In the first half of this year, global spending on RES reached 358 billion dollars. Two thirds of investments went to photovoltaics
Published the report 2H 2023 Renewable Energy Investment Tracker by BloombergNEF
Investments in renewable energy 2023 mark a new record. From January to June this year, the clean energy sector attracted US$358 billion. A figure of 22% higher than the expenditure of the first half of 2022 and that comes out winner from the comparison with any historical period. The story is told by Meredith Annex, Head of Clean Power at BloombergNEF reporting some data of the new 2H 2023 Renewable Energy Investment Tracker. The document, published yesterday 21 August, keeps track of market and capital trends, showing how much the energy transition is aligned or not with the goal of zero net emissions.
Investments in renewable energy 2023, the photovoltaic drive
What clearly emerges is the driving role of photovoltaics. Of the total investments in renewable energy 2023, 239 billion dollars were absorbed by large and small-scale solar plants, marking a stunning growth of 43% compared to the first half of 2022. “China – writes Annex – accounted for about half of all PV investments […] in the first half of 2023. This is mainly due to lower module prices, the robust photovoltaic roof segment and the commissioning of the so-called energy megabases of the country, which aim to develop large-scale wind and solar installations, mainly in desert areas“.
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In second place, with an expense of over 25 billion dollars, the USA is placed. The figure represents historic growth compared to green investments in the first half of 2022 and the cause is simple: the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) wanted by President Biden is working, increasing the appeal to investors. BloombergNEF signals several record spending even in the EMEA region, the acronym of English Europe, Middle East, and Africa. In the Old Continent, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands were most notable, but in general new investments in RES 20223 have increased almost everywhere in response to the energy crisis triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Outside Europe, BNEF reports South Africa – with record investments in the wake of electric blackouts and new tax breaks – and Saudi Arabia – the Saudi project Neom Green Hydrogen Solar PV Park alone is worth $6.4 billion.
Net decrease for investments in wind 2023
Investments in wind energy 2023 are less good. The segment has suffered a severe blow due to development problems affecting the financing of assets.
In stark contrast to the growth in solar investment, wind spending fell 8% from the first half of 2022, reaching $94 billion in the first half of 2023. To suffer from it are above all the projects on the ground since the offshore segment has instead recorded an increase of 47% regarding the first semester of 2022, reaching 29,2 billion dollars (but without being able to compensate the decrease of the onshore). In this case, Europe accounted for most of this growth, with US$9.4 billion more investment in the first half of 2023.
