Despite the low cost of fossil fuels in 2015, a Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) analysis points to evidence that 2015 was a breakout year for clean energy. It was a record year for global investment with wind, solar panels, biomass plants and more around the world totaling $329 billion in invested capital – and 3 percent higher than the prior 2011 global investment record of $ 318 billion.
BNEF analyst Ethan Zindler noted that the price of oil tanked in 2015 as renewable technologies became more cost competitive. China and the UK invested in massive multibillion-dollar offshore wind farms, even as other nations, from the U.S. to Brazil, saw near billion-dollar expenditures on new solar farms and biomass plants. China rated first in 2015, with $111.5 billion responsible for one-third of clean energy investment, followed by the U.S. with $56 billion. India invested $10.9 billion but is a total that BNEF calls “a far cry for the figures needed to implement the Modi government’s ambitious plans” in the clean energy space. India plans to install 175 gigawatts of clean energy generating capacity by 2022. The world experienced a boom in wind power with 64 GW added to the global grid and solar came in as a close second, adding 57 GW of installed capacity. The most striking figure here is that while 2015 only saw about 4 percent more clean energy investment than 2014 (when $ 316 billion was invested), the growth in renewable energy generating capacity was much higher at 30 percent:
“The technologies have reached an important tipping point in a number of markets in the world,” says Zindler. “They are now, in a growing number of locations, becoming cost competitive.”
The combination of declining cost and favorable government policy in many regions signal a trend that will continue in the wake of the late 2015 Paris climate agreement.
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