Solar power attracts $2.6 trillion investment during 2010-19
A massive 638 gigawatt (GW) of solar energy capacity was globally added to the power spectrum in the world between 2010 and 2019, according to a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
The report “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019”, released ahead of UN Climate Action Summit 2019 to be held on September 23 in New York, said the decade saw investment of US$2.6 trillion in renewable energy capacity — excluding large hydro – which was more than threefold the amount invested in the previous decade. In 2009, there were only 25GW of solar power capacity worldwide.
“In the renewable energy space, solar power has attracted maximum investments worth $1.3 trillion during 2010-2019, followed by wind securing $1 trillion and biomass and waste-to-energy with $115 billion,” said the report.
The stratospheric jump in renewable capacity during the 2010-19 decade was fuelled by a huge improvement in the cost-competitiveness of renewables, with the levelised cost of electricity for solar photovoltaics down 81 per cent, for onshore wind down 46 per cent and for offshore wind down 44 per cent.
Among regions, China remains the top country by far in terms of the sums invested in renewables capacity during the current decade. It has so far committed investments worth US$758 billion, the US is on the second place with US$356 billion and Japan third with US$202 billion.
India, which is an increasingly important investor in renewables according to UNEP, has committed US$90 billion by the end of the first half of this year.
Role of developing countries
In 2018, the developed economies invested $125.8 billion, 10 per cent higher than the previous year, while the developing countries committed $147.1 billion, down by 24 per cent than than 2017, the report noted.
Middle East and Africa region saw capacity allocations jump 61 per cent to $16.1 billion in 2018. Financing of projects in African countries like South Africa, Morocco and Kenya saw a rebound, exceeding the $1 billion barrier.
But more needs to be done; the pace must increase, the report stated.
Even with the increased uptake in renewables, they represent only 26.3 per cent of total electricity produced — and only 12.9 per cent if investments in large hydro is excluded.
A slowdown in fossil fuel subsidies, which runs into billions of dollars every year, has indicated a shift towards renewables, according to the report. For example, major multilateral development banks like the European Investment Bank has proposed to stop funding new fossil fuel-reliant projects by the end of 2020 to combat climate change.
While 1.1 billion people still lack access to electricity globally, providing that access through technologies like off-grid solar would be a shot in the arm for the United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The cheapest option in many countries around the world is either solar or wind and the technologies to construct it are basically quick and low-carbon.
“We know that renewables make sense for the climate and for the economy. Yet we are not investing nearly enough to decarbonise power production, transport and heat in time to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius or ideally 1.5 °C,” said Svenja Schulze, federal minister for the environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety, Germany.
“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 renewable,” Schulze added.
“With smart policies that truly value the economic and societal benefits of renewable power, we can accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy and give people the clean energy future they deserve,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP.
