According to Bnef, investment surpassed 500 billion dollars in 2020, up 9 per cent on the previous year. Credit goes to large solar plants, offshore wind and electric mobility. According to Bnef, investment surpassed 500 billion dollars in 2020, up 9 per cent on the previous year. Credit goes to large solar plants, offshore wind and electric mobility.
Large photovoltaic plants, offshore wind farms, but also electric mobility and storage, are driving investment in the energy transition. And 2020, despite the economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, saw a 9 per cent increase on the previous year, reaching a record high of 501.3 billion dollars. These are the — rather encouraging — figures released in an analysis of energy transition investment compiled by Bloomberg new energy finance (Bnef), according to which Europe accounts for the largest share of global investment at 166.2 billion dollars (+67 per cent), followed by China at 134.8 billion (-12 per cent) and the United States at 85.3 billion (-11 per cent).
"Last year we saw a dramatic rerating of equities in the renewable energy, electric vehicle, fuel cell, battery and other related sectors," writes Angus McCrone in an editorial accompanying the analysis.
The analysis shows that as much as 303.5 billion dollars was invested in new renewable energy installations, up 2 per cent on the previous year, driven by the commissioning of large solar plants and a 50-billion-dollar surge in offshore wind. Investment in electric mobility and charging infrastructure also grew significantly, reaching 139 billion dollars — an increase of 28 per cent.
"The coronavirus pandemic slowed progress on some projects, but overall investment in wind and solar was robust and electric vehicle sales rose more than expected," said Jon Moore, chief executive of Bnef.
Residential installation of high-efficiency heat pumps also grew, up 12 per cent, while investment in storage technologies remained on a par with the previous year. It is worth noting that the most significant deals include 2.8 billion dollars raised by Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary amperex technology, 846 million dollars by US fuel cell company Plug Power, and 777 million dollars by Chinese photovoltaic manufacturer Ja solar technology — investments that are undoubtedly indicative of market trends.
While 2020 saw — according to Bnef, with confirmation also coming from the Iea — yet another record for solar installations, reaching 132 GW, this year it is expected that the figure could reach 150 GW, or even 194 GW. It should be noted that the European outlook is more cautious, as can be seen from a report on photovoltaics published last year, which showed that to reach a 100 per cent renewables scenario, Europe would need to increase its photovoltaic capacity from 117 GW (in 2018) to more than 630 GW by 2025 and to 1.94 TW by 2050.
If we look instead at the 2019 estimates — the year in which installations almost doubled — by 2020 the figure would have reached 24 GW, which is certainly not enough to close the gap between now and 2025.
"Clean power generation and electric transport are seeing strong inflows, but we need to see further increases in spending as costs come down," confirmed Albert Cheung, head of analysis at Bnef. "Technologies such as electric heating, Ccs (Carbon capture storage) and hydrogen are attracting only a fraction of the investment they will need in the 2020s to help keep emissions under control. We are talking trillions a year, if we want to meet climate targets."
