climate-change-plan-upheld-court-mean-texas
30
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-28/don-t-worry-about-coal-plant-shutdowns-texas-wind-s-got-this
31
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/8minutenergy-targeting-over-2gw-of-pv-projects-in-texas
32
http://ieefa.org/ieefa-report-beginning-end-texas-coal-fired-electricity-industry-rising-competition-wind-solar
 /
33
http://reneweconomy.com.au/us-state-of-iowa-follows-south-australia-to-40-per-cent-wind-energy-52575/
Source: EIA
The Canadian province of Alberta, another example of a region identified with fossil fuels,
is also now looking toward renewable energy. The provincial government has stated that
its coal-fired power stations, making up 40% of generation capacity, will all be closed by
2030 and this year ramped up efforts to replace capacity with renewables. There are
plans to establish the first solar power plants in western Canada34 and to develop a further
5GW of renewable capacity as Alberta seeks to secure 30% of its electricity generation
zero-emissions sources by 203035.
The continuing move away from coal by nations such as the U.S., China and the U.K. is
leading to a drop in the carbon intensity of the global economy. PwC’s 2016 Low Carbon
Economy Index report found that carbon emissions per unit of GDP fell 2.8% last year,
more than double the average fall between 2000 and 201436. Importantly, this drop
occurred within the context of global economic growth which would normally lead to
increased emissions. However, the figure of 2.8% is still well below the 6.5% reduction
needed to hit the two degree target set at Paris.
Corporations are also turning away from coal. Engie, the world’s largest independent
power producer, has committed to focus on renewable energy and natural gas across
Asia-Pacific as it begins its exit from coal-fired power generation across the region37.
Noting that the recent boom in renewables has had a huge impact on energy markets,
Engie executives say they now doubt the sustainability of coal-fired power generation
going forward. Meanwhile AES Corp.’s CEO has stated the company will most likely not
build any more coal-fired power plants after completion of two current projects in India
and the Philippines38.
 The IEA’s significantly increased 2016 medium-term forecast mirrors the continued
global uptake of renewables but still underestimates future growth.
 Solar PV and onshore wind expansion are likely to be increasingly complemented by
offshore wind and then concentrated solar thermal.
In October the IEA significantly increased its five-year growth forecast for renewable
energy, noting that renewable capacity has overtaken that of coal-fired generation for
the first time39. The agency remarked that renewables were leading a transformation in
global energy, especially in emerging markets. The IEA’s 2016 Medium-Term Renewable
Market Report sees renewables growing by 13% more between 2015 and 2021 than it did
in last year’s forecast. According to the report, renewables will remain the fastest growing
source of electricity generation over the next five years, moving from a 23% share of
global electricity generation in 2015 to 28% by 2021. The IEA’s re-assessment was
influenced to a large degree by strong renewables policies in China, India, the U.S. and
34
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/alberta-government-investigates-50-solar-power-proposal
35
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-target-2030-renewable-energy-electricity-1.3761787
36
http://www.pwc.co.uk/lowcarboneconomy
37
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia-utilities-engie-idUSKCN12R0E7
38
http://www.platts.com/latest-news/electric-power/louisville-kentucky/aes-winding-down-building-new-coal-projects-
worldwide-21457945
39
http://www.iea.org/newsroom/news/2016/october/iea-raises-its-five-year-renewable-growth-forecast-as-2015-marks-
record-year.html?utm_content=buffer84622&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter-ieabirol&utm_campaign=buffer
Mexico combined with the recognition that 2015 represented a turning point in global
energy markets in terms of cost competitiveness of renewables.
Source: Carbon Brief, IEA
Despite its higher forecasts, however, the IEA continues to predict a slowdown in future
renewables installation. The agency’s latest forecast has 2015 as the peak year for
renewable capacity additions with the amount added decreasing each following year
through 2018. This is despite the fact that solar and wind are already the lowest-cost
options in many regions. Analysis by BNEF does suggest a reduction in the value of global
renewables investment in 2016 after a record year in 2015, but this is offset by the plunging
cost of clean energy, which will see more capacity added for less cost going forward
(refer “Financing” section).
A Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) report released in October incorporated the most
recent revised IEA wind generation projections. Under their New Policies Scenario, the IEA
now sees wind power generation increasing from 4% of the world’s electricity generation
in 2015 to 14% by 204040. This is 50% higher than what the IEA was forecasting last year.
However, the GWEC themselves see the share of wind generation increasing by as much
as 29% by 2040, more than double the IEA’s new figure. Global wind generation
installations in 2016 are set to be 60GW, a 14% increase on the 2015 installed base of
433GW41.
In IEEFA’s view, the IEA remains far too conservative and will have to revise its outlook
again next year.
40
Global Wind Energy Council, Global Wind Energy Outlook, October 2016, p. 40.
41
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN12I09K
China has been joined by India in leading global expansion of renewable energy. India
made significant new progress toward its ambitious target of 350GW of renewable
capacity by 2030. In September, Adani commissioned the world’s largest solar power
plant (648MW) as the country passed the milestone of 8GW of solar capacity. Growth in
rooftop solar for the 12 months to October 2016 was at 113% with a similar level expected
in 201742. Rooftop solar received a further, major boost with the Asian Development Bank
contributing US$500m to a US$1bn fund for Indian rooftop solar investment43, strong
international support for India reaching its 40GW-by-2022 rooftop target. India also saw a
record low solar tariff at Rs4.34/kWh (US$65/MWh) by Fortum in January 2016.44
Meanwhile, China announced a project set to smash the record for the largest solar
generation plant. That project, now under construction in Ningxia, will have a capacity of
2GW once complete and comprise six million solar panels. China’s solar installations tripled
in the two years through June 2016 (including over 20GW in just the first six months of 2016)
and BNEF expects this to double again by the end of 201845. China also progressed solar
thermal technology in 2016. The country’s National Energy Administration unveiled a list of
20 solar thermal projects in September, with a combined capacity of 1.35GW that it aims
to have commissioned by the end of 201846.
Elsewhere in Asia, the new Taiwan government announced significantly increased
renewable energy targets this year. The goal for solar PV installations has been raised to
20GW by 2025 with 1.2GW of onshore wind and 3GW of offshore wind by the same date47.
The 2020 target will represent 20% of electricity generation from renewable energy
sources. Currently Taiwan produces 4% of electricity from renewables48 but solar uptake is
increasing. The increased focus on renewable energy comes as the government has
committed to cease using nuclear energy (representing a major policy turnaround from a
few years ago) and boost
energy self-sufficiency.
Taiwan’s green energy plan
will take advantage of its solar
PV manufacturing capacity
and allow it to become an
important player in the
renewables industry across the
region49. South Korea also
announced a plan in July to
invest US$36.6bn to develop
renewable energy industries
and produce clean energy
equivalent to 26 coal-fired
power stations each year50.
42
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/india-surpasses-1gw-rooftop-solar-with-grid-parity-for-most-ci-consumers
43
http://renewables.seenews.com/news/adb-to-fund-half-of-usd-1bn-rooftop-solar-programme-in-india-541936
44
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/04/22/finlands-fortum-invest-e400-million-indian-solar-market/
45
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-20/out-of-china-s-dusty-northwest-corner-a-solar-behemoth-arises
46
http://renewables.seenews.com/news/china-says-1-35-gw-of-csp-projects-to-be-ready-by-2018-539749
47
http://pv.energytrend.com/news/Taiwan_Officially_Sets_Renewable_Energy_Target.html
48 http://www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=248640&ctNode=2194&mp=9
49
http://www.globalresearch.ca/taiwans-green-shift-green-energy-prospects-and-challenges/5549651
50
http://www.ibtimes.com/south-korea-invest-36-billion-renewable-energy-2020-2389326
Source: EnergyTrend
Renewables have gained meaningful traction across Latin America, with Mexico holding
its first renewable energy auctions this year, awarding contracts of 1GW and 500MW, to
Enel Green Power and SunPower, respectively51. In September, purchase contracts for
8.9m MWh of electricity per year were awarded52. At an average price of US$33.47/MWh,
such auctions are rapidly bringing down the cost of electricity at the same time as
increasing renewables penetration. Mexico is targeting 35% of generation from clean
energy sources by 2024, up from around 20% at present.
In August, Chile awarded 12.4m MWh of new contracts at a record low average price of
US$48/MWh (63% below Chile’s last auction), mostly to wind and solar. Chile’s Energy
Minister Máximo Pacheco said this auction will lower electricity prices by 20%,53 an
increasingly common outcome of reverse tender auctions of renewable energy in 2016. In
this Chilean auction, Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power won a record 1GW of wind
tenders worth US$1.65bn.54 Chile is planning auctions for an additional 19.9m MWh over
the next few years.
In October, Argentina awarded 1.1GW of renewable energy projects in the first reverse
auction round of its RenovAR program, launched in May 2016. Solar projects averaged just
US$60/MWh. Further rounds are set to take place in November and May 2017. A total of
123 projects bids with around 6GW of capacity were submitted. Argentina has set a goal
to achieve 8% of generation from renewable energy by 2017 and 20% by 202555, a tenfold
increase on current levels.
Recent projections show Brazil has the potential for 880GW of wind generation. The
country benefits from wind assets along its long coastline, which rank it fourth in the
world—behind the U.S., China and Germany—in terms of potential to expand wind
generation56. The country’s huge and underdeveloped solar assets also have the potential
to provide a large boost to renewables in Brazil, which is set for a solar auction in
December 2016. Interest in the auction has been very high: by August, 419 projects
totalling 13.4GW of solar capacity had registered for this auction57.
Morocco’s status as a renewables leader on the African continent was affirmed when the
country extended its renewable energy target in late 2015 to 52% by 203058. To meet this
goal, the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen) is to develop 6GW of
renewable energy projects by 2030. Until 2016, Masen had taken on solar projects only but
its scope has now been extended to wind and hydro. Of this, 3GW of new capacity is to
be commissioned in the next four years59. Meanwhile, the first phase of the groundbreaking
Noor concentrated solar power (CSP) came online in January, with progress on
51
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/04/06/mexicos-awards-enel-green-power-nearly-1-gw-sunpower-approximately-500-
mw-solar/
52
http://www.wsj.com/articles/mexico-awards-contracts-to-secure-renewable-energy-1475086767
53
http://www.wsj.com/articles/chile-awards-contracts-in-its-largest-power-auction-1471463611
54
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2468225/mainstream-renewable-power-wins-big-in-chilean-energy-auction
55
http://planetsave.com/2016/10/17/renewable-electricity-auctions-argentina-awards-400-mw-solar-renovar-program/
56
http://plus55.com/business/2016/10/brazil-wind-power-potential
57
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/134-gw-of-solar-submitted-brazils-december-auction_100025715/ -
axzz4MokaqrHL
58
https://www.ft.com/content/6eb0902c-cb3f-11e5-a8ef-ea66e967dd44
59
http://renewables.seenews.com/news/moroccos-masen-to-lead-renewables-build-up-of-6-000-mw-by-2030-541390
following phases throughout the year. Phases Two and Three are expected to be
completed in late 2017 and, once the solar PV Phase Four is commissioned, the entire
complex will have a capacity of 580MW60.
Saudi Arabia announced its “Vision 2030” in April, which aims to transform the economy to
one that is no longer dependent on oil. Included in this is an aim to build 9.5GW of
renewable energy capacity by 2023 from almost nothing today61. In the biggest
programme of this type in the region, 3.4GW of tenders are to be rolled out over the next
three years. The lead Saudi Arabia is taking in Middle Eastern renewables development is
confirmation of the promising future the sector has in the region.
In Europe, renewable energy expansion maintained momentum across much of the
European Union. The first half of 2016 alone saw a significant increase in offshore wind
development with US$15.5bn invested in the sector. Offshore installations are set to double
this year compared to 2015 with 3.7GW of new capacity additions62.
Sweden remains on track to produce all of its power from renewable sources by 204063.
The declining cost of wind power means that no new nuclear power stations are likely to
be built, and Sweden sees no need to build additional hydropower plants. In October,
France confirmed a target to nearly double renewable energy installations to 70-76GW by
202364.
Renewables build-up has also shown acceleration outside the EU. Turkey’s Energy and
Natural Resources Minister announced a tender for a 1GW solar PV project in October65.
The tender is to be held in December and is expected to attract US$1.3bn of new
investment. This is expected to be the first of many such developments in Turkey, where a
tender for wind energy is due for the first quarter of 2017.
In 2016, solar PV made major strides as its cost dropped dramatically. From 2017 onward,
solar PV is likely to see more cost reduction than onshore wind and to continue to find
favour worldwide as was seen this year. On the wind front, many markets have yet to
exploit the cost reductions of onshore wind made in Europe, the U.S., and other regions
(refer section below), so onshore wind uptake will continue to expand globally.
Increasingly, solar PV and onshore wind look set to be joined by increased installation of
offshore wind after impressive cost reductions of this technology in Europe (refer to the
“Dramatic Deflation” section). Led by countries like China, concentrated solar power will
also attract investment in the near future as its energy storage capacity complements
intermittent renewables uptake and will likely result in cost reductions and efficiency gains
similar to those that have been achieved lately in offshore wind.
60
http://meconstructionnews.com/18002/energy-morocco-emerging-as-a-solar-superpower
61
Ernst and Young, Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index, October 2016, p. 14.
62
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/20/europes-offshore-wind-industry-booming-as-costs-
fall?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail
63
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sweden-renewables-idUKKCN12P0E8
64 http://renewables.seenews.com/news/france-locks-renewables-target-for-70-76-gw-by-2023-545098
65
http://www.dailysabah.com/energy/2016/10/20/worlds-largest-photovoltaic-solar-plant-to-be-established-in-konya-by-
2018
Important strides by developed countries in pushing renewables forward have helped
encourage the ambition of developing nations. However, some of the world’s most
affluent countries have lagged behind. Japan has seen its promising solar boom decline
in the face of reduced solar tariffs, and major Japanese banks are looking mostly overseas
for opportunities to finance renewables projects (refer “Financing” section). Australia has
also been slow on the uptake of solar PV projects despite its huge solar radiation assets.
From 2017, the developed nations that are lagging will be pushed to step up in order to
help maintain the global momentum that renewables have won over the past few years.
 The potential for Sub-Saharan solar installations is exponential.
 Africa is now set to become the first continent whose development is driven primarily
by renewable energy.
The world has passed a turning point: more clean energy capacity is being added
globally than coal, natural gas and oil combined. In addition, more than half the world’s
investment in clean energy is coming in emerging markets instead of in richer nations
according to BNEF66. If this trend is to continue, additional support for developing
economies will be vital.
Operating and proposed utility-scale solar PV project installed costs in Africa, 2011-2018.
Source: IRENA
66
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-23/leapfrogging-to-solar-emerging-markets-outspend-rich-countries-
for-the-first-time
Countries such as China and India are embracing solar energy, and new solar capacity
additions have increased by six times to around 47GW by 201567. However, this growth has
largely bypassed Africa, which contains the majority of the least developed nations of the
world. More than half of the 1.3 billion people without access to electricity live in SubSaharan
Africa68. This despite African countries having 52% to 117% more solar radiation
than a developed solar leader like Germany69.
This is set to change — technology improvements and cost reductions have sparked the
development of the solar home system (SHS) market and growing interest in mini-grids.
2016 saw a significant increase in utility-scale solar capacity additions and the
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) predicts that Africa could have 70GW of
solar generation in place by 2030. Technical improvements and dramatic cost reductions,
combined with the continent’s excellent solar radiation assets, have given rise to the
prospect of Africa’s energy markets leapfrogging the fossil fuel era and become the first
continent whose development is driven largely by renewable energy70.
Finance is becoming increasingly available; the Green Climate Fund is to contribute over
US$78m as an anchor investment in a fund managed by Deutsche Asset Management for
renewable energy access in Africa. This anchor investment will be used to raise hundreds
of millions of dollars. which in turn will help support US$3.5bn of local investment in African
renewables71. In July 2016, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund joined a consortium of investors
supporting Mainstream Renewables in a program to install 1.3GW in Africa by 201872.
Despite regulatory risks and financing issues, Sub-Saharan solar deployment potential is
exponential, with the rooftop sector set to undergo dramatic growth73 along the lines of
that seen over the past five years in Bangladesh, where a world record of over 4 million
solar home systems (SHS) have been installed. Solar home-lighting systems—small “plugand-play”
SHS with integrated lighting that are more like an electrical appliance than a
residential solar PV system—have seen costs reduced by as much as 80% to as low as
US$120 per unit since 2010.
SHS can now provide electricity to households for as little as US$56 a year, cheaper than
getting energy from kerosene or diesel74. Across Africa, millions of people are already
taking advantage of the falling cost of off-grid SHS to get cheaper, clean and more
reliable energy. IRENA estimates 10% of Africa’s 600 million people living off-grid are using
solar technology to light their homes. Innovation is apparent in the way many Africans pay
for their solar services. Monthly payments can be made via another technology that
famously leapfrogged an established system across the continent: mobile phones.
In order to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030, the current pace of extension
will need to at least double, and off-grid solutions are expected to provide 60% of the
required additions75. Renewables are already the cost-competitive choice for off-grid
installations across most rural and peri-urban areas, and as many as 350,000 mini-grids may
be needed to achieve universal access in Africa. The alternative of extending electricity
grids to those without access to electricity would be prohibitively expensive: grid
67
Solar PV in Africa: Costs and Markets, IRENA, September 2016, p. 7.
68
http://www.pv-tech.org/editors-blog/how-market-entrants-can-exploit-africas-significant-solar-opportunity
69
Solar PV in Africa: Costs and Markets, IRENA, September 2016, p. 7.
70
Solar PV in Africa: Costs and Markets, IRENA, September 2016, p. 16.
71
http://renewables.seenews.com/news/deutsche-bank-secures-anchor-investor-for-african-renewables-fund-543864
72
https://www.ft.com/content/74b82046-5449-11e6-9664-e0bdc13c3bef
73 http://www.pv-tech.org/news/rooftop-solar-market-to-explode-in-africa-if-chronic-issues-addressed1
74
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-solar-energy-idUSKCN12B254
75
https://irenanewsroom.org/2016/10/05/solving-the-energy-access-problem-with-renewable-mini-grids/
investment would need to increase to US$55bn a year from the current US$8bn76. If the
current trend is maintained it would take until 2080 to connect everyone. Off-grid solutions
are cheaper and available now. IRENA predicts a 60 percent decrease in the cost of
producing electricity from renewable mini-grids over the next 20 years77.
Utility-scale solar also made a move in Africa in 2016. Nigeria signed its first ever PPA with
10 developers for a total of 975MW of solar PV generation78. Meanwhile Zambia set a new
African low-price record (excluding South Africa) of just US$60/MWh fixed for 25 years
under the IFC’s “Scaling Solar” programme79, helping change the perception that low
renewable energy costs are unattainable in poor countries with under-developed
institutions. Senegal and Madagascar are also benefitting from the programme, which
aims to install 1GW of solar in the next three years80. Senegal, which aims to have 20%
renewable electricity generation by 2017, began construction on one of Sub-Saharan
Africa’s largest solar projects in October 2016. Being developed by Greenwish Partners, a
French renewable energy provider dedicated to Sub-Saharan Africa, it is supported by
Green Africa Power, a joint investment vehicle of the U.K. and Norwegian governments81.
Progress in Africa is not limited to solar energy. The continent’s largest wind farm, the
310MW Lake Turkana project, is approaching completion in Kenya. It includes Google
amongst its investors and is expected to provide 15% of Kenya’s electricity needs82.
Tanzania and Ethiopia are also planning to tap into the Great Rift Valley’s wind assets.
Such countries will be able to take advantage onshore wind energy costs dropping 23-
36% globally by 2030 (as estimated by BNEF).
Renewables development in Africa still faces a number of challenges: regulatory risk, a
lack of skills, poor financing options and inadequate data. However, as the global trend of
renewable energy cost reduction starts to spread, Africa will very quickly reach the point
where financing and regulatory barriers won’t be able to hold renewables back.
76
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21709297-small-scale-solar-power-surging-ahead-africa-
unplugged?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/offgridsolarpowerafricaunplugged
77
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-solar-energy-idUSKCN12B254
78
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/nigeria-signs-first-ever-solar-ppa
79
http://blogs.worldbank.org/energy/why-zambia-s-6-cents-more-significant-dubai-s-3-
cents?CID=EAE_TT_Energy_EN_EXT
80 http://www.pv-tech.org/news/ifc-zambia-solar-auction-sees-record-low-6-price-benchmark
81
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/senegal-launches-sub-saharan-africas-largest-solar-park
82
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060044075
 Record low tariffs were awarded in solar in 2016, with new lows set in countries as
diverse as India, the UAE, Chile, Argentina, Mexico and South Africa.
 Offshore wind price reductions will accelerate global uptake this coming decade.
The deflationary nature of renewables globally is clear, and it is surprising all forecasters.
A succession of new records for solar PV tenders were set in 2016. In May, the first tender
below US$30/MWh set a new global record low price after an auction for 800MW of
capacity in Dubai. The unsubsidised bid of US$29.90/MWh was almost half the cost of the
winning bid at a similar auction in Dubai in 2015. August saw this record beaten in Chile,
where the winning bid was awarded a contract at US$29.10/MWh for a 120MW solar PV
plant in the Atacama Desert. This record did not stand long; the following month saw yet
another new low with a US$24.20/MWh tender for a solar installation in Abu Dhabi83. This
bid was won jointly by JinkoSolar Holding Co. of China and Japan’s Marubeni Corp.
Elsewhere, national records and new landmarks continue to be set around the world as
countries increasingly move away from feed-in tariffs and toward reverse auctions that
help drive prices lower. Chile’s August auction for wind and solar energy achieved an
average price of US$47.59/MWh, 63% lower than its previous auction84. Cost reductions
have also seen renewables begin to leave conventional generation far behind. An
October 2016 report from South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) showed that solar PV and wind energy is 40% cheaper than coal-fired generation85.
In October, Deutsche Bank’s U.S. solar market report predicted solar module prices would
drop to US$0.35/W in the last quarter of 2016. Given that prices had already dropped by
one third in the third quarter (from US$0.6/W to US$0.4/W), this would mean a price drop of
40% over 201686. This could result in payback periods of five years or less in the U.S.
residential solar market. Given that the speedy decline in module prices is being
accompanied by declines in inverter prices in Commercial & Industrial and utility-scale
markets, Deutsche expects a significant improvement in solar economics across several
U.S. markets in the next 12 to 18 months. Other markets are also benefitting from reduced
module costs driven by increased supply from China. The reductions have come at the
right time for India as it supports reduced bids and continues its progress toward its
ambitious target of 100GW of solar capacity by 202287.
Offshore wind has been slow to take off in many parts of the world due to its cost.
However, 2016 saw dramatic cost reductions in the more developed European market—a
83
http://reneweconomy.com.au/solar-price-hits-record-low-of-2-42ckwh-and-may-fall-further-32358/
84
http://www.wsj.com/articles/mexico-awards-contracts-to-secure-renewable-energy-1475086767
85 http://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/energy/2016-10-19-renewables-cheaper-than-coal-says-csir/
86
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/stunning-price-falls-could-spark-another-gold-rush-for-us-solar-pv-market-63495
87
http://www.bridgetoindia.com/blog/sharp-fall-in-pv-module-prices-to-help-the-indian-solar-sector/
development that is likely to see significantly faster offshore wind take-up globally. In July
2016, Dong Energy secured an offshore deal in the Netherlands at EUR72.5/MWh, half the
prices seen five years previously. This record was beaten in a matter of weeks as Vattenfall
won a Danish tender at EUR60/MWh88. Cost reductions have been achieved via improved
technology with aerodynamic turbine blades and sensors. In addition, the size of wind
turbines has increased with the latest large turbines featuring a capacity of 8GW each. A
single rotation of such a turbine is enough to provide the daily consumption of an average
U.K. household89. Fewer, larger turbines per array means fewer foundations and less
cabling. Increased scale in Europe has also been a major factor in cost reduction. China,
Japan and the U.S. are set to follow Europe’s lead now the cost and technology issues
have been largely overcome.
Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance
88 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/10/02/cut-throat-competition-is-slashing-offshore-wind-costs-to-unthin/
89
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/20/europes-offshore-wind-industry-booming-as-costs-
fall?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail
The latest IEA forecasts, from October, see renewable energy costs continuing to fall. The
agency predicts a cost drop of 15% for wind and 25% for utility-scale solar by 202190. Given
some of the cost reductions in 2016 and the IEA’s tendency to err on the side of caution,
these estimate will
probably turn out to
be too conservative.
By comparison, IRENA
sees the possibility of
cost reductions of
25% for onshore wind,
37% for concentrating
solar power, 59% for
solar PV and 35% for
offshore wind by
2025. Offshore wind
development has
largely been
confined to Europe
but with recent cost
reductions the takeup
of this technology
is likely to spread
globally from 2017 onward. Offshore capacity, already being planned in the U.S. and
China, is set to join solar PV and onshore wind as a major energy growth area.
 Declining battery costs will see EVs approach price parity this decade.
 The rise of EVs and renewable energy could see oil consumption peak as soon as 2030.
The number of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) worldwide is set to pass 2 million in 201691.
China is the largest market, with Chinese-made models now amongst the bestsellers,
followed by Europe and the U.S. China is on track for over 80% year-on-year growth in its
domestic EV sales in 2016. Norway is the current world leader in EV diffusion; one in three
cars sold in Norway is now an EV, a trend encouraged by major investments in charging
infrastructure and by tax breaks. Norway and the Netherlands both intend to phase out
the sale of fossil-fuel-based cars by 2025. In October, a proposal in Germany to cease the
sales of new combustion-engine cars by 2030 won the support of the national
parliament’s upper house92. In the same month, a new EU directive aimed to ensure that
every new and refurbished house have its own EV charging point93. There are now more
than 35,000 public and private EV charging points in the U.S., and in the U.K. charging
90
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/25/renewables-made-up-half-of-net-electricity-capacity-added-
last-year
91
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/13/electric-car-sales-set-to-pass-2m-landmark-globally-by-end-of-
2016?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco
92 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-emissions-germany-idUSKCN1280G7
93
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/13/electric-car-sales-set-to-pass-2m-landmark-globally-by-end-of-
2016?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco
Source: IRENA
points will outnumber petrol stations by 2020, according to Nissan94. In 2016, Renault
unveiled the first mainstream EV to have a range in excess of 200 miles. Tesla and
Chevrolet will soon follow with their own mainstream models featuring a similar range.
BNEF sees a 65% fall in battery costs between 2010 and 2015 making EVs as affordable as
combustion-engine cars. There could be 11.4 million EVs on the road in the U.S. alone by
202595.
Source: World Energy Council, Bloomberg, Paul Scherrer Institute, Accenture Strategy
A key driver in the growth of EVs is the reduction in the cost of batteries, which have a
technology learning rate of about 14% according to BNEF96. This means prices should fall
by this amount each time production doubles. Tesla’s Gigafactory will be producing
35GWh of lithium-ion batteries each year when it reaches full capacity on 2020. This is
more than the entire global production of 2013 and has been cited as a key driver of
battery cost reduction. However, this is only part of the battery production ramp-up story
that will unfold over the next few years. BYD, the Chinese EV maker, plans to ramp up
battery production to 34GWh by 2019, CATL of China intends to reach 26GWh by 2020,97
and Tianjin Battery, also of China, plans to expand battery production to 20GWh by
202098. When other battery manufacturers are taken into account, Tesla seems likely to
end up with around 25% of the rapidly scaled-up market.
Tesla Motors Inc. stands as one of the key energy transformation champions of 2016,
throwing out an open leadership and energy-efficiency challenge to the global
automotive industry. In October 2016, Tesla reported record production rates in excess of
25,000 vehicles for the third quarter, a growth rate of 92% year on year. With revenues up
145% to US$2.3bn for the quarter, this pushed the company into a marginal net profit
position99. Tesla targets a production run rate of 500,000 vehicles annually by 2018, with the
94
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/oct/03/doe-charts-show-why-climate-
doom-and-gloom-isnt-needed
95
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/11.4-million-evs-expected-to-be-on-the-road-by-
2025?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=GTMDaily
96
https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-09-04/battery-assault
97
https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-09-04/battery-assault
98 http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/car-companies-firm-electric-dreams-tesla-sales-top-expectations-97003
99
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ABEA-4CW8X0/3102679439x0x913801/F9E5C36A-AFDD-4FF2-A375-
ED9B0F912622/Q3_16_Update_Letter_-_final.pdf
Tesla Model 3 pre-launch of March 2016 taking a record 325,000 reservations despite an
18-month delivery wait.
Another EV champion of 2016 is BYD Company of China. With its shares up 200% over the
last five years, BYD has made significant progress and will be a key challenger to Tesla in
the EV and battery manufacturing sectors globally. BYD reported revenues growing 44%
year on year to Rmb44bn (US$6.4bn) in the first half of 2016. BYD reported a 131% year on
year increase to 49,000 new automotive sales for the half, representing a 27% share of the
Chinese EV market, and a leading 65% market share in the plug-in hybrid sector.100 With
China on track to potentially reach 1 million EV sales in 2017, BYD is well positioned. As
mentioned above, BYD is also looking to equal Tesla in terms of lithium ion battery
manufacturing capacity, and this is a very credible target given BYD has a long history of
rechargeable battery production, being one the world’s leading mobile phone assembly
companies. A US$2bn equity raising in July 2016 significantly enhanced BYD’s financials to
drive investment in lithium battery and EV production capacity.
Battery development has the potential to move the oil market from growth to contraction
earlier than has been previously anticipated as the growth trajectory of EVs may be
hugely underestimated, according to Fitch Ratings101. An October World Energy Council
report suggests petroleum consumption may peak in 2030 at a level 10% below consensus
estimates and decline thereafter due to the impact of EVs, renewable energy and other
disruptive technologies. This has clear and significant implications for the oil industry (refer
to “Stranded Assets” section). With battery costs falling rapidly and with action around the
world to provide the required recharging infrastructure, EV growth looks set to become
one the fastest moving and most exciting trends in global energy. Bloomberg research has
estimated that EVs will displace 13 million barrels of oil a day by 2040102.
The Tesla Powerwall 2.0 launch
in October 2016 has been
another defining event of 2016.
Powerall 2.0 offers a
technology, size and scale
enhancement that transforms
the capacity and all-in cost of
distributed rooftop solar with
storage. Doubling the storage
capacity to 14kWh and with
output of 5-7kW, plus a 10-year
warranty and inbuilt inverter103,
this second iteration is sufficient
to cover almost all of a
domestic residential customer’s
evening electricity demand on
a normal day. With shipping of this product commencing in December, the impact on
high penetration rooftop solar markets like Australia is likely to be swift and broad. This will
further hollow out centralised power generation and dramatically reduce end customer’s
reliance on a gold-plated grid structure that has failed to transition to accommodate
unstoppable technologies of the future.
100
http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/SEHK/2016/0828/LTN20160828041.pdf
101 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-18/batteries-may-trip-death-spiral-in-3-4-trillion-credit-market
102
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-18/batteries-may-trip-death-spiral-in-3-4-trillion-credit-market
103
https://electrek.co/2016/10/28/tesla-powerwall-2-game-changer-in-home-energy-storage-14-kwh-inverter-5500/
 Being a clean energy leader is demonstrably a viable and sustainable business model.
 IEEFA views ENEL of Italy, NextEra Energy of the U.S., China Longyuan, Brookfield of
Canada and Softbank of Japan as five of the leading clean energy champions of
2016.
We detail here five of the largest utilities globally undertaking multi-billion dollar annual
investments in renewable energy to profitably transform both their own business models
and the markets they serve. Strong investor returns have been delivered while the
collective investment has been key to driving economies of scale, technology
deployment and learning by doing, thereby driving down delivered electricity costs to
customers. This list should not be read in any way as comprehensive; the roster of globally
relevant corporates moving toward a more sustainable, low emissions profile is expanding
rapidly.
With 87GW of total installed electricity generation capacity globally, ENEL S.p.A. (ENEL) of
Italy is undertaking an accelerated transformation toward a lower emissions generation
profile and facilitating a smart grid by rolling out 2-3 million smart meters annually. With
38GW of renewable energy capacity, ENEL is one of the largest renewable energy
investors globally. Over 2015-2019 ENEL plans capex of EUR34bn (60% in emerging markets)
to commission another 9GW of renewable energy globally as a step toward its 2050 target
of being entirely carbon neutral. It is clearly a corporate leader in the global energy
transition.104
NextEra Energy of the U.S. (equity capitalisation of US$57bn) is another utility that has
systematically transformed its business model over the last decade. With a target to exit
2016 with 16GW of installed renewable energy, NextEra is on track to build close to 2GW of
renewable energy each year this decade. A total shareholder return of 250% in the last
decade was delivered as a 15% lower overall electricity cost to customers was achieved,
highlighting the concurrence of both exceptional investor returns and consumer deflation.
Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP) of Canada operates 10.7GW of renewable energy
globally, with a predominance of hydro-electricity but a growing presence in pumped
hydro storage, wind and solar generation. Brookfield is very focused on sustainable, riskadjusted
returns with an exceptionally long duration, inflation-linked PPAs absent any
reliance on subsidies. BEP has delivered a total return of 16% annualized over its 17 years
as a listed entity and invests over US$500m annually in new generation capacity with a
6.8GW pipeline.105 BEP operates as a listed subsidiary of the Brookfield Group, which
operates and manages a global asset base of US$250bn.
China Longyuan Power Group (Longyuan) has become possibly the world’s largest
renewable energy capacity owner (excluding hydro electricity). Longyuan added 2GW of
new wind capacity in the year to June 2016, having doubled its investment in the last five
years to reach a total installed wind energy capacity of 16.5GW. Longyuan has a
development pipeline of an additional 9GW planned, including 1.8GW of Chinese
104
http://strategy2015.enel.com/files/Piano_industriale_2015-2019_ENG.pdf
105
https://bep.brookfield.com/~/media/Files/B/Brookfield-BEP-IR/events-and-presentations/presentation-29-09-2016.pdf
offshore wind farms. Longyuan is a listed subsidiary of the Chinese State Owned Enterprise,
Guodian Group.
SoftBank of Japan is a relative newcomer to the global energy markets, but having
delivered a 25-fold return on its accumulated Asian technology portfolio—transforming its
original US$3.7bn investment into US$92bn—this powerhouse is one of the market leaders
in the greater Asian region. Founded and run by Masayoshi Son, the richest man in Japan,
Softbank is a telecommunications and technology giant (equity capitalised at US$75bn).
Having built almost 500MW of solar in Japan since the Fukushima disaster,106
in mid 2015
SoftBank announced it would establish a joint venture with Foxconn Technology (Taiwan)
and Bharti Enterprises (India) to potentially invest US$20bn in Indian solar developments
this coming decade. In December 2015, SB Energy won 100% of a US$350m, 350MW Indian
solar tender at a near record low Rs4.63/kWh (US$64/MWh), fixed in nominal terms for 25
years – delivering competitively priced electricity to India with a baked in ~5% annual real
price deflation.
 The rapidly growing green bond market is indicative of the private capital moving out
of fossil fuels and into renewable energy.
 Renewable energy investment is being accompanied by an increase in technological
efficiency, reduced cost and therefore more capacity per dollar.
Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England stated in September that the growing
green finance market is an opportunity to boost global financial stability in addition to
funding renewable energy and emissions abatement107. In order to realise this, more of the
US$100 trillion held by the major global investment firms needs to be channelled into green
bonds to finance such initiatives. Activity in 2016 has gone some way toward achieving
this with a significant increase in the issuance of such bonds.
The three months ended on Sept. 30 were the strongest quarter ever for green bond
issuance (US$26.1bn)108. The total issuance for the first nine months of the year was
US$61.8bn, well over double the issuance for the same period in the prior year. Issuance in
2016 is already way ahead of the total for the whole of 2015 (US$42.4bn) which was itself a
record year. Renewable energy and energy efficiency remain the most popular projects
linked to green bond issuance, which is being driven by sustained and increasing interest
from institutional investors. Rabobank, which has EUR22bn in outstanding loans to
“sustainable leaders” including EUR3.2bn for wind and solar, issued a EUR500m green
bond in October109. Catering to increasing demand for sustainable investments from
pension funds and other investors, the bank expects strong growth in the green finance
sector to continue.
106
http://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/csr/future/instance_04/contents_05/
107 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/sep/22/carney-backs-green-finance-to-cut-emissions-and-boost-growth
108
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2475232/moodys-green-bond-issuances-could-hit-usd100bn-by-year-end
109
http://renewables.seenews.com/news/rabobank-sells-eur-500m-green-bond-542221
Green bonds have also made an
impact in emerging markets in 2016.
Greenko is the largest clean energy
independent power producer in India
and raised US$500m through a green
bond issuance to overseas investors in
August110. The renewable energy debt
market, once dominated by
development banks, can be an
important source of capital on
attractive terms for the continued
expansion of the Indian renewables
sector. With international bond rates of
2-4 percent, significantly lower than the
usual 8-12 percent corporate borrowing
costs in India, growing utilization of the
green bond market will see the capital
cost of these projects drop (even
allowing for Indian rupee hedging costs
of 3-4 percent).
In addition, Indian corporates now have
the option of tapping into the masala
bond market (masala bonds are linked
to the rupee but issued offshore and
settled in dollars). In September 2015,
the Reserve Bank of India began to
allow Indian corporates to issue Indian rupee-denominated bonds in overseas markets.
This allows Indian companies access to alternative, overseas funding without taking on
currency risk. NTPC and Adani Transmission are among the companies that have issued
masala bonds. With low global interest rates and the prospect of sustained growth across
the Indian economy, ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s expect strong development of
the masala bond market111.
Such bond issuances are significant in light of the fact that government funding alone
won’t be enough to achieve the scale needed to achieve emission-reduction goals,
especially in developing countries. What is required is the major mobilisation of private
capital112. The booming green bonds market is one of the successful new developments
on this front, but innovative financing solutions can increasingly be found around the
world.
Many examples of private capital fulfilling the requirement to drive energy transformation
have emerged in 2016. BlackRock, the world’s largest private investor (US$4.9 trillion in
assets) announced this year that it will include climate change as a major consideration
when assigning risk to its portfolio. Given its size, BlackRock’s words and actions tend to be
highly influential. In a landmark September report, BlackRock stated its intention to
consider how companies are exposed to climate risk and whether they may gain from
emissions reduction action and policy, a change of stance likely to have ramifications for
110
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/greenko-raises-500-million-via-indias-first-high-yield-green-
bond-issuance/articleshow/53648517.cms
111
http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-after-hdfc-adani-more-indian-companies-could-join-masala-drive-
1441639
112
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/opinion/how-to-raise-trillions-for-green-
investments.html?_r=0&referer=https://www.google.co.uk/
investment in the energy sector. BlackRock concluded that “all investors should
incorporate climate change awareness in their investment processes”113.
Government and development bank anchor investments can help secure the private
investment required. Whilst the Green Climate Fund has provided the anchor role for
renewable investments in Africa, institutions like the European Investment Bank (EIB) have
continued to play that role in the developed world in 2016. The SUSI Renewable Energy
Fund II, set up to invest in European solar and wind, attracted EUR380m this year from
pension funds and insurance firms on the back of a EUR62m investment from the EIB114.
Pension funds have been an important source of private capital in 2016. Canadian
pension investment managers PSP Investments and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
announced plans to acquire indirect interests in Cubico Sustainable Investments Ltd in
July115. Cubico won contracts for 540MW of solar parks in Mexico in the country’s latest
energy auction with construction due to begin in early 2017.
In Australia, the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) and the Future Fund (the
nation’s sovereign wealth fund) became backers of AGL’s renewables fund aiming to
help develop projects to fulfil Australia’s renewable energy target. QIC (one of the
country’s largest wholesale funds managers) and the Future Fund are to contribute
A$800m to the fund that plans to build 1GW of wind and solar along the east coast of the
country116. In October, Australian infrastructure manager Palisade Investments launched a
A$600m renewables fund in partnership with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation117.
More of the world’s major global companies are investing in renewable energy as the
sector has ceased to be considered a niche market and has hit the mainstream. In
October, GE announced plans to buy wind turbine blade manufacturer LM Wind Power
for US$1.65bn, the latest of a number of acquisitions as GE accelerates the growth of its
wind energy business118. Goldman Sachs has plans to reach US$150bn of investment in
clean energy projects and technology over the next decade119. The bank already has
US$41bn invested in clean energy globally including in major wind farms in Texas and
Mexico, solar firms in Japan and the Danish utility Dong Energy—the largest offshore wind
developer in the world (it held an IPO this past summer). Meanwhile, Australia’s Macquarie
Group is considered to be in line to win the auction for the U.K. government’s GBP2bn
privatisation of the Green Investment Bank, whose function is to bring public and private
investment into environmental projects including renewable energy120.
As well as increasing their backing for renewable energy, banks have continued to
withdraw support for the coal industry this year. JP Morgan Chase announced in March
that it will no longer finance new coal-fired power plants in developed nations following
earlier announcements of a similar nature from Citigroup, Bank of America and Morgan
Stanley121. In October, France’s Credit Agricole announced it was ending coal-fired power
plant financing, a move quickly followed by Societe Generale, which at the same time
announced an intention to double project finance in the renewable energy sector122.
113
BlackRock, Adapting Portfolios to Climate Change: Implications and strategies for all investors, p. 2.
114
http://renewables.seenews.com/news/susi-wind-solar-fund-closes-at-eur-380m-542266
115
http://renewables.seenews.com/news/cubico-to-build-540-mw-of-wind-solar-ppa-projects-in-mexico-542407
116
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/qic-future-fund-back-agl-renewable-energy-fund/news-
story/eaea194fd929734960efddd760c6deb7
117
http://reneweconomy.com.au/cefc-backed-renewables-fund-launched-palisade-45621/
118
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-11/ge-agrees-to-buy-blade-maker-lm-wind-power-for-1-65-billion
119
http://ieefa.org/goldman-sachs-aiming-150-billion-clean-energy-portfolio-takes-stake-89-countries/
120 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/10/08/macquarie-in-line-to-win-2bn-race-for-the-green-investment-bank/
121
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/21/business/dealbook/as-coals-future-grows-murkier-banks-pull-financing.html
122
http://www.reuters.com/article/ste-generale-coal-idUSL8N1CX4K5
Japanese banks have increased project finance loans to clean energy developers in the
face of negative interest rates in Japan. Two of the country’s biggest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ
and Sumitomo Mitsui, have moved past European banks in lending to North Sea offshore
wind projects, which offer steady yields to lenders123. This trend is also enhanced by a lack
of renewables lending in Japan, where tariffs for solar projects have been cut, effectively
slowing down the nation’s solar boom.
Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance
Despite all these developments BNEF research shows a drop in global clean energy
investment in the third quarter of 2016. The US$42.4bn invested globally in Q3 was 43%
lower than the same period of the prior year124. This can in part be explained by the fact
that in many countries, energy efficiency gains mean that actual energy demand growth
is proving to be lower than government forecasts. It is also due to the continuing deflation
of solar and wind energy costs as well as the increasing efficiency of such technologies.
This means that more capacity and performance can be obtained from renewable
energy from a lower investment than ever before. BNEF has concluded that such
technology improvements have allowed renewable energy installations to increase 70%
over the last five years whilst investment has remained relatively flat125. In addition to
technological gains, this trend has been driven by the growing number of countries using
auctions to discover low prices rather than offering fixed subsidies.
123
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-31/japan-s-negative-rates-prod-megabanks-into-offshore-wind-
loans
124 http://reneweconomy.com.au/global-clean-energy-investment-slumps-43-q3-year-year-53125/
125
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-12/green-energy-boom-picks-up-speed-even-as-investment-
stagnates
 Some of the world’s most influential fossil fuel companies are increasingly turning their
attention to clean energy.
 Fossil fuel company asset write-downs show stranded asset risks rising.
Some clean energy sector champions are progressively transforming their entire business
model, and at the other end of the spectrum there are some key incumbent fossil fuel
firms who can appear set to never change their thinking and/or entire business asset base.
Be it BP, ExxonMobil,126 Shell, Santos or Peabody Energy, these firms continue to run
climate-science obfuscation and delay strategies, and in our view will consign themselves
to history along the lines of Kodak and Nokia.
In between are the bulk of energy firms that will adapt, transforming over time. However,
given the failure to incorporate adequate carbon pricing risk analysis, legacy assets will
lead to write-downs tied to stranded assets as policies and markets move. Stranded asset
losses have already eroded significant shareholder value, be it by BHP Billiton (US$7.2bn in
September 2016 on US oil and gas), Rio Tinto (US$3.7bn on Mozambique Coal127),
Volkswagen (in October 2016 announcing a US$20bn US legal settlement128), RWE and
E.ON (March 2016 saw a record €7bn loss). The more nimble are moving to reposition
ahead of growing financial risks relating to “the tragedy of the horizon,” the term so wellcoined
last year by Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England,129 to describe climate
change.
The German utility E.ON in March 2016 reported a record €7bn net loss, more than double
the prior year net loss of €3.2bn130. In the five years to October 2016 shareholders have
seen E.ON’s equity capitalisation halve, compounding on the halving in the prior five
years. But following on from the destruction of 75% of shareholder wealth in the last
decade, E.ON has dramatically slimmed down, reconfigured and has now restructured.
E.ON has refocused on renewables and networks by spinning off its legacy convention
power generation assets into the newly listed and ring-fenced Uniper Group in
September.131 RWE has followed with the float of Innogy as the new owner of its
renewables and networks business in October 2016, “ideally positioned to benefit from the
megatrends of decarbonisation and digitalization in helping to shape the energy
transition.”132
In November 2016, Engie of France and Mitsui of Japan jointly announced the closure of
the 1.6GW subcritical coal power plant at Hazelwood, Australia. A plant built over 50 years
ago, Hazelwood has the highest emissions intensity in Australia and is amongst the highest
globally. With this decision, Engie has taken a leadership position on energy
transformation.
NTPC Ltd is a majority SOE and is the largest coal-fired power plant owner/operator in
India. While NTPC continues to invest in coal power (witness its proposed equity support of
126
http://ieefa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Red-Flags-on-ExxonMobil-XOM-A-Note-to-Institutional-
Investors_October-2016.pdf
127
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-30/rio-tinto-closes-book-on-mozambique-coal-with-50-million-sale
128
http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/motoring/landmark-volkswagen-settlement-reached--but-it-wont-have-
any-effect-here/news-story/c4ced2be590a8209680eeb06daad1824
129
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/2015/844.aspx
130 http://www.eon.com/en/investors/key-figures.html
131
http://www.eon.com/en/investors/spin-off-of-uniper-group.html
132
https://www.innogy.com/web/cms/en/3113124/about-innogy/introducing-innogy/
the US$2bn Rampal power plant in Bangladesh), the influence of Energy Minister Piyush
Goyal has seen NTPC also become a key facilitator of India’s 175GW of renewables by
2022 plan. NTPC has committed to building 10GW of solar energy capacity and 1GW of
wind farms by 2022, and is also standing as counterparty for electricity offtake agreements
for another 15GW of solar investment by independent power producers133. This role is
critical in making solar projects bankable at the lowest practical finance cost, helping to
drive down solar tariffs 40% over the last 18 months to record lows of US$65-70/MWh (fixed
in nominal terms for 25 years). UNESCO’s adverse finding relating to Rampal in October
2016134 builds on the decision by the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund to divest in 2015135
and might yet drive NTPC’s strategic shift away from subsidised new coal power towards
solar, potentially a radical realignment.
Tata Power is a listed subsidiary of the Tata Group, the largest conglomerate in India. A shift
of strategic focus has clearly emerged over the last year to better align Tata with the
strategic priorities in renewable energy by the Modi Government. Tata Power aims to
increase renewables to 8GW or 30-40% of total installed capacity by 2025, with the
company announcing in October 2016 it would cease building any new thermal power
generation in India.136 Tata Power has accelerated its investment in solar to become the
largest project developer in India over 2016. A step-change in scale was achieved with
the US$1.4bn acquisition of Welspun Renewable Energy in June 2016137, the largest
transaction endorsing the Indian renewables sector to-date. In a similar strategic pivot,
Adani Green Power is set to commission 1GW of new solar and wind projects over 2016/17
as a part of a US$10bn six-year solar investment program.
In contrast to the retreat from solar undertaken by BP, Total SA of France has reaffirmed its
move to invest in the energy market transition. Following the creation of a new
organizational structure in May 2016, Total announced a US$1.1bn acquisition of SAFT SA,
a leading French battery manufacturer as a “spearhead into electricity storage”138. This
builds on Total’s 2011 acquisition of a controlling stake in SunPower (U.S.), one of the
world’s leading solar manufacturers and solar project developers.
133
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-04/india-s-ntpc-to-expand-solar-goal-slow-thermal-power-bnef-says
134
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1573
135
http://etikkradet.no/files/2015/01/Council-on-Ethics-2014-Annual-Report.pdf
136
http://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/renewable/tata-power-to-invest-in-renewable-energy-sector-in-
india/55051857
137 http://forbesindia.com/article/special/tata-powerwelspun-deal-may-become-benchmark-for-clean-energy-
deals/43509/1
138
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-09/total-to-buy-french-battery-maker-saft-in-1-1-billion-deal
 The rapid development of electric vehicles and global policy action on climate
change puts oil majors like ExxonMobil at clear stranded-asset risk.
 The implementation of policies to enact COP21 could see global seaborne thermal
coal volumes decline 40% by 2035, resulting in further stranded asset risks.
ExxonMobil is belatedly starting to address climate change in 2016, following on from the
Paris agreement that clearly questions the extent existing fossil fuel reserves are likely to be
able to be accessed. Exxon’s reputational risk is growing with investigations by the SEC
and New York attorney general in terms of allegations of misleading conduct.139 Pressure is
also the result of six shareholder proxy items presented at the annual general meeting.
Financial pressure is also clear: with third quarter net profit down 38 percent year over
year, Exxon is forecast to deliver net profits of less than US$10bn in 2016, less than a quarter
of the annual profits generated five years ago.140 Exxon also reported its oil and gas
reserves are likely to be substantially downgraded. Exxon lost its AAA credit rating in 2016,
and net debt has risen to over US$40bn. Exxon shares have underperformed the S&P500 in
the last five years by a third.141
As discussed in Section 2, the rapid technology improvement and cost reductions being
delivered in battery design and ever-greater scale of manufacturing is making the electric
vehicle an increasingly cost competitive or arguably superior alternative to the internalcombustion
engine. In doing so, it threatens the viability and longevity of the incumbent
automotive and oil sectors, both in terms of the equity invested but also the debt market
exposures. The Fitch rating agency in October raised warnings of stranded-asset risk due
to technology disruption and low carbon policy measures which could over time result it
declining oil demand.142
This transition in oil markets and stranded asset risks is probably best illustrated by the
moves by Saudi Arabia over 2015-16 to diversify its economy away from excessive reliance
on oil, breaking ranks with OPEC in the process. Stranded asset risks are rising.143
Another key area of potential stranded asset risk relates to the dedicated rail and port
infrastructure associated with thermal coal exports. Being sole-use assets with an
exceptionally long life, coal ports in particular are at significant stranded asset risk. Wood
139
http://ieefa.org/ieefa-issues-red-flag-report-exxonmobil-%E2%80%A8core-financials-show-oil-giant-decline-
institutional-investors-owe-shareholders-fiduciary-review/
140
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-28/exxon-enters-no-man-s-land
141
https://www.ft.com/content/1d719e1e-9f41-11e6-86d5-4e36b35c3550
142 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-18/batteries-may-trip-death-spiral-in-3-4-trillion-credit-market
143
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-16/what-opec-s-oil-u-turn-missed-peak-demand-keeps-getting-
closer-iud8k6o5
Mackenzie forecast that global seaborne thermal coal export volumes would decline 40%
to 527Mt by 2035 if policies in line with the Paris agreement are implemented.144
Over the last 24 months most of the six Pacific Northwest coal port developments in the
U.S. have been stalled, cancelled or blocked by the regulatory process.145 With North
American coal export volumes declining rapidly over the last three years, even existing
coal export facilities have become financially challenged.
Ports built for coal exports in Australia have similarly been financially challenged, with
proponents abandoning multiple new terminal proposals at Abbot Point in Queensland. In
August 2016 Rio Tinto took a US$709m write-down on onerous take-or-pay contracts
relating to Abbot Point.146 The latest greenfield project—Wiggins Island Coal Export
Terminal (WICET)—with capacity of 27 million tonne per annum built at a cost of US$3bn,
was commissioned in 2015 but has operated well below capacity and remains in financial
distress.147 IEEFA expects total write-downs of US$1-2bn relating to the port and the
associated rail take-or-pay contracts signed by the eight coal mining companies at the
height of the coal market boom.
The world’s largest coal port, Hong Kong listed Qinhuangdao Port warned of an 80-90%
drop in first half 2016 profits, which it attributed to an 18% yoy decline in coal volumes.148
Similarly, the decoupling of China’s electricity demand from economic growth has
combined with a rapid diversification away from coal fired power generation, resulting in
coal fired power plant utilisation rates in 2016 falling below 47%, with clear and rising
stranded asset risks.
 2016 has seen a reduction in the coal-fired electricity generation development
pipeline almost equal to the entire coal-fired capacity of the European Union.
 Renewable energy will continue to erode the viability of coal-fired generation by
contributing to reduced utilisation rates.
Although coal-fired power capacity still accounts for a large proportion of electricity
generation in most countries, the growth of renewable energy is already having a major
impact on the thermal power incumbents by reducing utilisation rates and eroding peak
power demand. Lower than expected electricity demand growth is also a major factor.
With reduced utilisation of coal-fired generation, IEEFA estimates India does not need any
new thermal power plants over the next three years. Coal-fired plants across India are
operating at 56% utilisation rate149. This raises severe doubts as to the viability of the 50GW
of coal-fired generation plants currently under construction with as much as 10% of
current capacity already considered stranded due to a lack of PPAs.
144
https://www.woodmac.com/media-centre/12533316
145
http://www.martenlaw.com/newsletter/20160609-pnw-coal-terminals-tribal-fishing-rights
146
http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20160803/pdf/4392c13nrzhw7g.pdf
147
http://www.afr.com/business/mining/coal/wicet-appoints-fort-street-in-coal-restructure-20160602-
gpa3xc#ixzz4AT4gomt9
148 http://www.simic.net.cn/news_list.php?lan=en&id=368&flag=cnports&pname=qinhuangdao
149
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/india-wont-need-extra-power-plants-for-next-three-years-
says-government-report/articleshow/52545715.cms
The situation in
China is even
more stark as
coal-fired
generation
utilisations rates
are now below
47%150. Even as
200GW of coalfired
generation
capacity remains
on the planning
books as at April
2016, it has
become
apparent that
China has
already built over
200GW of stranded coal-fired capacity at the same time the period of high electricity
demand growth (2000-2013) has come to an end. In October it was announced that
construction on 30 coal-fired power plants would be halted151. This comes on top of the
cancelation or postponement of plans for 114GW of coal power stations earlier this year.
Developed countries are face similar issues. As Japan pushes ahead with new coal-fired
power plants despite over capacity, it risks creating US$57bn of stranded assets that will
need to be absorbed by taxpayers152. In the U.S., the rise of renewables combined with
the collapse of natural gas prices has pushed coal-fired generator utilisation rates down
below 50% in some instances, as has been the case in Texas153.
An unsurprising but
highly significant
result of excess
coal-fired
capacity and
declining
utilisation is the
reduction in the
pipeline of new
thermal coal
power stations.
Worldwide, the
amount coal-fired
generation under
development
declined 14% in
the first six months
150
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-13/china-seen-investing-too-much-in-power-plants-that-burn-coal
151
https://www.ft.com/content/78db1ca6-96ab-11e6-a80e-
bcd69f323a8b?accessToken=zwAAAVf0RIIokc942xymlqsR5tOoDrzWnzI6iw.MEUCIQDAylTfLp4ltr8sqeFYc3k0v04dA
i2u-XdwrSUGDuj2BAIgEV1ROQ4zi4f_0sgOUWHPutpjtUMGGlLqHeOp_K7G9UM&sharetype=gift
152
http://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/research-programmes/stranded-assets/publications.php
153
http://ieefa.org/ieefa-report-beginning-end-texas-coal-fired-electricity-industry-rising-competition-wind-solar /
Source: IEA
Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance
of 2016 alone154. The reduction of 158GW was almost equal to the entire coal-fired
generation capacity of the European Union. The trend was led by China and India but
Indonesia and the Philippines are amongst others that have also moved to curb coal.
Meanwhile, capacity factors for renewable technology are improving all the time.
From 2017 further cancellations of planned coal-fired generation will be of great
importance, particularly in the Asia-pacific region that has a significant amount of such
projects. As the president of the World Bank has noted, the continued development of
such plans is a key threat to achieving the two-degree target agreed in Paris.
 World coal consumption peaked in 2013 and 2016 has seen the third consecutive
annual decline.
 The seaborne thermal coal market faces structural headwinds despite traded coal
prices doubling over 2016.
Total world consumption of thermal coal peaked in 2013. Contrary to most global
forecasts, the total volume of thermal coal consumed in 2014 declined by -1% to 6,007Mt,
with a further -3% decline to 5,828Mt reported by the IEA for 2015155. IEEFA estimates 2016
will see a further 2% decline.
IEEFA’s estimate for a 2% or greater decline in coal consumption globally in 2016 is
predicated on consumption by China (50.2% of 2015 coal consumption) declining by
more than 2%, combining with U.S. coal consumption (10.3%) down 9% year on year and
the EU likely to be down over 12% year on year. Even with strong growth in Southeast Asian
markets (4% of global demand up 7.5% year on year) and India on track for 5% growth
(10.6% of global demand), the world consumption of coal is set for its third year of decline.
The trends in the seaborne thermal coal markets are similar. Having peaked at 1,063Mt in
2013, the IEA estimates that thermal coal exports declined -1.4% yoy to 1,048Mt in 2014
and a further -4.3% decline to 1,003Mt in 2015. IEEFA expects 2016 coal export volumes to
be flat in line with 2015, with India (the largest thermal coal importer in 2015) down 5-10%
yoy and China up 10-15% yoy (after a 30% decline in 2015).
The Indian Energy Minister, Piyush Goyal, continues to target a near cessation of thermal
coal imports by the end of this decade, and this plan is likely to be accelerated with the
near doubling of internationally traded coal prices over 2016. While Goyal targets this
primarily in terms of the economic benefits of improving India’s current account trade
balance (with the associated benefits of a stronger currency and reducing imported
inflation) plus boosting domestic investment and employment, the other financial driver is
also clear—new solar electricity tariffs of Rs4.50-5.00/kWh (US$65-75/MWh)156 are
154
http://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/coal/global-coal-power-plans-shrink-14-in-2016-led-by-china-
india/54161586
155
International Energy Agency (IEA) Coal Information Statistics 2016, page 11.15.
BP World Statistics 2016 report similar trends when recorded in millions of tonnes, but with a somewhat arbitrary
adjustment, the Millions of tonnes of oil equivalent for coal consumption shows a slight +0.5% yoy growth in 2014,
followed by a 1.8% yoy decline in 2015 in terms of all coal consumed.
156
http://www.livemint.com/Industry/WnUIDB3p8IIex9VlJ8cQwI/Solar-power-tariffs-expected-to-fall-to-as-low-as-Rs350-
a-u.html
immediately lower than that of new imported coal fired power generation (estimated at
Rs6.00-6.50/kWh or US$90-95/MWh).
A key feature of 2016 was the reversal in coal pricing trends. After peaking in 2011,
internationally traded coal prices (for both thermal and coking coal) declined by more
than 60% through to 2015. After hitting five-year lows at the start of 2016, coal prices rallied
by over 100% to hit two-year highs by October. IEEFA would attribute this dramatic reversal
to a clear policy change evident in China. Having cut coal production by 10.5% in the first
ten months of 2016, China found itself in a situation where coal consumption had only
fallen by 2.4% year on year in the same period. With demand reduction falling well short of
the decline in production, the result was a policy-induced recovery in Chinese coal
imports, which rose +31% yoy for the month of August 2016 and +37% yoy in September
2016 to be up +15% yoy for the year to September 2016. Given China’s domestic coal
industry was facing financial distress of the same magnitude experienced by the U.S. coal
industry over 2015/16, a policy-induced price recovery served to bolster financial stability
in the Chinese coal industry at a time when the central government was already partway
through a planned coal retrenchment of 1.2 million coal miners.
China is trying to orchestrate an orderly downsizing of the Chinese coal industry as part of
its energy market transition.
 The breakdown of the LNG pricing regime continued in 2016 with weak oil prices
compounded by the emergence of cheap U.S. gas exports.
 Lower-than-expected demand growth in conjunction with increased LNG supply is
likely to lead to stranded assets.
The internationally traded LNG price in North Asia is down 60% over the last 2 years to
US$6.60/MMBtu157, reflecting the oil-linked nature of the international LNG pricing regime.
With the move for North America to dramatically expand LNG export capacity over 2016-
2020, the LNG market pricing is likely to remain in this new trading range given US Henry
Hub pricing of US$2-3/MMBtu over 2016 is so far below international LNG rates (on a net
back basis taking liquefaction and shipping into account) that a key outcome of 2016 is
the likely permanent breakdown of the historic oil linkage regime.
In addition to the collapse in the LNG price, LNG demand from Asian markets has been
well below expectations, with demand in the three key markets of Japan, Korea and
China actually declining or slowing contrary to expectations in 2015, with demand
weakness extending into 2016. LNG import demand has declined as energy efficiency
combined with weak GDP growth to reduce overall Japanese electricity demand by an
unprecedented, cumulative 12% in the last five years. At the same time, the construction
of 10GW of new solar installs annually over 2013-2016 has combined with several nuclear
restarts to permanently reduce Japanese thermal fuel import demand.
Emerging LNG markets have also failed to deliver the expected strong demand lift. For
example, Bangladesh has to-date failed to start construction of even one of the ten LNG
157
Singapore LNG import price accessed 28 October 2016 at:
https://ycharts.com/indicators/japan_liquefied_natural_gas_import_price
import terminals planned by the Bangladesh Power Development Board a decade ago,
notwithstanding the acute supply disruptions of subsidised domestic gas supply now
clearly evident. Many Southeast Asian markets have failed to deliver on excessively
optimistic electricity demand growth forecasts made by the IEA and other fossil fuel
proponents.
The implications for global gas majors in the LNG market are profound. Australia is set to
become the largest exporter of LNG globally by the end of this decade, yet a clear result
of this US$200bn decade-long investment program is the emergence of LNG terminal
stranded assets. Even prior to the full commissioning of the six LNG trains built over 2010-
2016 at Gladstone Island in Queensland, multi-billion dollar write-downs have resulted.
With an investment at Gladstone of US$80bn, the impact on global LNG infrastructure
owners has been severe. Shareholders in Santos have seen the destruction of almost 70%
of their wealth over the last two years, while Origin Energy has delivered wealth
destruction of 55%158. Both Origin and Santos have been forced into expensive multibillion-dollar
debt for equity recapitalisations over 2016.
In contrast, the third Australian utility (Santos and Origin Energy are the other two), AGL
Energy (AGL), has outperformed both Santos and Origin three-fold in the last two years,
culminating in AGL’s exit from upstream gas in 2016. We see this as a symbolic move,
given AGL stands for Australian Gas Light Company. AGL’s contrasting shareholder
fortunes is evidence again of the shareholder merits of transitioning in the face of
inevitable technology change (although we note AGL is singularly also the largest carbon
polluter in Australia, showing it start from a very low base).
 Failure to act means the global shipping sector faces unnecessary risks and costs in
the future.
Agreement on global action on climate change has generally been enhanced over 2016,
with the aviation and hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) industries having reached global accords
to accelerate the pace of change.
In contrast, the global shipping sector under the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)
has failed to reach a plan of immediate action, instead voting for an effective seven-year
delay. Given the long life nature of shipping assets, the risk for the shipping industry is
action by individual countries or trading blocks to take action instead, and a delay could
well increase stranded assets risk in the medium term as governments unilaterally
implement sanctions in the face of the shipping industry’s failure to act.
In a key example of industries putting short-term self-interest ahead of the clear pressing
need for action, in IEEFA’s view the United Nation’s IMO agreement of October 2016 failed
to commit to a reasonable roadmap of action, instead offering a seven-year delay, until
2023.159 It will be interesting to see if the European Union can address this in part by
expanding its cap-and-trade system in 2017 to include all ships that dock in EU ports. While
158 Calculated using Origin Energy’s share price is A$5.38 on 28 October 2016, and Santos at A$3.56 vs AGL Energy at
A$18.76.
159
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/shipping-industry-postpones-climate-plan-until-2023-20831
inefficient relative to a global accord, it may force the hand of the shipping industry and
the IMO to accelerate the transition required.
The failure of the IMO to undertake a serious and timely response to greenhouse gas
emissions is contrasted by the milestone achieved in October 2016 by the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).160 The accord reached at the 39th ICAO Assembly in
Montreal, Canada provides a global agreement to implement a market-based measure
using a Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). Global
aviation emissions in 2020 will be used as a benchmark, with around 80% of emissions
above 2020 levels offset until 2035. The new system is weakened by being voluntary until
2027, but dozens of countries, including the world’s two largest emitters, China and the
U.S., have promised to join at its outset in 2020161.
A similarly potentially excellent milestone was achieved with the October 2016 accord
reached in Rwanda in relation to phasing down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC)
globally.162 This represents a formal amendment to the landmark 1989 Montreal Protocol
that required countries to phase out chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) use. Most manufacturers
replaced CFC with HFCs, leading to a different, if related problem.
160 http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2016-10-06-02.aspx
161
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/06/aviation-emissions-agreement-united-nations
162
http://fortune.com/2016/10/16/global-warming-hfcs-deal/
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) conducts research and
analyses on financial and economic issues related to energy and the environment. The
Institute’s mission is to accelerate the transition to a diverse, sustainable and profitable
energy economy and to reduce dependence on coal and other non-renewable energy
resources.
More can be found at www.ieefa.org.
IEEFA would like to acknowledge the assistance of Alan Lindsay for his technical and
financial modelling input.
Tim Buckley has 25 years of financial market experience covering the Australian, Asian
and global equity markets from both a buy and sell side perspective. Tim was a top rated
Equity Research Analyst and has covered most sectors of the Australian economy. Tim was
a Managing Director, Head of Equity Research at Citigroup for many years, as well as coManaging
Director of Arkx Investment Management P/L, a global listed clean energy
investment company that was jointly owned by management and Westpac Banking
Group.
Simon Nicholas is a Research Associate with IEEFA in Australia. Simon is a Fellow of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and has 16 years’ experience
working within the finance sector in both London and Sydney at ABN Amro, Macquarie
Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
This report is for information and educational purposes only. The Institute for Energy
Economics and Financial Analysis (“IEEFA”) does not provide tax, legal, investment or
accounting advice. This report is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for,
tax, legal, investment or accounting advice. Nothing in this report is intended as
investment advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as a
recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any security, company, or fund. IEEFA is
not responsible for any investment decision made by you. You are responsible for your
own investment research and investment decisions. This report is not meant as a general
guide to investing, nor as a source of any specific investment recommendation. Unless
attributed to others, any opinions expressed are our current opinions only. Certain
information presented may have been provided by third parties. IEEFA believes that such
third-party information is reliable, and has checked public records to verify it wherever
possible, but does not guarantee its accuracy, timeliness or completeness; and it is subject
to change without notice.