Renewables on the rise

© Johan Swanepoel 123RF.com

According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Global Trends In Renewable Energy Investment 2016, renewable energy set new records in 2015 for dollar investment, the amount of new capacity added and the relative importance of developing countries in that growth.

New benchmark reached

“So far, the drivers of investment in renewables, including climate change policies and improving cost-competitiveness, have been more than sufficient to enable renewables to keep growing their share of world electricity generation at the expense of carbon-emitting sources,” the report says.

Last year, global investment in renewables reached a new benchmark US$285,9bn against the previous record of US$278,5bn reached in 2011.

Capacity outperforms traditional power

Besides the massive investment take up, gigawatt capacity increased substantially. In 2015, some 134gW of renewables (excluding large hydro) was commissioned, equivalent to some 53,6% of all power generation capacity completed in that year . This is the first time it has performed better than traditional power sources.

Of the renewables total, wind accounted for 62gW installed, and solar 56gW compared to 49gW and 45gW respectively for the previous year.

Regional contribution

In terms of regional contribution, China set a new record, lifting its outlays by 17% to US$102,9bn, some 36% of the global total. Investment also increased in the US, up 19% at US$44,1bn; in Middle East and Africa, up 58% at US$12,5bn - helped by project development in South Africa and Morocco; and in India, up 22% at US$10,2bn.

However, it fell in Europe by 21% to US$48,8bn, that continent’s lowest figure for nine years.

Proving critics wrong

The report proves critics wrong on the assumption that renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar are luxuries, affordable only in the richer parts of the world.

This has been an inaccurate view for a long time, but 2015 was the first year in which investment in renewables (excluding large hydro) was higher in developing economies than in developed countries.

Developing world takes the lead

The developing world invested US$156bn last year, some 19% up on 2014 and a remarkable 17 times the equivalent figure for 2004, of US$9 billion.

While developed countries invested US$130bn in 2015, down 8% and their lowest tally since 2009.

A large part of the record-breaking investment in developing countries took place in China. However, India also raised its commitment to renewables in 2015, and developing countries (excluding China, India and Brazil) increased their investment by 30% last year to an all-time high of US$36bn, some 12 times their figure for 2004.

Among those “other developing” economies, those putting the largest sums into clean power were South Africa, up 329% at US$4,5bn as a wave of projects winning contracts in its auction programme drew to a close.