Check out Asia's power investment deal highlights in 4Q16

China alone had US$3.4b of generation assets purchased by utilities.

Integrated utilities and traditional generation assets attract multibillion-dollar investments. In Q4, utilities from China and the Philippines acquired US$8.4b of generation and integrated utility assets, according to EY's power transactions and trends report. 

In China alone, utilities bought US$3.4b of generation assets, taking advantage of low valuations as the shift toward renewables continues.

Here's more from EY:

In December, India’s National Thermal Power Corporation announced it would replace 11 GW of old coal power generation capacity with new, more efficient coal generation capacity by 2020 at an estimated investment of US$500b.

Inbound renewable energy opportunities attract diverse investors: in Q4, brownfield deals totaled just US$603m compared with US$1.2b in Q3. In comparison, greenfield renewable energy projects increased in value from US$3.5b in Q3 to US$4b in Q4.

In November, Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power agreed to build and operate wind projects in Vietnam worth more than US$2.2b. In December, Shell announced plans to form a new company to invest in renewable energy in the Philippines, while Apple signed PPAs to acquire 285 MW of wind energy from China’s Goldwind.

2016 saw Chinese utilities acquire assets worth US$12b in cross-border transactions, including US$4.3b in Q4. Notable deals included Shanghai Electric’s US$2.3b acquisition of a 66.4% stake in Pakistan’s K-Electric and China General Nuclear Power Group’s purchase of 14 wind energy plants from Ireland-based Gaelectric.