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INVESTMENT BY ECONOMY
The shift in renewable energy investment from developed
to developing and emerging economies is not surprising, as
the latter have a rapidly rising electricity demand and need
the most additional power generation capacity. Although the
developed world has provided substantial financial support for the
development and deployment of renewable energy technologies
over the past three decades, such support has declined in many
countries in recent years. At the same time, the falling costs of
renewable energy technologies, mainly solar and wind power, have
made projects viable in resource-rich developing and emerging
economies, as well as in more locations in developed countries.
Trends in renewable energy investment varied by region in
2015, with increased investments in China, India, Africa and the
Middle East, and the United States, and decreased investments
in Canada and Europe. (p See Figure 36.) The top 10 national
investors consisted of six developing countries (four of which are
BRICS i countries) and four developed countries. China led with
more than double the investment of the next largest investor,
the United States, followed by Japan, the United Kingdom and
India. The next five were Germany, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico
and Chile. While China, the United States, Japan and the United
Kingdom maintained their positions relative to 2014, India moved
up to displace Germany, which saw a sharp drop in investment.
South Africa, which had slipped off the top 10 list in 2014, ranked
eighth in 2015, and Mexico and Chile ranked among the top 10 for
the first time in 2015.
China witnessed the strongest dollar increase (up 17%) and
accounted for USD 102.9 billion (including R&D) of new investment
in renewable energy. Most of this total (USD 95.7 billion) was in
asset finance, with USD 5.5 billion invested in small-scale projects.
Wind power led investments in utility-scale projects, attracting
USD 47.6 billion of asset finance, compared with USD 44.3 billion
i The five BRICS countries are Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa.
Europe
120
Europe
Billion USD
113.4
122.9
China
100
80
60
46.9
66.8
81.8
82.7
89.0
60.0
62.0
48.8
Source: BNEF
Note:
Data include
government
and corporate
R&D.
Asia &
Pacific
(excl. China
& India)
40
20
33.3
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
India
China
Billion USD
100
87.83
102.9
04
60
40
20
Asia & Pacific (excl. China & India)
Billion USD
9.0
10.0
12.4
13.6
13.9
19.3
23.8
30.2
44.4
48.8
47.6
80
60
40
20
8.3
11.2
16.7
25.6
38.8
39.6
47.4
61.7
62.0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
2015
200420052005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
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