Even though China, the world’s largest market, is slipping back, they are still leading the US, currently hitting news records.
According to BNEF, what had started as a subdued first few months of 2019, picked up pace in the second half of the year, with notable increases in investment including US onshore wind and, in particular, offshore wind in China and Europe.
Overall renewable energy capacity investment figures for 2019 saw wind (onshore and offshore) beat solar on with $138.2bn globally, an increase of 6 percent. Solar was close behind, at $131.1bn, having fallen 3 percent.
Falling capital costs in wind and solar meant that the two combined are likely to have seen around 180 GW added last year, increasing by 20 GW since 2018.
China, whilst remaining the highest investor in renewables at $83.4bn in 2019, slowed by 8 percent compared to 2018 – the lowest figure since 2013. Solar plummeted by a massive 33 percent, but wind rose 10 percent to $55bn.
The US was the second-largest investing country in renewable energy capacity, at $55.5bn, spiking 28 percent year-on-year, due to a rush by wind and solar developers to qualify for federal tax credits due to be scaled-back in 2020.
“It’s notable that in this third year of the Trump presidency, which has not been particularly supportive of renewables, US clean energy investment set a new record by a country mile,” said Ethan Zindler, head of Americas for BNEF, noting that the second-highest year for investment ($45.7bn) came in Trump’s first year, 2017. “These technologies are more cost-competitive than ever, and the fact that there was a tax credit step-down on the horizon made the market particularly busy in 2019.”
Europe was a hairs-breadth behind the US, investing $54.3bn in renewables capacity, although this represented a 7 percent decline since 2018. Spain led the way with $8.4bn, up 25 percent in 2018 and the highest annual figure for that country since 2011.
The U.K. invested $5.3bn, dropping by a shocking 40 percent – the lowest investment level in over a decade, whilst Germany fared slightly better – investment fell 30 percent to just $4.4bn, its lowest since 2004.
Sweden was down 19 percent, with $3.7bn, and the Netherlands saw investments grow by a quarter to $5.5bn, whilst France’s renewable resources grew 3 precent higher at $4.4bn.
2019’s biggest winner on the road to sustainability – Ukraine saw renewables investment grow 56 percent $3.4bn.
