Macquarie CEO Sees Focus on Offshore Wind’s Untapped Markets – EQ Mag Pro

 One of the world’s biggest investors in renewable energy is focusing on opportunities to expand offshore wind into new markets as clean power costs decline.

“Wind and solar now are at a point where the costs have come down to now being the default choice of rational actors,” Macquarie Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Shemara Wikramanayake said Friday on a webinar. In offshore wind, the bank will focus on enabling infrastructure and facilitating installations in so-far undeveloped markets, she said.

The offshore wind market is forecast to expand about 11-fold over the next 15 years, and after 2030 that growth will be driven by new markets in Asia and the U.S., according to BloombergNEF. Vietnam, South Korea and Japan are among nations poised to see a rapid increase in installations.

Costs are declining as manufacturers add larger and more efficient turbines, though that trend is being challenged this year by higher raw materials prices.

Scaling the technology needs governments to help remove “blockages” from investing in green infrastructure, according to Wikramanayake.

“We’re keen in Australia to look at whether we can capitalize on the fact that offshore wind now is economic and bring it to this country,” she told the Centre for Policy Development event.

Source: Bloomberg