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04 INVESTMENT FLOWS
Asset finance of utility-scalei projects such as wind farms and
solar parks dominated investment in 2015 at USD 199 billion, or
6% above 2014. Small-scale solar PV installations accounted for
the remainder, at USD 67.4 billion worldwide. Distributed solar
PV systems are gaining ground in many developing countries as
immediate and affordable alternatives to centralised, grid-based
power systems.
For the first time in history, total investment in renewables
(excluding large hydro) in developing countries exceeded that
in developed economies. The developing world, including
China, India and Brazil, committed a total of USD 156 billion,
up 19% compared to 2014. China played a dominant role in this
turnaround, increasing investment by 17% to USD 102.9 billion, or
36% of the global total. In 2015, renewable energy investment also
increased significantly in India, South Africa, Mexico and Chile.
Other developing countries investing more than USD 500 million
in 2015 included Morocco, Uruguay, the Philippines, Pakistan and
Honduras.
By contrast, investment in developed countries as a group
declined by 8% in 2015, to USD 130 billion. The most significant
decrease in investment was seen in Europe, down 21% to
USD 48.8 billion, despite its record year financing offshore
wind (USD 17 billion, up 11% from 2014). In the United States,
investment (dominated largely by solar power) increased by 19%,
the country’s largest increase since 2011.
Investment in renewable capacity has been weighted increasingly
towards wind and solar power. In 2015, investment in solar power
capacity was up 12% to USD 148.3 billion, while investment in
wind power capacity advanced 9% to USD 107 billion. Investment
in other renewable capacity declined in the same period: biomass
and waste-to-energy dropped 46% to USD 5.2 billion, smallscale
hydropower dropped 26% to USD 3.5 billion, geothermal
slipped 25% to USD 1.8 billion and biofuels dropped 67% to
USD 669 million.
i “Utility-scale” in this chapter refers to wind farms, solar parks and other renewable power installations of 1 MW or more in size, and to biofuel plants of
more than 1 million litres’ capacity.
Figure 36. Global New Investment in Renewable Power and Fuels, by Country/Region, 2005–2015
United States
60
40
20
Billion USD
11.9
29.1
33.2
35.5
23.9
34.7
49.0
40.6
35.3
37.0
44.1
United States
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Americas (excl. United States & Brazil)
Billion USD
20
3.3
3.7
5.0
6.1
5.5
12.0
9.3
10.1
12.0
13.3
12.8
Americas
(excl. United States & Brazil)
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Brazil
Billion USD
20
3.1
5.2
11.4
11.8
7.9
7.2
10.2
7.7
4.4
8.0
7.1
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Brazil
Africa & Middle East
20
Africa & Middle East
Billion USD
0.8
1.1
1.8
2.3
1.6
4.1
3.0
10.2
9.3
7.9
12.5
20
India
Billion USD
3.0
4.9
6.7
5.6
4.3
8.8
12.8
7.8
6.6
8.3
10.2
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
2015
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
2015
100