UN-backed report: Decade of investment (2010-2019) quadruples renewables capacity from 414 GW to about 1,650 GW; renewables generated 12.9 per cent of global electricity in 2018, avoiding 2 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions

Frankfurt / Nairobi – Global investment in new renewable energy capacity this decade – 2010 to 2019 inclusive – is on course to hit USD 2.6 trillion, with more gigawatts of solar power capacity installed than any other generation technology, according to new figures published today.

According to the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019 report, released ahead of the UN Global Climate Action Summit, this investment is set to have roughly quadrupled renewable energy capacity (excluding large hydro) from 414 GW at the end of 2009 to just over 1,650 GW when the decade closes at the end of this year.

Solar power will have drawn half — USD 1.3 trillion — of the USD 2.6 trillion in renewable energy capacity investments made over the decade. Solar alone will have grown from 25 GW at the beginning of 2010 to an expected 663 GW by the close of 2019 – enough to produce all the electricity needed each year by about 100 million average homes in the USA. (The USA had about 128 million households in 2018)

The global share of electricity generation accounted for by renewables reached 12.9 per cent, in 2018, up from 11.6 per cent in 2017. This avoided an estimated 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions last year alone – a substantial saving given global power sector emissions of 13.7 billion tonnes in 2018.

Including all major generating technologies (fossil and zero-carbon), the decade is set to see a net 2,366 GW of power capacity installed, with solar accounting for the largest single share (638 GW), coal second (529 GW), and wind and gas in third and fourth places (487 GW and 438 GW respectively), and wind and gas in third and fourth places (487 GW and 438 GW respectively).

The cost-competitiveness of renewables has also risen dramatically over the decade. The levelized cost of electricity (a measure that allows comparison of different methods of electricity generation on a consistent basis) is down 81 per cent for solar photovoltaics since 2009; that for onshore wind is down 46 per cent.

“Investing in renewable energy is investing in a sustainable and profitable future, as the last decade of incredible growth in renewables has shown,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme.

“But we cannot afford to be complacent. Global power sector emissions have risen about 10 per cent over this period. It is clear that we need to rapidly step up the pace of the global switch to renewables if we are to meet international climate and development goals.”

2018 sees quarter-trillion dollar mark exceeded again

The report, released annually since 2007, also continued its traditional look at yearly figures, with global investment in renewables capacity hitting USD 272.9 billion in 2018.

While this was 12 per cent down over the previous year, 2018 was the ninth successive year in which capacity investment exceeded USD 200 billion and the fifth successive year above USD 250 billion. It was also was about three times the global investment in coal and gas-fired generation capacity combined.

The 2018 figure was achieved despite continuing falls in the capital cost of solar and wind projects, and despite a policy change that hit investment in China in the second half of the year.

A record 167 GW of new renewable energy capacity was completed in 2018, up from 160 GW in 2017.

Jon Moore, Chief Executive of BloombergNEF (BNEF), the research company that provides the data and analysis for the Global Trends report, commented: “Sharp falls in the cost of electricity from wind and solar over recent years have transformed the choice facing policy-makers. These technologies were always low-carbon and relatively quick to build. Now, in many countries around the world, either wind or solar is the cheapest option for electricity generation.”

The report also tracks other, non-capacity investment in renewables – money going into technology and specialist companies. All of these types of investment showed increases in 2018. Government and corporate research and development was up 10 per cent at USD 13.1 billion, while equity raised by renewable energy companies on public markets was 6 per cent higher at USD 6 billion, and venture capital and private equity investment was up 35 per cent at USD 2 billion.

Said Svenja Schulze, Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety: “The technologies to use wind, sun or geothermal energy are available, they are competitive and clean. Within 10 years Germany will produce two-thirds of its power based on renewables. We are demonstrating that an industrial country can phase out coal and, at the same time, nuclear energy without putting its economy at risk. We know that renewables make sense for the climate and for the economy. Yet we are not investing nearly enough to decarbonize power production, transport and heat in time to limit global warming to 2C or ideally 1.5C. If we want to achieve a safe and sustainable future, we need to do a lot more now in terms of creating an enabling-regulatory environment and infrastructure that encourage investment in renewables.”

“It is important to see renewables becoming first choice in many places,” said Nils Stieglitz, President of Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. “But now we need to think beyond scaling-up renewables. Divesting from coal is just one issue within the broader field of sustainable finance. Investors increasingly care whether what they do makes sense in the context of a low-carbon and sustainable future.”

China still leads, but renewables investment spreads

China has been by far the biggest investor in renewables capacity over this decade, having committed USD 758 billion between 2010 and the first half of 2019, with the U.S. second on USD 356 billion and Japan third on USD 202 billion.

Europe as a whole invested USD 698 billion in renewables capacity over the same period, with Germany contributing the most at USD 179 billion, and the United Kingdom USD 122 billion.

While China remained the largest single investor in 2018 (at USD 88.5 billion, down 38 per cent), renewable energy capacity investment was more spread out across the globe than ever last year, with 29 countries each investing more than USD 1 billion, up from 25 in 2017 and 21 in 2016

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The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment report is commissioned by the UN Environment Programme in cooperation with Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance and produced in collaboration with BloombergNEF. The report is supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety.

The report is available in full from Sept. 5 at http://www.fs-unep-centre.org

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Coverage highlights

Newswires

Energy Central, UK, Global Renewable Power Capacity Poised to Quadruple Over Past Decade, click here

Newskitchen, Germany, Vervierfachung der weltweiten Kapazität Erneuerbarer Energien auf 1.650 Gigawatt in den letzten zehn Jahren, click here

Eesti Rahvusringhääling, Estonia, ÜRO: elektritootmine taastuvallikatest on kümnendiga neljakordistunud, click here

Coverage summary, click here

China leads with more than half of world’s new solar capacity; global solar investment jumps 18 percent to $160.8 billion; cumulative renewable energy investment since 2004: $2.9 trillion

Solar energy dominated global investment in new power generation like never before in 2017.

The world installed a record 98 gigawatts of new solar capacity, far more than the net additions of any other technology – renewable, fossil fuel or nuclear.

Solar power also attracted far more investment, at $160.8 billion, up 18 per cent, than any other technology. It made up 57 per cent of last year’s total for all renewables (excluding large hydro) of $279.8 billion, and it towered above new investment in coal and gas generation capacity, estimated at $103 billion.

A driving power behind last year’s surge in solar was China, where an unprecedented boom saw some 53 gigawatts added – more than half the global total – and $86.5 billion invested, up 58 per cent.

The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2018 report, released today by UN Environment, Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, finds that falling costs for solar electricity, and to some extent wind power, is continuing to drive deployment. Last year was the eighth in a row in which global investment in renewables exceeded $200 billion – and since 2004, the world has invested $2.9 trillion in these green energy sources.

“The extraordinary surge in solar investment shows how the global energy map is changing and, more importantly, what the economic benefits are of such a shift,” said UN Environment head Erik Solheim. “Investments in renewables bring more people into the economy, they deliver more jobs, better quality jobs and better paid jobs. Clean energy also means less pollution, which means healthier, happier development.”

Overall, China was by far the world’s largest investing country in renewables, at a record $126.6 billion, up 31 per cent on 2016.

There were also sharp increases in investment in Australia (up 147 per cent to $8.5 billion), Mexico (up 810 per cent to $6 billion), and in Sweden (up 127 per cent to $3.7 billion).

A record 157 gigawatts of renewable power were commissioned last year, up from 143 gigawatts in 2016 and far out-stripping the net 70 gigawatts of fossil-fuel generating capacity added (after adjusting for the closure of some existing plants) over the same period.

“The world added more solar capacity than coal, gas, and nuclear plants combined”, said Nils Stieglitz, President of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. “This shows where we are heading, although the fact that renewables altogether are still far from providing the majority of electricity means that we still have a long way to go.”

Some big markets, however, saw declines in investment in renewables. In the United States, investment dropped 6 per cent, coming in at $40.5 billion. In Europe there was a fall of 36 per cent, to $40.9 billion, with big drops in the United Kingdom (down 65 per cent to $7.6 billion) and Germany (down 35 per cent to $10.4 billion). Investment in Japan slipped 28 per cent to $13.4 billion.

Angus McCrone, Chief Editor of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and lead author of the report, said: “In countries that saw lower investment, it generally reflected a mixture of changes in policy support, the timing of large project financings, such as in offshore wind, and lower capital costs per megawatt.”

Global investments in renewable energy of $2.7 trillion from 2007 to 2017 (11 years inclusive) have increased the proportion of world electricity generated by wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-energy, geothermal, marine and small hydro from 5.2 per cent to 12.1 per cent.

The current level of electricity generated by renewables corresponds to about 1.8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions avoided – roughly equivalent to those produced by the entire U.S. transport system.

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For more information, please contact:

The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2018 report was funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

To download the report: http://bit.ly/2uzBP4e

All renewable energy investment totals exclude large hydro, which falls outside the scope of the report.

About UN Environment: http://www.unenvironment.org

About Frankfurt School and the Frankfurt School-UNEP Centre: http://fs-unep-centre.org

About Bloomberg New Energy Finance: https://about.bnef.com

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News release in full, click here

Media coverage highlights:

Global investment of $241.6 billion (excluding large hydro), 23 percent less than 2015, brought 138.5GW of new renewable power capacity in 2016, up 8 percent from 2015; proportion of global electricity from renewables rose to 11.3 percent in 2016

As the cost of clean technology continues to fall, the world added record levels of renewable energy capacity in 2016, at an investment level 23 per cent lower than the previous year, according to new research published today by UN Environment, the Frankfurt School — UNEP Collaborating Centre and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2017 finds that wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-energy, geothermal, small hydro and marine sources added 138.5 gigawatts to global power capacity in 2016, up almost 9 per cent from the 127.5 gigawatts added the year before. The added generating capacity roughly equals that of the world’s 16 largest existing power producing facilities combined.

Investment in renewables capacity was roughly double that in fossil fuel generation; the corresponding new capacity from renewables was equivalent to 55 per cent of all new power, the highest to date. The proportion of electricity coming from renewables excluding large hydro rose from 10.3 per cent to 11.3 per cent. This prevented the emission of an estimated 1.7 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide.

The total investment was $241.6 billion (excluding large hydro), the lowest since 2013. This was in large part a result of falling costs: the average dollar capital expenditure per megawatt for solar photovoltaics and wind dropped by over 10 per cent.

“Ever-cheaper clean tech provides a real opportunity for investors to get more for less,” said Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment. “This is exactly the kind of situation, where the needs of profit and people meet, that will drive the shift to a better world for all.”

New investment in solar totalled $113.7 billion, down 34 per cent from the record high in 2015. Solar capacity additions, however, rose to an all-time high of 75 gigawatts. Wind made up $112.5 billion of investment globally, down 9 per cent; wind capacity additions fell to 54 gigawatts from the previous year’s high of 63 gigawatts.

“The investor hunger for existing wind and solar farms is a strong signal for the world to move to renewables,” said Prof. Dr. Udo Steffens, President of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, commenting on record acquisition activity in the clean power sector, which rose 17 per cent to $110.3 billion.

While much of the drop in financing was due to reduced technology costs, the report documented a slowdown in China, Japan and some emerging markets, for a variety of reasons.

Renewable energy investment in developing countries fell 30 per cent to $117 billion, while that in developed economies dropped 14 per cent to $125 billion. China saw investment drop 32 per cent to $78.3 billion, breaking an 11-year rising trend.

Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa and Morocco all saw falls of 60 per cent or more, due to slower than expected growth in electricity demand, and delays to auctions and financings. Jordan was one of the few new markets to buck the trend, investment there rising 148 per cent to $1.2 billion.

The US saw commitments slip 10 per cent to $46.4 billion, as developers took their time to build out projects to benefit from the five-year extension of the tax credit system. Japan slumped 56 per cent to $14.4 billion.

“The question always used to be ‘will renewables ever be grid competitive?’,” said Michael Liebreich, Chairman of the Advisory Board at BNEF. “Well, after the dramatic cost reductions of the past few years, unsubsidised wind and solar can provide the lowest cost new electrical power in an increasing number of countries, even in the developing world — sometimes by a factor of two.”

“It’s a whole new world: even though investment is down, annual installations are still up; instead of having to subsidise renewables, now authorities may have to subsidise natural gas plants to help them provide grid reliability,” Liebreich said.

Recent figures from the International Energy Agency cited the switch to renewables as one of the main reasons for greenhouse gas emissions staying flat in 2016, for the third year running, even though output in the global economy rose by 3.1 per cent.

Investment in renewables did not drop across the board. Europe enjoyed a 3 per cent increase to $59.8 billion, led by the UK ($24 billion) and Germany ($13.2 billion). Offshore wind ($25.9 billion) dominated Europe’s investment, up 53 per cent thanks to mega-arrays such as the 1.2 gigawatt Hornsea project in the North Sea, estimated to cost $5.7 billion. China also invested $4.1 billion in offshore wind, its highest figure to date.

Another positive sign came in winning bids for solar and wind in auctions around the world, at tariffs that would have seemed inconceivably low a few years ago. The records set last year were $29.10 per megawatt hour for solar in Chile and $30 per megawatt hour for onshore wind in Morocco.

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ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Purchases of assets such as wind farms and solar parks reached a new high, $72.7 billion.

Corporate takeovers reached $27.6 billion, 58 per cent more than 2015.

The smaller sectors had mixed fortunes in terms of new investment. Biofuels fell 37 per cent to $2.2 billion, the lowest for at least 13 years; biomass and waste held steady at $6.8 billion and small hydro at $3.5 billion. Geothermal rallied 17 per cent to $2.7 billion. Marine edged down 7 per cent to $194 million.

Siting two different technologies in the same location — to make use of shared land, grid connections and maintenance, and to reduce intermittency — is growing. Some 5.6 gigawatts of these ‘hybrid’ projects have been built or are under development worldwide.

The Ramanathapuram solar complex in India, billed as the world’s largest ever solar photovoltaic project (648 megawatts), was constructed.

The report in full can be downloaded post-embargo at fs-unep-centre.org

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Example coverage:

Reuters, UK, World investment in green power down, money went further in 2016, click here

News release in full, click here

24 Mar 2016

For first time, developing world investments in renewables (up 19 percent in 2015) topped developed nations’ (down 8%); World record total of $286 billion invested in renewables last year, makes $2.3 trillion over 12 years

Frankfurt / Nairobi — Coal and gas-fired electricity generation last year drew less than half the record investment made in solar, wind and other renewables capacity — one of several important firsts for green energy announced today in a UN-backed report.

Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016, the 10th edition of UNEP’s annual report, launched today by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), says the annual global investment in new renewables capacity, at $266 billion, was more than double the estimated $130 billion invested in coal and gas power stations in 2015.

All investments in renewables, including early-stage technology and R&D as well as spending on new capacity, totalled $286 billion in 2015, some 3% higher than the previous record in 2011. Since 2004, the world has invested $2.3 trillion in renewable energy (unadjusted for inflation).

(All figures for renewables in this release include wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-energy, biofuels, geothermal, marine and small hydro, but exclude large hydro-electric projects of more than 50 megawatts).

Just as significantly, developing world investments in renewables topped those of developed nations for the first time in 2015.

Helped by further falls in generating costs per megawatt-hour, particularly in solar photovoltaics, renewables excluding large hydro made up 54% of added gigawatt capacity of all technologies last year. It marks the first time new installed renewables have topped the capacity added from all conventional technologies.

The 134 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power added worldwide in 2015 compares to 106GW in 2014 and 87GW in 2013.

Were it not for renewables excluding large hydro, annual global CO2 emissions would have been an estimated 1.5 gigatonnes higher in 2015.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said, “Renewables are becoming ever more central to our low-carbon lifestyles, and the record-setting investments in 2015 are further proof of this trend. Importantly, for the first time in 2015, renewables in investments were higher in developing countries than developed.”

“Access to clean, modern energy is of enormous value for all societies, but especially so in regions where reliable energy can offer profound improvements in quality of life, economic development and environmental sustainability. Continued and increased investment in renewables is not only good for people and planet, but will be a key element in achieving international targets on climate change and sustainable development. ”

“By adopting the Sustainable Development Goals last year, the world pledged to end poverty, promote sustainable development, and to ensure healthier lives and access to affordable, sustainable, clean energy for all. Continued and increased investment in renewables will be a significant part of delivering on that promise.”

(UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner’s video introduction of the report Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016: http://bit.ly/1pyHaAO)

Said Michael Liebreich, Chairman of the Advisory Board at BNEF: “Global investment in renewables capacity hit a new record in 2015, far outpacing that in fossil fuel generating capacity despite falling oil, gas and coal prices. It has broadened out to a wider and wider array of developing countries, helped by sharply reduced costs and by the benefits of local power production over reliance on imported commodities.”

As in previous years, the report shows the 2015 renewable energy market was dominated by solar photovoltaics and wind, which together added 118GW in generating capacity, far above the previous record of 94GW set in 2014. Wind added 62GW and photovoltaics 56GW. More modest amounts were provided by biomass and waste-to-power, geothermal, solar thermal and small hydro.

In 2015, more attention was drawn to battery storage as an adjunct to solar and wind projects and to small-scale PV systems. Energy storage is of significant importance as it is one way of providing fast-responding balancing to the grid, whether to deal with demand spikes or variable renewable power generation from wind and solar.

Last year, some 250MW of utility-scale electricity storage (excluding pumped hydro and lead-acid batteries) was installed worldwide, up from 160MW in 2014.

Developing countries on the rise led by China and India

In 2015, for the first time, investments in renewable energy in developing and emerging economy nations ($156 billion, up 19% compared to 2014) surpassed those in developed countries ($130 billion, down 8% from 2014).

Much of these record-breaking developing world investments took place in China (up 17% to $102.9 billion, or 36% of the world total).

Other developing countries showing increased investment included India (up 22% to $10.2 billion), South Africa (up 329% to $4.5 billion), Mexico (up 105% to $4 billion) and Chile (up 151% to $3.4 billion).

Morocco, Turkey and Uruguay all joined the list of countries investing more than $1 billion.

Overall developing country investments last year were 17-times higher than in 2004.

Among developed countries, investment in Europe was down 21%, from $62 billion in 2014 to $48.8 billion in 2015, the continent’s lowest figure for nine years despite record investments in offshore wind projects.

The United States was up 19% to $44.1 billion, and in Japan investment was much the same as the previous year at $36.2 billion.

The shift in investment towards developing countries and away from developed economies may be attributed to several factors: China’s dash for wind and solar, fast-rising electricity demand in emerging countries, the reduced cost of choosing renewables to meet that demand, sluggish economic growth in the developed world and cutbacks in subsidy support in Europe.

Still a long way to go

That the power generation capacity added by renewables exceeded new capacity added from conventional sources in 2015 shows that structural change is under way.

Renewables, excluding large hydro, still represent a small minority of the world’s total installed power capacity (about one-sixth, or 16.2%) but that figure continues to climb (up from 15.2% in 2014). Meanwhile actual electricity generated by those renewables was 10.3% of global generation in 2015 (up from 9.1% in 2014).

“Despite the ambitious signals from COP 21 in Paris and the growing capacity of new installed renewable energy, there is still a long way to go,” said Prof. Dr. Udo Steffens, President of the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.

“Coal-fired power stations and other conventional power plants have long lifetimes. Without further policy interventions, climate altering emissions of carbon dioxide will increase for at least another decade.”

The recent big fall in coal, oil and gas prices makes conventional electricity generation more attractive, Dr. Steffens added. “However, the commitments made by all nations at the Paris climate summit in December, echoing statements from last-year’s G7 summit, require a very low- or no-carbon electricity system.”

UNEP Infographic “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016”: http://bit.ly/21HcFot 

Report in full: http://fs-unep-centre.org

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Example coverage by:

New York Times, editorial, A Renewable Energy Boom, click here (ad value: US$268,900; circulation: 913,850)

The Associated Press, USA
Developing world overtakes West in renewables investments, click here

Reuters, UK
China leads as green energy investment plans hit record high, click here; Japanese: 再生可能エネルギーの世界投資計画、昨年は過去最高 中国けん引, click here

Agence France Presse, France
Developing nations became top investors in renewables in 2015: UN, click here 

Agencia EFE, Spain
Las inversiones en renovables en 12 años sumaron 2,3 billones de dólares, click here

Washington Post, USA
Clean energy is winning the race against fossil fuels — but the planet is still losing, click here

BBC Online, UK
UN: 2015 record year for global renewables investment, click here

Bloomberg, USA
Why Power Markets Tilt Toward Renewables Even With Cheap Oil, click here

Deutsche Presse Agentur, and AFX, Germany
Rekordinvestitionen in Erneuerbare – Rückgang in Deutschland (Record investments in renewable – decline in Germany), click here

New Scientist, UK
Investment in renewables was double that of coal and gas in 2015, click here

The Guardian, UK
Global coal and gas investment falls to less than half that in clean energy, click here

Europa Press (Spain)
Nuevo récord en inversiones en energías renovables (New record investments in renewable energy), click here

El Pais, Spain / Latin America, El crecimiento de India dispara las energías renovables (India’s growth shoots renewable energy), click here

ANSA, Italy
Rinnovabili:investimenti globali record nel 2015, 286 mld dir (Renewable: global investment record in 2015, $286 bn), click here

Grist, USA
9 figures to help you understand the state of renewable energy (New record investments in renewable energy, mainly in developing countries), click here

Recharge, USA
China drives record spending in 2015 as renewables outstrip fossils, click here

Actu Environnement, France
ENR : pour la première fois la puissance des nouvelles capacités installées dépasse celle des fossiles (REC: for the first time the power of new installed capacity exceeds that of fossil fuels), click here

Carbon Brief, UK
Seven charts show how renewable investment broke records in 2015, click here

Business Green, UK
Developing economies take ‘front seat’ in global clean energy investment drive, click here

Think Progress, USA
Worldwide Renewable Energy Investment Hits A New Record, click here

Climate Change News, UK
UN: China, India driving new clean energy investments, click here

Mashable, USA
Record $286 billion invested in renewable energy in 2015, more than double fossil fuels, click here

Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Italy
Rinnovabili: nel 2015 il sorpasso dei paesi emergenti (Renewables in 2015 overtaken by emerging countries), click here

Namibia Press Agency, Namibia
Climate warming energy renewables solar wind lead coal gas, click here

TASR (Slovak News Agency)
Rozvojové krajiny investovali do obnoviteľných zdrojov 156 miliárd USD (Developing countries invest in renewable 156 billion USD), click here

EUWID Neue Energien, Germany
Investitionen in Erneuerbare steigen auf 286 Mrd. US-Dollar (Investments in renewable rise to 286 billion US dollars), click here

GreenArea.me, Lebanon
استثمارات الطاقة المتجددة… انجازات كبيرة في الدول النامية ورقم قياسي جديد (Renewable energy investments … great achievements in developing countries, a new record number), click here

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Coverage summary in full, click here

News release in full, click here

Record installations for wind and solar PV in 2014; renewable energy targets created in 20 more countries, new total: 164

Renewable energy targets and other support policies now in place in 164 countries powered the growth of solar, wind and other green technologies to record-breaking energy generation capacity in 2014.

According to REN21’s latest Renewables Global Status Report, policymakers continued to focus on adapting existing policies to keep pace with rapidly changing costs and circumstances.

With 135 gigawatts added, total installed renewable energy power capacity worldwide, including large hydroelectric plants, stood at 1712 gigawatts, up 8.5% from the year before and double the 800 gigawatts of capacity reported in the first REN21 report in 2005.

In 2014, renewables made up an estimated 59% of net additions to global power capacity and represented far higher shares of capacity added in several countries around the world. By year’s end, renewables comprised an estimated 27.7% of the world’s power generating capacity. This was enough to supply an estimated 22.8% of global electricity demand.

The quantity of electricity available from renewables worldwide is now greater than that produced by all coal-burning plants in the USA (in 2013 coal supplied ~38% of US electricity, down from ~50% in the early 2000s).

Solar photovoltaic capacity has grown at the most phenomenal rate (up 68-fold, from 2.6 GW in 2004 to 177 GW in 2014), with strong growth also in wind power capacity (up almost 8-fold, from 48 GW in 2004 to 370 GW in 2014).

Heating accounted for about half of world energy consumption in 2014. Renewable energy supplied more than 25% of final energy use in the heating sector, of which over two-thirds was traditional biomass. Modern renewable energy supplied the remaining third, or about 8% of the world’s total final energy use for heat production.

All of which helped the world achieve a sustainable development milestone: In 2014, for the first time in four decades, the world economy grew without a parallel rise in carbon dioxide emissions. Despite the world’s annual 1.5% increase in energy consumption in recent years and 3% Gross Domestic Product growth last year, CO₂ emissions were unchanged from 2013 levels: 32.3 billion metric tons.

According to the report, the landmark “decoupling” of economic and CO₂ growth is due in large measure to China’s increased use of renewable resources, and efforts by countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to promote sustainable energy sources.

This is “particularly encouraging,” the report says, given the UN’s major conference in December in Paris, where countries will announce and / or confirm actions to mitigate climate change, setting the stage for future investment in renewables and energy efficiency. “Renewable energy and improved energy efficiency are key to limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius and avoiding dangerous climate change”, says REN21 Chair Arthouros Zervos, who released the new report at the Vienna Energy Forum.

Employment in the sector is growing fast as well. In 2014, an estimated 7.7 million people worldwide worked directly or indirectly in the renewable energy sector

The sector’s growth could even greater if not for government policies, including more than $550 billion in annual subsidies for fossil fuel and nuclear energy, which perpetuate artificially low energy prices from those sources, encouraging waste and impeding competition from renewables.

Says Christine Lins, Executive Secretary, REN21: “Creating a level playing field would strengthen the development and use of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Removing fossil-fuel and hidden nuclear subsidies globally would make it evident that renewables are the cheapest energy option.”

More than one billion people, or 15% of humanity, still lack access to electricity. With installed capacity of roughly 147 GW, all of Africa has less power generation capacity than Germany. Distributed renewable energy technologies are improving the situation, providing essential and productive energy services in remote and rural areas. For example, off-grid solar PV (which attracted roughly US $64 billion in 2014) has a significant and growing market presence.

However, the growth rate is below that necessary to achieve the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) goals of doubling renewable energy and energy efficiency and providing universal access for all by 2030.

Available publicly from June 18 (at http://www.ren21.net/gsr), REN21’s Renewables Global Status Report is the 10th annual edition of the world’s most frequently-referenced report on the global green energy market, industry and policy landscape.

Other report highlights

New investment in renewable power and fuels (not including hydropower >50 MW) increased worldwide by 17% over 2013, to US$ 270.2 billion. Including large-scale hydropower, new investment in renewable power and fuels reached over US$ 301 billion.

Global new investment in renewable power capacity was more than twice that of investment in net fossil fuel power capacity, continuing the trend of renewables outpacing fossil fuels in net investment for the fifth year running.

Investment in developing countries was up 36% from the previous year to US$ 131.3 billion. Developing country investment came the closest ever to surpassing the investment total for developed economies, which reached US$ 138.9 billion in 2014, up only 3% from 2013.

China accounted for 63% of developing country investment, while Chile, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey each invested more than US$ 1 billion in renewable energy.

By dollars spent, the leading countries for investment were China, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany. Leading countries for investments relative to per capita GDP were Burundi, Kenya, Honduras, Jordan, and Uruguay.

• Wind: The growth of energy generated with wind turbines resumed in 2014, which marked another record year.

Over 51 GW of wind capacity was added, representing a 44% increase over 2013 and raising the world total to around 370 GW. China alone accounted for 45% of global additions. Asia remained the largest market for the seventh consecutive year, and overtook Europe in total capacity. However, Europe saw its second highest installations ever, largely thanks to Germany. The United States was the leading country for wind power generation.

Wind power met more than 20% of electricity demand in several countries–including Denmark, Nicaragua, Portugal, and Spain. An estimated 1.7 GW of grid-connected capacity was added offshore– all in the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, and China — bringing the world total to more than 8.5 GW.

• Solar PV: Rapidly falling costs have made unsubsidized solar-generated electricity more cost-competitive, fuelling the record-breaking 40 GW added capacity installed in 2014, raising total global capacity to 177 GW. The top three PV markets, China, Japan, and the United States, accounted for the vast majority of new capacity. Latin America is the fastest growing regional market. Significant new capacity also came online in several African countries, and markets are picking up in the Middle East. Consolidation among solar technology manufacturers continued, although the flood of bankruptcies seen over the past few years slowed to a trickle.
• Hydropower: An estimated 37 GW of new hydropower capacity was commissioned in 2014, raising the global total to approximately 1,055 GW. By far, the most new capacity was installed in China (22 GW), with significant capacity also added in Brazil, Canada, Turkey, India, and Russia.
• Concentrated Solar Thermal Power: CSP continued a near decade-long run of strong growth in 2014, with total global capacity up 27% to 4.4 GW. Only the United States and India added CSP facilities to their grids in 2014. However, CSP activity continued in most regions, with South Africa and Morocco as the most active markets in terms of construction and planning. Spain remained the global leader in terms of existing capacity. Spain added no new capacity in 2014 due to regulatory curtailment of the Spanish CSP industry, but remained the global leader in terms of existing capacity (2.3 GW).
• Bioenergy: Bio-heat capacity increased by an estimated 3% in 2014. Composition of bio-heat portfolios continued to vary widely by region, ranging from large-scale production in industry (e.g., in the United States) to vast numbers of residential-scale bio-digesters (e.g., in China). Global bio-power production increased approximately 9%, with China, Brazil and Japan leading for capacity additions, and the United States and Germany leading for generation (despite comparatively smaller capacity additions).

Liquid biofuel production was up 9% in 2014, reaching its highest level to date. Although the United States and Brazil dominated overall volume, Asia experienced particularly high growth rates of production. Biofuels production also increased in Europe, although growth was slowed by the decision to limiting the contribution of first generation biofuels to EU national targets. Low oil prices in the second half of the year positively affected some feedstock production, but reduced turnover for some bioenergy businesses.

Trade patterns in both solid and liquid fuels saw some shifts in 2014, with a considerable share of North American wood pellets flowing to Asia, reducing the domination of flows to European markets. The share of traded biofuels destined for Europe continued to decline, while new markets (particularly for fuel ethanol) expanded in other regions.

• Solar Thermal Heating and Cooling: Deployment of solar thermal technologies continued to slow, due largely to declining markets in Europe and China. Cumulative capacity of water collectors reached an estimated 406 GWth by the end of 2014 (with air collectors adding another 2 GWth), providing approximately 341 TWh of heat annually. China again accounted for about 80% of the world market for solar water collectors, followed by Turkey, Brazil, India and Germany.
• Geothermal: About 640 MW of new geothermal power generating capacity came online in 2014 bringing total global capacity close to 12.8 GW. Total capacity growth has averaged 3.6% for the last five years. The largest share of new geothermal power capacity came on line in Kenya.
• Ocean Energy: Harnessing mostly tidal but also some wave energy, generation remained at about 530 MW in 2014. Virtually all new installations were in some form of pilot or demonstration projects.
• Energy efficiency: Overall, energy intensity has decreased in most regions, with the exception of the Middle East. In a growing number of countries, policies have been enacted to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, appliances, industry and transport vehicles, including fuel economy standards, incentives for electric (EV) and hybrid (HEV) vehicles, and public transit.
• A trend towards meeting transportation and heating needs with electricity continued in 2014.

Recommendations, in brief

• Develop stable and predictable policies that can adapt to a changing environment
• Showcase and communicate renewables ability to provide industrial-scale electricity supply
• Create a level playing field to increase cost-competiveness beyond PV and wind
• Renewable power: energy system thinking is required
• Increase support to the renewable heating and cooling sector
• Improve access to finance in developing countries
• Drive good decisions with good data

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About the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report

Available publicly from June 18 (at: http://www.ren21.net/gsr), REN21’s Renewables Global Status Report is the 10th annual edition of the world’s most frequently-referenced report on the global green energy market, industry and policy landscape. It is the collaborative result of collaboration of over 500 experts from all around the world. Country information for 133 countries were received and used as basis for GSR2015 preparation. The country data received is featured in the newly launched REN21 Renewables Interactive Map.

* * * * *

Example coverage:

The Associated Press, via Washington Post, “Record year for renewable power; heat, transport stay fossil,” click here

New Scientist, UK, “CO2 emissions stall thanks to China’s passion for renewables,” click here

Business Green, UK, “Global green energy surge ‘decoupling’ economic growth from emissions,” click here; “REN21 global green energy report – at a glance,” click here

Agencia EFE, Spain, “Los subsidios al petróleo limitan el auge de energía renovables, según REN21,” click here

Coverage summary: click here

News release in full, click here

31-Mar-2015

Driven by Solar and Wind, World Investments Reverse 2-year Dip, Brush Aside Challenge from Sharply Lower Oil Price; 103gw Capacity Added in 2014 is Roughly that of all US Nuclear Plants

Frankfurt / New York, 31 March, 2015 — Global investments in renewable energy rebounded strongly last year, registering a solid 17% increase after two years of declines and brushing aside the challenge from sharply lower crude oil prices.

Major expansion of solar installations in China and Japan and record investments in offshore wind projects in Europe helped propel global 2014 investments to $270 billion, a 17% surge from the 2013 figure of $232 billion.

It was the first annual increase in dollars invested in and committed to renewables (excluding large hydro-electric projects) in three years, a total just 3% below the all-time record of $279 billion set in 2011. The falls in the investment figures for 2012 (to $256 billion) and 2013 (to $232 billion) were attributed in part to lower prices for renewable energy technologies due to economies of scale.

The 103Gw of generating capacity added around the world made 2014 the best year ever for newly installed capacity, according to the UNEP’s 9th annual “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investments” report, prepared by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

A continuing sharp decline in technology costs -particularly in solar but also in wind -means that every dollar invested in renewable energy bought significantly more generating capacity in 2014. The 103GW of capacity added by new renewable energy sources last year compares to 86GW in 2013, 89GW in 2012 and 81GW in 2011.

The 103GW of capacity added by renewables last year equals the energy generating capacity of all 158 nuclear power plant reactors in the USA.

Wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-power, geothermal, small hydro and marine power contributed an estimated 9.1% of world electricity generation in 2014, up from 8.5% in 2013. This meant that last year the world electricity system emitted 1.3 gigatonnes of CO2 -roughly twice the emissions of the world’s airline industry -less than it would have if that 9.1% had been produced by the same fossil-dominated mix generating the other 90.9% of world power.

“Once again in 2014, renewables made up nearly half of the net power capacity added worldwide”says Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNEP.

“These climate-friendly energy technologies are now an indispensable component of the global energy mix and their importance will only increase as markets mature, technology prices continue to fall and the need to rein in carbon emissions becomes ever more urgent.”

“The growing penetration of renewable generation in the world’s developing economies is one of the important and encouraging aspects of the 2014 report.”

China saw by far the biggest renewable energy investments last year -a record $83.3 billion, up 39% from 2013. The US was second at $38.3 billion, up 7% on the year (though this is below its all-time high reached in 2011). Third came Japan, at $35.7 billion, 10% higher than in 2013 and its biggest total ever.

As in previous years, the market in 2014 was dominated by record investments in solar and wind, which accounted for 92% of overall investment in renewable power and fuels. Investment in solar jumped 25% to $149.6 billion, the second highest figure ever, while wind investment increased 11% to a record $99.5 billion. In 2014, some 49GW of wind capacity and 46GW of solar PV capacity were added worldwide, both records.

The dominant feature of the solar sector was unprecedented expansion in China and Asia. Between them, the two Asian giants invested $74.9 billion in solar in 2014, around half the world’s total.

In China, utility-scale projects of more than 1MW made up about three-quarters of the solar investment of $40 billion, which was a 45% increase on the previous year. In Japan, on the other hand, investment was dominated by small scale projects of less than a megawatt, which accounted for 81% of a total solar investment of $34.8 billion, a 13% increase on 2013.

A boom in European offshore wind development resulted in seven $1 billion-plus projects reaching “final investment decision”stage in 2014. Among these, the $3.8 billion 600MW Gemini installation off the cost of the Netherlands was the largest non-hydro renewable energy plant to get the go-ahead anywhere in the world.

Offshore wind projects worth $18.6 billion were financed globally in 2014. This was 148% higher than the previous year and 45% higher than the next highest year, 2010. Most of this total -$16.2 billion -was in Europe with China accounting for the remaining $2.4 billion.

Other renewable energy sources did not perform so well by comparison. Biofuels fell 8% to $5.1 billion, biomass and waste-to-energy dropped 10% to $8.4 billion and small hydro was down 17% to $4.5 billion. Only geothermal bucked the trend with a 23% increase to $2.7 billion.

A salient feature of the 2014 result was the rapid expansion of renewables into new markets in developing countries, where investments jumped 36% to $131.3 billion. China with $83.3 billion, Brazil ($7.6 billion), India ($7.4 billion) and South Africa ($5.5 billion) were all in the top 10 investing countries, while more than $1 billion was invested in Indonesia, Chile, Mexico, Kenya and Turkey.

In contrast, the total renewables investment in developed economies rose only 3% to $138.9 billion. Even accounting for the booming offshore wind sector, investments in Europe hardly changed at $57.5 billion.

Despite turnaround, challenges remain

Although 2014 was a turnaround year for renewables after two years of shrinkage, multiple challenges remain in the form of policy uncertainty, structural issues in the electricity system -even in the very nature of wind and solar generation, with their dependence on breeze and sunlight.

Another challenge was, at first sight, the impact of the 50%-plus collapse in the oil price in the second half of last year. According to Udo Steffens, President of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, however, the oil price is only likely to dampen investor confidence in parts of the sector, such as solar in oil-exporting countries, and biofuels in most parts of the world.

“Oil and renewables do not directly compete for power investment dollars,”said Steffens. “Wind and solar sectors should be able to carry on flourishing, particularly if they continue to cut costs per MWh. Their long-term story is just more convincing.”

Of greater concern is the erosion of investor confidence caused by increasing uncertainty surrounding government support policies for renewables.

“Europe was the first mover in clean energy, but it is still in a process of restructuring those early support mechanisms,” notes Michael Liebreich, Chairman of the Advisory Board for Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “In the UK and Germany we are seeing a move away from feed-in tariffs and green certificates, towards reverse auctions and subsidy caps, aimed at capping the cost of the transition to consumers.

“Southern Europe is still almost a no-go area for investors because of retroactive policy changes, most recently those affecting solar farms in Italy. In the US there is uncertainty over the future of the Production Tax Credit for wind, but costs are now so low that the sector is more insulated than in the past. Meanwhile the rooftop solar sector is becoming unstoppable.”

There are also structural challenges in the electricity system as grids and utilities in many countries struggle to cope with the increasing penetration of wind and solar in the generation mix. Coping with 25% or more variable generation is more difficult for grids and utilities than managing a 5% proportion.

Governments have often struggled to produce policy measures that keep up with the advance of renewable power and its knock-on effect on the rest of the electricity system. ing

2014 was a year of eye-catching steps forward for renewable energy with investment rallying strongly. If these positive investment trends are to continue it is increasingly clear that major electricity market reforms will be needed of the sort that Germany is now attempting with its Energiewendeenergy transition. The structural challenges needing to be overcome are not simple ones, but are of the sort that have only arisen because of the very success of renewables and their over two trillion dollars of investment mobilized since 2004.

Over $2 trillion invested in renewables since 2004

The 2014 global investment of $270 billion in renewables followed investments of $232 billion (2013), $256 billion (2012), $279 billion (2011), $237 billion (2010), $178 billion (2009), $182 billion (2008), $154 billion (2007), $112 billion (2006), $73 billion (2005) and $45 billion (2004) – an 11-year total of $2.02 trillion (unadjusted for inflation).

Other highlights:

• Although asset finance of utility-scale renewable energy projects went up 10% to $170.7 billion, the increase for small-scale projects of less than 1MW was even bigger at 34%, to $73.5 billion. Recent sharp reductions in solar system costs are making rooftop solar a more competitive option for businesses and households looking to generate part of their own power needs. The US, Japan and China had the biggest increases in small-scale project investment.
• Among other investment categories, equity raising by renewable energy companies on public markets jumped 43% in 2014 to $15.1 billion, helped by the recovery in sector share prices between mid-2012 and March 2014, and by the popularity with investors of US “yieldcos” and their European equivalents, quoted project funds.
• Venture capital and private equity investment in renewable energy rallied to $2.8 billion last year, up 27% on 2013’s depressed figure, but still little more than a quarter of the record established in 2008. R&D spending on renewables edged up 2% to $11.7 billion, with corporate entities accounting for $6.6 billion and governments $5.1 billion.
• Although outside the scope of the UNEP report, large hydro-electric projects (more than 50MW) saw final investment decisions reached on an estimated 15-20GW of fresh capacity worldwide, equivalent to financial commitments of some $31 billion.

###

The report in full, click here

News release in full, click here; in Chinese, French, German and Spanish, click here

Examples of original coverage, by:

Washington Post, USA, Renewable energy is growing very, very fast. It’s just still not fast enough, click here

Los Angeles Times, USA, Renewable energy investment heats up worldwide, click here

US News and World Report, Solar, Wind Investment Surge, Reversing 2-Year Decline, click here

Bloomberg, USA, Investors Spent a Record $2 Trillion on Renewables, Report Says, click here

DPA, Germany / via AFX newswire, USA, Green Energy Spending Soars Despite Cheap Oil, click here

BBC Online, UK, UN: New renewables broke through 100GW barrier in 2014, click here

New Scientist, UK, Asian solar spending helps drive renewable energy boom, click here

Reuters, UK, Global green energy investment climbs after two-year decline, click here; French: Les investissements dans les énergies vertes repartent à la hausse, click here

Agence France Presse, France, French, Energies renouvelables: l’ONU confirme la reprise des investissements en 2014, click here

El Pais, Spain, La inversión en renovables crece pese al desplome del petróleo, click here

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Canada, Renewable energy investment rose 17% worldwide in 2014, click here

Globe and Mail, Canada, Investments in renewable energy climb 17% in 2014: report, click here

Business Green, UK, Global clean energy investment soars 17 per cent in 2014, click here

Triple Pundit, UK, ‘Eye-Catching’ Gains in Renewable Energy Investment, click here

InterPress News Service, Italy, A “Year of Eye-Catching Steps Forward” for Renewable Energy, click here

Coverage summary in full click here

03-Jun-2014

Now 95 emerging economies nurture renewable energy growth through supportive policies, up six-fold from just 15 countries in 2005

The number of emerging economy nations with policies in place to support the expansion of renewable energy has surged more than six-fold in just eight years, from 15 developing countries in 2005 to 95 early this year.

Those 95 developing nations today make up the vast majority of the 144 countries with renewable energy support policies and targets in place, says REN21’s Renewables 2014 Global Status Report. And the rise of developing world support contrasts with declining support and renewables policy uncertainty and even retroactive support reductions in some European countries and the United States.

Launched at the UN-hosted Sustainable Energy for All in New York, the 2014 report credits support policies with a central role in driving global renewable energy capacity to a new record level last year — 1,560 gigawatts (GW), up 8.3% from 2012. More than one-fifth — 22% — of the world’s power production now comes from renewable sources.

According to REN21: “Markets, manufacturing, and investment expanded further across the developing world, clearly illustrating that renewables are no longer dependent upon a small handful of countries.”

In 2013, an estimated 6.5 million people worldwide worked directly or indirectly in the renewable energy sector.

Available publicly from June 4 (http://www.ren21.net/gsr), REN21’s Renewables 2014 Global Status Report is the world’s most frequently-referenced report on the renewable energy market, industry and policy developments.

Among highlights:

• Overall last year, renewables accounted for more than 56% of net additions to global power capacity.
• Hydropower rose by 4% to approximately 1,000 GW in 2013, accounting for about one-third of renewable power capacity added during the year. Other renewables collectively grew nearly 17% to an estimated 560 GW.
• Renewable energy provided 19% of global final energy consumption in 2012, and continued to grow in 2013. Of this total share in 2012, modern renewables accounted for 10% with the remaining 9% coming from traditional biomass the share of which is declining.
• Useful heat energy from modern renewable sources accounted for an estimated 4.2% of total final energy use; hydropower made up about 3.8%, and an estimated 2% was provided by power from wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass, as well as by biofuels.
• For the first time, more solar PV than wind power capacity was added worldwide, accounting for about one-third of renewable power capacity added during the year.
• Even as global investment in solar PV declined nearly 22% relative to 2012, new capacity installations increased by more than 32%. The solar PV market had a record year, adding more than 39 GW in 2013 for a total of approximately 139 GW. China saw spectacular growth, accounting for nearly one third of global capacity added, followed by Japan and the United States.
• China, the United States, Brazil, Canada, and Germany remained the top countries for total installed renewable power capacity. China’s new renewable power capacity surpassed new fossil fuel and nuclear capacity for the first time.
• In the European Union, 2013 marked the sixth consecutive year in which renewables represented the majority of new electricity generating capacity. The 72% share in 2013 is in stark contrast to a decade earlier, when conventional fossil generation accounted for 80% of new capacity in the EU-27 plus Norway and Switzerland.
• Renewables are achieving high levels of penetration in several countries. For example, throughout 2013, wind power met 33.2% and 20.9% of electricity demand in Denmark and Spain, respectively; in Italy, solar PV met 7.8% of total annual electricity demand.
• Growing numbers of cities, states, and regions seek to transition to 100% renewable energy in either individual sectors or economy-wide. For example, Djibouti, Scotland, and the small-island state of Tuvalu aim to derive 100% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Among those whom have already achieved their goals are about 20 million Germans who live in so-called 100% renewable energy regions.
• Uruguay, Mauritius, and Costa Rica were among the top countries for investment in new renewable power and fuels relative to annual GDP.
• Wind power was excluded from one of Brazil’s national auctions because it was pricing all other generation sources out of the market.
• More than 35 GW of wind power capacity was added in 2013, totalling just more than 318 GW. However, despite several record years, the market was down nearly 10 GW compared to 2012, reflecting primarily a steep drop in the U.S. market. Offshore wind had a record year, with 1.6 GW added, almost all of it in the EU. Heating and cooling from modern biomass, solar, and geothermal sources account for a small but gradually rising share of final global heat demand, amounting to an estimated 10%.
• Denmark banned the use of fossil fuel-fired boilers in new buildings as of 2013 and aims for renewables to provide almost 40% of total heat supply by 2020.
• Robust policies coupled with continuing technological advances, falling prices, and innovations in financing have made renewables increasingly affordable for a broader range of consumers worldwide. Global new investment in renewable power and fuels was at least USD 249.4 billion in 2013 down from its record level in 2011.

REN21’s 2014 report says policy mechanisms continue to evolve. In 2013, feed-in policies in many countries shifted towards premium payments in the power sector, and continued to be adapted for use in the heating sector. New policies advanced or managed the integration of high shares of renewable electricity into existing power systems, including support for energy storage, demand-side management, and smart grid technologies.

“Global perceptions of renewable energy have shifted considerably,” says Arthouros Zervos, Chair of REN21.

“Over the last 10 years, continuing technology advances and rapid deployment of many renewable energy technologies have demonstrated that the question is no longer whether renewables have a role to play in the provision of energy services, but rather how we can best increase the current pace to achieve a 100% renewables future with full energy access for all.”

“For this to be become reality, current thinking needs to change: continuing the status quo of a patchwork of policies and actions is no longer sufficient. Instead, technology developments, finance models as well as stable and predictable renewable energy policies need to be systematically linked across the public and private sectors in order to support and drive the transition process.”

Says Christine Lins, Executive Secretary, REN21: “The past decade has set the wheels in motion for a global transition to renewables, but a concerted and sustained effort is needed to achieve it. With increasingly ambitious targets and innovative policies, renewables can continue to surpass expectations and create a clean energy future.”

* * * * *

News release in full, click here

Coverage summary, articles captured in 11 languages from ~275 news sites across 41 countries, click here

Example coverage:

Newswires:

Austria Presse Agentur, “Entwicklungsländer setzen auf erneuerbare Energien,” click here

Xinhua “China tops UN-sponsored list for renewable energy industry, investment,” click here

Pacific Islands News Association “Developing nations’ policies push renewable energy capacity to record high, says UN-backed report,” click here

Deutsche Presse Agentur 1) “Lichter drohen auszugehen IEA fordert mehr Geld für Kraftwerke und Stromnetze,” click here, 2) “48 Billionen US-Dollar für Energie,” click here, 3) Spanish “Países en vías desarrollo apuestan por energías renovables,” click here 

India Blooms “UN reports increase in nations supporting renewable energy,” click here

ANSA “Europa-Regioni: dati confermano buono stato energie verdi,” click here, 2) “Pannelli solari, in Ue più ‘verdi’ della Cina,” click here

InterPress News Service, “Let There Be Light, Implores U.N. Chief,” click here, Dutch, “VN-chef wil licht voor alle wereldbewoners,” click here

Kyodo News, Japanese “世界の再生エネルギー、１７％増,” click here, Korean “전세계 재생에너지 발전량 17% 증가…日 태양광 4위,” click here

Kuwait News Agency “More emerging economies nurture renewable energy growth – REN21 report,” click here

Qatar News Agency “Renewable Energy Generation Reached New Record in 2013 – Report,” click here

South Africa Press Association “New record in renewable energy generation,” click here

Agencia EFE,  Spanish “Empleo generado por energías renovables aumentó un 14 por ciento en el mundo en 2013,” click here, Portuguese “Em 2013, 22% do total da energia mundial foi de fonte renovável,” click here

Schweizerische Depeschenagentur AG (SDA), Switzerland “Mehr Entwicklungsländer setzen auf erneuerbare Energien,” click here

Emirates News Agency – WAM “Developing nations? policies push renewable energy capacity to record high, says UN-backed report,” click here

Vietnam TTXVN “Thế giới đạt bước tiến lớn trong khai thác năng lượng tái sinh (World achieved great strides in exploiting renewable energy),” click here

7-Apr-2014

Renewables account for 44 percent of 2013’s newly-installed electricity generating capacity despite global investment dropping for second year

Frankfurt / New York, 7 April 2014 – Renewable energy’s share of world electricity generation continued its steady climb last year despite a 14 per cent drop in investments to US$214.4 billion, according to a new report released today.

According to Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2014 – produced by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance — the investment drop of $US35.1 billion was partly down to the falling cost of solar photovoltaic systems. The other main cause was policy uncertainty in many countries, an issue that also depressed investment in fossil fuel generation in 2013.

Globally, renewables excluding large hydro accounted for 43.6 per cent of newly installed generating capacity in 2013. Were it not for renewables, world energy-related CO2 emissions would have been an estimated 1.2 gigatonnes higher in 2013. This would have increased by about 12 per cent the gap between where emissions are heading and where they need to be in 2020 if the world is to have a realistic prospect of staying under a two degree Centigrade temperature rise.

“A long-term shift in investment over the next few decades towards a cleaner energy portfolio is needed to avoid dangerous climate change, with the energy sector accounting for around two thirds of total greenhouse gas emissions,” said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNEP. “The fact that renewable energy is gaining a bigger share of overall generation globally is encouraging. To support this further, we must re-evaluate investment priorities, shift incentives, build capacity and improve governance structures.”

“While some may point to the fact that overall investment in renewables fell in 2013, the drop masks the many positive signals of a dynamic market that is fast evolving and maturing,” he added. “This should give governments the confidence to forge a new robust climate agreement to cut emissions at the 2015 climate change conference in Paris.”

In recent years, Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment has become the standard reference for global renewable energy investment figures. The 2014 edition will be showcased at the Bloomberg New Finance Initiative “Future of Energy Summit” in New York from 7-9 April 2014.

Ulf Moslener, Head of Research of the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance, agreed that the overall decline in investment dollars had been disappointing. However, he said, “foundations for future growth in the renewable energy market fell into place in 2013.”

Michael Liebreich, Chairman of the Advisory Board for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said: “Lower costs, a return to profitability on the part of some leading manufacturers, the phenomenon of unsubsidized market uptake in a number of countries, and a warmer attitude to renewables among public market investors, were hopeful signs after several years of painful shake-out in the renewable energy sector.”

The report points to the end of a four-and-a-half year 78 per cent decline in clean energy stocks, which bottomed out in July 2012 and then gained 54 per cent in 2013 – an improvement that took place as many companies in the solar and wind manufacturing chains moved back towards profitability after a painful period of over-capacity and corporate distress.

Large hydro-electric projects were another important area of investment with at least 20 GW of capacity estimated to have come on stream in 2013, equivalent to approximately US$35 billion of investment.

Although investment in renewable energy capacity, including all hydro, in 2013 was once again below gross investment in fossil-fuel power, at US$227 billion compared to US$270 billion, it was roughly double the net figure for investment in fossil-fuel power excluding replacement plant.

Part of their new engagement was through clean energy bond issuance, which set a new record of US$3.2 billion raised in 2013, as well as via new types of financing vehicles including North American ‘yield companies’ and real estate investment trusts.

The year marked a deepening involvement of long-term investors such as pension funds, insurance companies, wealth managers and private individuals in the equity and debt of wind and solar projects. Part of their new engagement was through clean energy bond issuance, which set a new record of US$3.2 billion raised in 2013, as well as via new types of financing vehicles including North American ‘yield companies’ and real estate investment trusts.

But the star performer among investment types in 2013 was public market equity-raising by renewable energy companies, which jumped 201 per cent to US$11 billion. This was the highest since 2010, spurred on by the rally in clean energy share prices and institutional investors’ appetite for funds offering solid yields.

Additional highlights:

• Last year was the first ever that China invested more in renewable energy than Europe. China’s total was down by 6 per cent at US$56 billion, while Europe’s dropped 44 per cent to US$48 billion. The US saw a fall of 10 per cent to US$36 billion. India moved 15 per cent down to US$6 billion and Brazil 54 per cent down to US$3 billion, the lowest since 2005.
• The Americas, excluding the US and Brazil, increased investment in renewables by 26 per cent (to US$12 billion) in 2013. Japan’s solar boom helped to drive an 80 per cent increase in renewable energy investment to US$29 billion in 2013.
• Installed solar jumped 26 per cent — from 31 Gigawatts in 2012 to a record 39 GW in 2013 even as investment in solar capacity decreased 23 per cent from US$135.6 billion to US$104.1 billion.
• A trickle of significant projects — many of them in Latin America but others in the Middle East and Africa, are taking place in wind and solar without any subsidy support, or in preference to more expensive fossil-fuel options. Hydro-electric has for decades competed head-on with coal and gas. Now, in an increasing number of locations wind and solar are doing the same. For instance, in Chile a 70MW PV plant and three wind farms totaling 213MW have been constructed as merchant plants that compete openly on the spot power market.
• Renewables excluding large hydro accounted for 8.5 percent of global electricity generation in 2013, up from 7.8 per cent in 2012, and have seen cumulative investment of over $1.5 trillion since 2006.

A short summary of key findings: http://bit.ly/1elvqWw

Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2014 in full is publicly available at http://bit.ly/QC1ssj

News release in full, click here

Example coverage:

TIME, USA English “Renewable Energy Investment Is Down—and That’s OK” click here

Reuters, UK English “Renewables take bigger share of 2013 global power market – report,” click here

BBC News, UK English, “Global dip in renewable energy investment,” click here

The Associated Press, USA English, “UN climate panel chair calls for ‘enlightenment'” click here

The Guardian, UK English, “Renewables investment warning as Australia places ninth in the world,” click here

Agence France Presse, France, English, “Global renewable energy investments slumped 14% in 2013,” click here

Agencia EFE, Spain, “Inversión mundial en energía renovable cayó un 14 % en 2013” click here, 2nd story, “Disminuye la inversión en energías renovables en todo el mundo, según estudio,” click here

ANSA, Italy Italian, “Da rinnovabili l’8,5% dell’energia mondiale nel 2013″ click here

Bloomberg, USA, English “Clean Power a Value as Costs Drop Like Mobile Phones,” click here

Deutsche Presse Agentur, Germany, German, “Investitionen in erneuerbare Energien gehen weiter zurück,” click here

Kyodo News, Japan, Japanese, “再生エネが着実に増加” (Regeneration energy is steadily increasing),” click here 

TT Newswire, Sweden, Swedish, “Hopp för världens förnybara energi (Hope for the world’s renewable energy)” click here

Xinhua, China Chinese, “全球再生能源投資 2013大減14%”, click here

Yonhap News Agency, Korea Korean, “중국 재생에너지 투자 ‘선도지역’ 유럽 전체 추월,” click here

Coverage summary: click here

Installed capacity continues to grow as solar prices drop 30-40 percent

New wind installations surge

For only the second time since 2006, global investments in renewable energy in 2012 failed to top the year before, falling 12% mainly due to dramatically lower solar prices and weakened US and EU markets.

However, 2012 was the second highest year ever for renewable energy investments, which total $1.3 trillion since 2006.

And there was a continuing upward trend in developing countries in 2012, with investments in the South topping $112 billion vs $132 billon in developed countries — a dramatic change from 2007, when developed economies invested 2.5 times more in renewables (excluding large hydro) than developing countries, a gap that has closed to just 18%.

The 2012 global investment total for renewable energy (including small hydro-electric projects) was $244 billion. In previous years, global investments totaled $279 billion (2011), $227 billion (2010), $168 billion (2009), $172 billion (2008), $146 billion (2007) and $100 billion (2006).

Renewable energies have rapidly become a vital part of the global energy mix and account for an ever-growing share of electric capacity added worldwide. Total renewable power capacity worldwide exceeded 1,470 GW in 2012, up 8.5% from 2011.

Wind power accounted for about 39% of renewable power capacity added followed by hydropower and solar PV, which each accounted for approximately 26%.

Solar PV capacity reached the 100 GW milestone, surpassing bio-power to become the third largest renewable technology in terms of capacity in operation, after hydro and wind.

The main issue holding back investment last year: ongoing renewable energy policy instability in important developed-economy markets, according to twin reports issued today:

• Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2013 (fs-unep-centre.org), the 6th edition of the Frankfurt School – UNEP Centre/BNEF report, based on data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (http://www.bnef.com). The report has become the standard reference for global renewable energy investment figures. The 2013 edition includes a foreword from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
• The REN21 Renewables 2013 Global Status Report (http://www.ren21.net/gsr), now the most frequently-referenced report on renewable energy market, industry and policy developments.

The sister publications were launched jointly by Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, Arthouros Zervos, Chairman of REN21, Michael Liebreich, Chief Executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and Ulf Moslener, Head of Research of the Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance.

News release text in full, click here

Sample coverage by

The Associated Press, click here

Reuters, click here

Bloomberg News, click here

Europa Press, Spain, click here

Kyodo News, Japan, click here

Coverage summary, click here

Installations up but manufacturer overcapacity drives down margins; Renewable energy sector maturation recalls early days of auto industry

Solar generation surged past wind power to become the renewable energy technology of choice for global investors in 2011.

Solar attracted nearly twice as much investment as wind, driving the renewable energy sector to yet another record-breaking year, albeit one beset with challenges for the industry, according to two new reports on renewable energy trends issued today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21).

Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2012 (fs-unep-centre.org) is the fifth edition of the UNEP report, based on data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (bnef.com), and has become the standard reference for global clean energy investment figures.

This year it shows that, despite an increasingly tough competitive landscape for manufacturers, total investment in renewable power and fuels last year increased by 17% to a record $257 billion, a six-fold increase on the 2004 figure and 94% higher than the total in 2007, the year before the world financial crisis.

Although last year’s 17% increase was significantly smaller than the 37% growth recorded in 2010, it was achieved at a time of rapidly falling prices for renewable energy equipment and severe pressure on fiscal budgets in the developed world.

The REN21 Renewables 2012 Global Status Report (ren21.net/gsr), which has become the most frequently referenced report on renewable energy market, industry and policy developments, notes that during 2011 renewables continued to grow strongly in all end-use sectors – power, heating and cooling and transport. Renewable sources have grown to supply 16.7 % of global energy consumption. Of that, the share provided by traditional biomass has declined slightly while the share sourced from modern renewable technologies has risen.

In 2011, renewable energy technologies continued to expand into new markets: around 50 countries installed wind power capacity, and solar PV capacity moved rapidly into new regions and countries. Solar hot water collectors are used by more than 200 million households as well as in many public and commercial buildings worldwide.

The two publications were launched jointly by Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, Mohamed El-Ashry, Chairman of REN21, Michael Liebreich, Chief Executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and Professor Dr. Udo Steffens, President and CEO of the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, host of the Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance.

News release in full, click here

Sample coverage: By the Associated Press, click here, by Reuters, click here, by EFE (Spain), click here

Coverage summary, click here