Global investment in clean energy fell to its lowest levels in five years during the first half of 2019, because of a sharp drop in Chinese renewable energy projects.
Source: Bloomberg NEF.
Investment in clean energy slipped to $117.6bn, a decline of 14 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to new research from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
A sudden change in China’s renewable energy policies last year — when it curbed solar and wind subsidies — has dramatically reduced the number of new projects in the world’s largest market.
Clean energy investment in China was down 39 per cent during the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year.
However, those figures could improve later this year, suggested Justin Wu, BNEF’s head of Asia-Pacific.
“The slowdown in investment in China is real, but the figures for first-half 2019 probably overstate its severity,” he said. “We expect a nationwide solar auction happening now to lead to a rush of new [photovoltaic] project financings.”
Europe and the US also experienced declines, with clean energy investment falling 4 per cent and 6 per cent in those areas, respectively.