Despite economic and other headwinds resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, investment in renewable energy in Asia Pacific has been remarkably resilient in the last 12 months. In fact, the pace of development and investment continues to outstrip other parts of the world supported by rising populations, robust economic growth and the greenfield nature of the renewables market in the region underpinned by some relatively attractive government support initiatives.

Many commentators predict that Asia Pacific will continue to outperform other regions as a market for the investment and development in renewable energy over the coming decade with capacity expected to increase by up to 2 terawatts by 2030¹ and the levelized cost of energy for renewables falling below fossil fuel alternatives within the same time horizon². This outlook reflects what would be a fundamental shift in the regional energy mix and is likely to lead to profound and inalterable changes in the way energy is generated, transmitted and consumed in Asia Pacific – it is a genuinely exciting time to be a part of this narrative.

Against this backdrop, we are pleased to launch the 2021 edition of our Asia Pacific Renewable Energy Insights report in conjunction with our alliance and other key relationship firms across the region. As you can read further below, we have the longest-standing and most award-winning green energy practice in Asia Pacific which combines our global sector expertise and experience with our regional ‘on the ground’ coverage of all the key jurisdictions which matter in this sector. We are proud to work with leading developers, contractors, financiers, governments and others in this space across all the key markets in the region as covered in our report.

Our experience over the past 12 months reflects what we are seeing in terms of major themes in the sector, including:

• The continued rise of offshore wind in North Asia, including as Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other new markets look to build on the success of the Taiwan story. We have acted on all closed project financings for offshore wind in these markets and continue to be busy working on a range of ongoing projects in these markets;
• New investors entering the Asia Pacific, including strategic developers seeking new opportunities away from their existing markets and an upsurge in interests from financial sponsor clients, including specialist energy and infrastructure funds;
• The development of innovative financing approaches to support renewables projects, including portfolio structures, holdco financings, green bonds and other solutions which are tailored to the specific requirements of the sector;
• Continued focus on new and emerging technologies such as green hydrogen (including in Japan as an export target for leaders in this space such as Australia) and utility-scale batteries (linked to renewables projects which being explored in Korea among others) in each case which are likely to accelerate the renewables story and attract further international investment; and
• A well-documented global focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues which has led to a heightened focus on renewables and a likely acceleration of the energy transition in the post-pandemic world.

We hope you find this guide is informative and helpful and we always welcome new discussions about ways we can help support your ambitions in this area.

1. Boston Consulting Group, "Riding the Renewables Wave in Asia-Pacific", January 11 2021
2. Wood Mackenzie, "Renewables in most of Asia Pacific to be cheaper than coal power by 2030", 26 November 2020