Investments in new installed renewable energy capacity are on the verge of reaching 2,500 billion euros over the decade now drawing to a close. This is the finding of the report "Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019", published ahead of the UN climate summit. It has been a decade that saw installed capacity quadruple, rising from 414 GW to more than 1,650 GW by the end of this year.

According to the report, the global share of electricity generated from renewables reached 12.9 per cent in 2018, growing by more than one percentage point compared to 2017 (11.6 per cent) in 2017. A growth that, according to estimates, avoided approximately 2 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions in the past year alone, bearing in mind that emissions from the energy sector were estimated at 13.7 billion tonnes — though these have risen in recent times, as confirmed by Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme: "Global energy sector emissions have increased by around 10 per cent during this period. It is clear that we need to rapidly reach the pace of the global shift to renewable energy if we are to meet international climate and development goals."

Renewable energy investment: solar takes it all

Solar energy is delivering the best results: more than half of investments have been absorbed by this sector, driving growth that has gone from 25 GW in 2010 to the 663 GW forecast by the end of 2019. Solar also beats coal in new installed capacity, even though the latter continues to be one of the predominant fossil fuel sources (around 529 GW against the 638 GW of photovoltaics). According to the report, the record was achieved despite a reduction in the number of solar and wind projects launched and despite a policy change that affected investments in China in the second half of the year — a country that nonetheless still represents the world's leading market.

Renewable energy investment spreads

China has indeed been by far the leading investor in renewable energy this decade, having invested more than 750 billion euros between 2010 and the first half of 2019, with the United States as the second-largest market, at around 350 billion euros, and Japan third with 200 billion. Europe as a whole has invested around 690 billion euros in installed capacity.

"In recent years, the sharp fall in the cost of electricity from wind and solar has changed national energy policies," said Jon Moore, Chief Executive of BloombergNef. "These technologies have for a considerable time been the low-carbon options that are relatively quick to build. Now, in many countries around the world, wind or solar is the cheapest option for electricity generation."