Consulting and research firms Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and Mercom Capital have published their latest findings on worldwide investments in clean energy and in solar industry merger and acquisition activities.

According to Mercom’s report on funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity for the solar sector in the second quarter of 2017 and first half of 2017, total corporate funding (including venture capital funding, public market and debt financing) in the first half of this year was slightly up compared to 1H 2016 with about $4.6 billion raised compared to $4.5 billion in 1H 2016. With regard to the second quarter, the result is less encouraging: With $1.4 billion, corporate funding fell 56 percent compared to the $3.2 billion in Q1 2017. Compared to the second quarter of last year ($1.7 billion), funding was about 17 percent lower.

»There is a great deal of uncertainty in the solar markets right now, which is reflected in funding activity«, said Mercom’s CEO Raj Prabhu. While public companies on the US stock markets »have done well this year«, Prabhu thinks that »a lot is riding on how the Suniva anti-dumping case plays out as it will dictate market dynamics going forward.«

BNEF published its findings on global clean energy investments in the second quarter of 2017. According to the report, the quarter saw $64.8 billion on investments, up 21 percent from 1Q this year, but down 12 percent from 2Q 2016. Two solar projects in the United Arab Emirates contributed significantly to the quarter’s result: the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum III plant in Dubai (800 MW) and the 1.2 GW project in Abu Dhabi, jointly developed by Marubeni, JinkoSolar and Adwea Sweihan. Both projects account for a total of $1.9 billion.